I once again am upset with the way Hollywood portrays nursing. (The first occurrence was when I saw "Meet the Parents") Particularly in the way they handle male nursing. Did you catch last week's episode of scrubs? (I know, I shouldn't be watching TV, but hey everyone deserves breaks) If you did, and you are a male nurse, you now know your new title.
MURSE
You read that correctly, as if it weren't bad enough to be in a profession named after the act of feeding an infant, along comes this. I am angry, for many reasons, the least of which is that term, but I digress. I guess in some ways, I should not be surprised. It is hard for me to think of a single show that paints a positive picture of nursing, or gives it some modicum of respect. Usually the only people showing any respect for nurses, are either related to one, or have spent undue amounts of time in or around hospitals as patients, or as family members of patients. More often than not though, you are apt to see the Doctor lauded, and the nurse put down, or ignored all together.
Is Hollywood unaware of the shortage currently threatening the ability of hospitals to even operate? Are they also aware that much funnier things happen in the world of nursing? Granted, poop stories portrayed on the small screen are not going to do nursing a whole lot of good either, but at least they don't denigrate the individuals who actually work as nurses.
Strong character development would not be hard to accomplish, with plots that were not detrimental to nurses would also be easy to write. So far, ER has come the closest to presenting good nurse role models in my mind. However they occasionally tread into the worship the doctor mode, but then you usually get to see the same doctor humbled quite nicely in a later episode.
Why the diatribe? Well, I am realizing that I am entering into a field, where I will gain a much-needed shot of autonomy in my practice, and also a jump in the respect I will receive while practicing. Conversely I also will have to deal with the public's perception of what nurses are, as well as describe what I am. I have every ambition of keeping my head up and proclaiming my nursehood. But I can at the same time see that it would be pretty easy to fall into complacency and just meld into the woodwork, when time came to tell someone what I do. "Oh, I work in Anesthesia", and hope that they assume you are a doctor, and move on to another topic. Currently, I stop and spend the time to educate the person I am talking to. But, what do you say when someone responds with, "Well that must have been quite a compliment to be thought of as a Doctor"? Or some other asinine comment. I usually correct them, and say that "no it is not a compliment", and then go on to tell them why that is. I wonder how many other professions go through this? BTW I know women who have the same thoughts, actually the compliment above was given to a female nurse.
Anyway, I am going to leave this hanging for now, and go write something for a grade, and not an audience.
