House - Is this what nurses do?

[MT RN]

Did anyone watch House tonight? The reason I'm asking is about halfway through the show I think the MD played by Omar Epps made a rude comment about nurses. The situation was that the MD was preparing to do a spinal tap on a pt., and the pts. sister asked if she could help. He said something to the effect of "Sure, it's easier than getting a nurse" and asked her to reposition his legs and hold them. The girl then asked "Is that all that nurses do?" and the MD replied something to the effect of that being all they were good for.

Now mind you my hearing is somewhat diminished and I wasn't really paying a great deal of attention to the show, but I swear that's what I heard. Just want to confirm before I fire off a nasty email to the show...

[MidnightTang]

I think he actually said, "That's all my boss thinks they're good for." Refering to House. If the only experience you had of hospitals was House, you'd think that doctors were the only people working there. There's rarely any other staff seen in that hospital. Have you ever seen a doctor draw and test his own labs. . .I think not. For that matter have you ever seen a group of doctors sit at the bedside for hours as the docs did on tonights episode??

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Ok, as has been pointed out in many threads regarding the show; the character "House" is an equal opportunity jerk. If he were to be complimentary to nurses it would be our of character.

[GatorRN]

Yeah, I caught that too. He did say more along the lines of, that's all House thinks their good for. But, as Tiffy said, House is an equal opportunity jerk.

[Fazed]

Does anyone watch House? I like the show for the medical mysteries but always am bothered that there are no nurses at all! Really, the docs pass the meds and seem to do all the pt care. Last night in one scene a child, sister of a patient asks to help one of the doctors. He tells her to bend the pt legs. She asks if that is what nurses do. I didn't quite catch the doctors answer...I think it was 'that is all we let them do'.

Did anyone else watch it? Before I get angry I wanted to see what the line was that was said.

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

I don't watch that show because it makes me angry. If you are interested in working for more positive images of nursing in the media, you might want to join the Center for Nursing Advocacy The Center for Nursing Advocacy They probably have a form letter on their website about that House episode that you can send to the network and the show's producers.

[AVEX]

yeah, i saw that episode of House last night too. it was basically the doctor told the girl after she asked that question is "this is as much House trusts them to do" or something like that.

i do like the show too, but when i heard that comment i was bothered a little bit, but then i realize it is just a tv show. i know that when i do receive my nursing degree there may doctors who are a**holes. the one thing i don't see that often on that show, House, are nurses. Even on Grey's Anatomy a show i sometime watch from time to time which more often seems like a soap opera, i don't even see that many nurses.

these shows are making it seem as though nurses do nothing at all, and it's as though the doctors who are spending all the time with the patients. someone should come up with a show where the stars are primarily nurses.

[traumamomtx]

Don't worry you will still at times be treated like an idiot by many, many doctors. They will walk out of a room and tell you "that patient needs their IV to be stopped, Take away their PCA" . Ok, well did you at least take away the PCA button? Did you push stop on the IV machine? You know the button that says STOP. Just wait until you have a doctor that hasn't seen his patient in 3 days. You will understand it is all TV.

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

Unfortunately, even though it is "just TV," this powerful medium can have a profound effect on the public perception of nurses. Afterall, advertisers will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for just a few minutes of public exposure. Idiotic shows like House do cast nurses and our profession in a very disparaging light. I don't watch the show for that reason (or ER or Grey's Anatomy, also). Please participate in the letter-writing campaign by The Center for Nursing Advocacy. Here is their link concerning House:

"House" Single Episode Reviews

[MT RN]

I agree, if the comment was attributed to House it makes more sense. I also agree with MidnightTang in that House, like many medical shows, makes it appear that nurses do nothing while the doctors do all the work. In fact, if you think about it, the work that most TV docs do is much more nursing related.

I usually try to suspend disbelief as I watch these shows, but a comment as blatant as that tends to get me upset!

[maureenlynn]

I watch House, too. It is House's utter disrespect for EVERYONE that probably makes it so popular. I like the show, maybe because I am not a nurse yet, but probably because that is just entertaining to see how much he can get away with. I know that, in reality, he would have lost his medical license during the first season with some of the stuff he pulled.

[maureenlynn]

Ok, as has been pointed out in many threads regarding the show; the character "House" is an equal opportunity jerk. If he were to be complimentary to nurses it would be our of character.

:yeahthat: I agree