How would YOU like to see a nurse portrayed in the media?

[purple_nomad]

Nursing in the media means a lot to me.

I think one of the main reasons I almost chose NOT to be a nurse when I was in high school was because I kept seeing these medical shows where the doctors did nearly everything.

Shows like "Nurse Jackie" and "Mercy" and "HawthoRNe" have been somewhat helpful (in my opinion) at getting nursing into the mainstream of media, but there are still some annoying stereotypes that they play off of. Nurse Jackie snorts drugs. "HawthoRNe" has the male nurse who COULD have been a doctor, but he "choked" on his MCATs and is "stuck" being a nurse, and there is also Candy, the typical Barbie nurse.

Okay, so I know that part of a show is all about the story-telling, and story-telling can only happen when there are flaws in the characters. But do you think that some of these portrayals help or hinder? Are they realistic or playing off of established cultural ideas?

What do YOU want to see in the media about nurses that isn't there yet? What do you LIKE about these dramas? What do you NOT like? What do you think the impact is on society's concept of nursing?

[NPinWCH]

For ONCE, I'd like to see a nurse, after a code where they've saved the patient's life, say to everyone as they leave to go have a cup of coffee in the cafeteria, "Are you freaking kidding me? It's going to take me an hour to document all this! Give me those EKG strips! Nurse recorder, I need your notes to chart the drugs given! You! Pharmacist! Don't think you're going off to decompress without restocking my crash cart! Ummmm, unit secretary? Ya think you might see if we can get an ICU bed before you run off to have your cup of joe with the new intern?"

You get the drift.

HA! Amen to that.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

One with an empty stomach, full bladder and a smile plastered on her face.

[sevensonnets]

Maybe they need to focus on a different aspect of nursing besides the ER. Chicago Hope came out about the same time as ER but didn't last long because it was so unrealistic. The "head nurse" in the ER (how long has it been since we had those?) got involved with every patient that came in, and if they needed brain surgery or immediate heart transplant she would personally deliver the patient to the OR, scrub in, and first assist. The floor nurses however just sort of wandered around like zombies. There was one story line about a female intern who had incurable cancer and the administrator of CH found her dead in her bed, as in rigor mortis dead. He yelled at the nurse Why didn't you check on this patient, and she replied But doctor, the patient was DNR. THERE WAS NO ORDER TO CHECK ON THE PATIENT. I never forgave them for that. The wife of one of my patients asked me the next day if that's what happens when a patient is made DNR. That one episode sent the public perception of nurses right into the toilet.

[SNB1014, RN]

Nurse Jackie snorts drugs. "HawthoRNe" has the male nurse who COULD have been a doctor, but he "choked" on his MCATs and is "stuck" being a nurse, and there is also Candy, the typical Barbie nurse.

well, from my experience, all those characters have been in my nursing school cohort/ are graduate nurses that i know.

there are nurses who abuse their access to prescription drugs; there are people who couldn't get into med/vet/PA school and then decided on 2nd degree BSNs; and there are certainly a fair share of beautiful RNs who make you wonder how they passed their nclex/how they still have their job.

good and bad stereotypes aren't often created out of the blue, as much as I hate to say...

[shoegalRN, RN]

I would like to see series that has focus on the nurses as they are in real life, on a dead run, stressed from the work load and making decisions in the treatment of the patients because the Dr.'s fly through in the morning and evening and everything between is done by the nurses, including making a lot of decisions not just carring them out. I have spent more time in hospitals than I would have liked, the one thing I always noticed is nurses either by them selves or in consultation with other nurses assessing patients status and care. Sure the Dr. comes in and contributes a lot of knowledge and direction, but I don't see TV getting the distribution right, nurses seem to make more decisions than you see on TV. I would also like to see a series with out the obviously gay male nurse. I know numerous male nurses, none of them gay. Have no problem with gay nurses but come on that stereotype is so worn. Quick question, to you nurses whom have worked the ER, does the DHC show Truama Life in the ER really capture the true experience? I find the others where they act it out cheezy, but does that one that is suppose to be documentary style capture it. I would like to see them follow a couple nurses around in the ER vs focusing on the DR all the time.

To the bolded: I work in a Level I Trauma Center and Trauma Life in the ER does reflect close to reality (in MY experience).

Some of the things they don't show is how the event is charted, and from start to end, where EMS comes in with a trauma and is on top doing chest compressions and how the team has to spring into action from the start.

I would like Trauma Life in the ER to follow a nurse from start of shift to end, including showing all the non-emergent situations, to how the nurse has to drop everything and run to the trauma bay because (s)he is the first scribe (chart the event) or circulator (work on the patient) for the day. Doing this, then coming back to take care of your rooms where some pts may have left AMA, or all your pts were discharged by the RN covering your rooms and now you have all new pts with new problems.

Or if the trauma died, filling out a death packet, getting the ME (medical examiner) to come to view the body before taking it to the mourge, and then dealing with family members and talking to police and detectives. They need to show ALL of that!

[noahsmama]

What I would like to see is more "real life" medical shows, that follow real patients, real doctors, and real nurses. I've seen a few shows like that, and enjoy them far more than the fictional shows about doctors and nurses.

Fictional shows about nurses or doctors are nothing more than night time soap operas, and I think it's best to remember that. They don't portray reality any more than the day time soaps do. The doctors on Grey's Anatomy are constantly hooking up, usually while on break during their shift at the hospital, and often in a linen closet or other conveniently empty room.

All I can say is, if there's any hospitals in the real world that work like that, I guess I worked in the wrong hospital!

[Cupid14]

I wonder if doctors ever worry about their portrayal in the media, since I can imagine people go to hospitals and then get angry when they aren't seeing their doctor more than once a day for 5 minutes. Or do they enjoy being shown as doing so many more "nursing duties" and being commended for that? Hmmm.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

most medical dramas focus on doctors -- but what do they show the doctors doing? nursing! holding the hand of and comforting the dying patient, drawing blood, initiating cpr, tracking down long lost next of kin, pushing iv meds, hanging blood, ambulating patients -- all things that you rarely find a doctor doing (unless they're the next of kin) but tasks that fill up a nurse's day. i'd like to see nurses portrayed doing actual nursing -- and doctors portrayed as doing the tasks they actually do.

have you been watching house? i actually love the show, mainly because of hugh laurie, but those md's have me shouting at the tv at times-not only can they do every diagnostic test from all specialties, they can pop in and do surgery, and spend a great deal of their time performing nursing duties just as you described.

[OCNRN63, RN]

One with an empty stomach, full bladder and a smile plastered on her face.

"On stage! On stage!"

[boogalina, ADN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN]

Aha....ONE realistic portrayal - in the movie "Crazy Heart."

[casi, ASN, RN]

I kind of like Mercy. The nurses come off as real human beings to me. The plot can be a little over the top, but isn't that what TV is?

I would love to see the over worked, super stressed nurse portrayed. The nurse who hides their water at the desk because if they didn't they'd fall over from dehydration.