Has reality TV and Hospital Drama effected the applicant pool & work environment?

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Over the past decade, we have seen a dramatic increase in drama and reality series that have been based around medical practice:

Scrubs, Nip/Tuck, House, Greys Anatomy, Hopkins, True Life in the ER - just to name a few..

Has anyone noticed this effecting the nurses you have known in school or have been employed with? Have they said "this is nothing like I thought it would be from TV" or noticed that irrelevant drama from TV has been a motivating factor in an individuals decision to pursue nursing?

Just curious how others have perceived this. I think since its been a huge part of the mainstream media today that it is bound to have an effect on the careers of medical clinicians.

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Specializes in med/surg/tele/LTC/geriatrics.

I think all of those television shows make it look more glamourous than it is. These prospective nurses have a false idea of what nursing is. Reality is we do clean up vomit, get pooped on, and deal with crazy patients on a day to day basis. I haven't had too many nursing jobs with people making out in every closet. Nursing is a heck of a lot more paperwork than is ever showed on television, and I can't think of any of the doctors at our hosptial that look like George Clooney. :rolleyes:

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Have you seen any current nurses or student nurses coming to work/school expecting to see this? or disappointed not experiencing it?

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For long as there has been a medium, there have been "nurse" stories, and many if not all did not give a very accurate idea of the profession.

I mean really:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3wqx8O2q2A

From the pulp fiction novels of the 1950's to soap operas such as "General Hospital" to prime time television show such as "Nurse" or "Trapper John MD" or Carry on Nurse, to Hollywood films (and later television program) such as M*A*S*H, rarely were nurses shown really dealing with the real.

In most instances were shown under one of several flavors:

Sexpot and or on the prowl for a doctor husband (the fact the man was someone else's husband mattered little).

Hair brained/screw ball, air head

Self-less handmaiden of doctors

An automatic creature, who though efficient did not open her mouth except to say "yes, doctor" or "no, doctor".

Or, when she did say something else it was always in third person (we must be quiet not to distrub the other patients, we do not sit on beds, I'm sorry mother, baby needs his rest and must return to the nursery now.....

Even modern shows such as "ER" would often had nurses doing things that in the real world would land them out on the street, if not in court and or jail. What nurse do you know who brings her son to the hospital daily because she cannot find a babysitter? Worse this boy has full run of the place.

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I couldn't resist putting in my :twocents: as an aspiring nurse... while I enjoy the dramas like House and Grey's, the gaps between those shows and reality are truly laughable; I know I'm not the only prospective RN out there to understand the realities of the job (especially having logged countless volunteer hours in an understaffed, underfunded, inner-city ER)--you can at least take comfort in that! I am also sure that there are dummies out there that haven't the foggiest idea what nursing is all about...and as for them, well we can only hope that they either don't get in to nursing school in the first place, OR that they fail to get hired anywhere, :lol2:

All joking aside, I do sometimes get angry with shows like House and Grey's because I think in some ways they are harmful to the nursing profession. I can't recall seeing a flattering portrayal of a nurse on any one of these shows. They're almost always portrayed as incompetent, or grunts who clean up crap and come running when some hot-shot doc shouts "nurse!" (notice how they rarely are given a NAME, unless, of course, the nurse is sleeping with one of the staff physicians??). :grn: It wouldn't be such a big deal except for the simple fact that it does influence some less-informed segments of the population. Amusing anecdote: while volunteering, I once witnessed a patient ask one of the nurses I often shadowed if she was qualified to do a simple blood draw.. OMG :barf01:

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Specializes in Rehab.

I would have to say that Medical shows such as HawthoRNe, scrubs, and others that you named make healthcare much more flowery than it really is. I mean really...since when have you seen the Cheif of Nursing run around and care for all of the patients at one time, and since when do they let nurses wear work-out outfits when cleaning out a closet, and since when do they clean out a storage room to put a patient into? And really now....when you first discover you have a cardiac arrhythmia, the first line of treatment is NOT ablation....in one of my BSN classes, we had a huge discussion on HawthoRNe and how un-realistic it is. And you know as well as I do that there are people out there who believe what is happening in that show is true and goes on everyday....what a warped view of nursing the public has. Oh....and no...nurses do not give medication when we know its the wrong dose, no matter what the doctor says....especially with insulin doses.

I may seem a little bitter about these shows, but I'm sorry, they're not realistic. I don't like them. Scrubs may be funny, but I really don't find their type of medical humor funny at all. I liked Greys Anatomy when it first came out, and then it turned into a soap opera and I don't enjoy those very much so I stopped watching it.

My favorite show of all time is ER...i still watch re-runs everyday. They did such a good job on the show of showing all sides of working in a hospital. They showed a sensitive side, nurses view, the doctors view, and also they did a very good job of showing the political side of health care. And they're very realistic. :yeah:

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Specializes in Staff nurse.

When my brother was dying in the ICU and my dad was asking the nurse all kinds of questions having nothing to do with his care I said "Let the nurse check her other patients, Dad". He looked shocked and said, "She has other patients?" I blame that on TV...it gives people unrealistic expectations for care in a real hospital.

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TV and the media are in large to blame for patients thinking hospitals = hotels/resorts.

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I love the cute "Grey's Anatomy" scrubs.

Other than that, I have not seen any effect of these shows, I don't even hear them discussed at work.

The medical dramas seem to glamorize doctors and nurses are very secondary from what I hear.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

The shows give the general public a very unrealistic view.

I can only speculate that has a lot to do with a very uneducated, and not very smart public.

Otherwise, who goes around believing these things? That is why they are mostly labeled "drama" and "fiction."

Hello, society...it's NOT real!!

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Specializes in School Nursing.

Come to think of it, I don't recall ever seeing a nurse actually chart on tv. No wonder patients and families think all we are doing is just sitting around when they see us as desks or computers charting!

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

op: i have not met nurses who reported going into nursing because of shows. i believe once you have endured nursing school and the trials of getting a license you either forget that was your reason or you will never admit to the fact. on the other hand, i have met patients who think i am impressed that thier favorite shows are medical shows and that is why they are asking me so many questions. i inform them i don't watch those shows because i like my days off and want to spend my time having nothing to do with work. they usually shut up quickly because they get the hint. the only show i do like is scrubs because it is so funny, but i do not discuss this with my patients.

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