I watched yesterday the Oscar-winner "Crash"... moment when Chinese woman running down the hospital hall screaming on Chinese, and she is approached by the nurse, who asked her in sympathetic and caring way: Do you speak English? And she yelled at nurse: Of course, I speak English, you stupid cow!
Yeah, sure, that's what we are there for - yell, scream, fuss, demand, curse. Whatever you want; what a great education for the general public to recognize and respect their nurses. Now as the hospitals taking the "customer service" approach, it seems people do not realize anymore they are in a hospital, in structured environment, and expecting super-service at the level of Hilton hotel, because they are paying so much money to be there. Just a thought.
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I saw Crash a few months ago, and I vaguely recall the scene mentioned. The woman who said this was bad, correct? I think the character saying this only illustrated what an ugly woman she was. I'm think that was the point, plus don't assume someone who appears foreign can't speak English. It's not like the message was that nurses aren't deserving of respect, quite the contrary. Having an ugly character say such a thing illustrated 1) bad, bad character, and by implication that one should never speak to a nurse this way.
Speaking of movies and nurses, I did notice how HBO's Angels in America portrayed the nurses in such a positive light. Remember the nurse who examined and took care of one of the characters? She acted with such autonomy, I'm thinking she was a NP. I can't remember her name. I think she's a British actress. Also the male nurse, another fantastic and positive portrayal of nurses. Bravo HBO!
edited to add: Emma Thompson, I just remembered the actresses name!
Specializes in ICU, CCU, Trauma, neuro, Geriatrics.
Inappropriate behavior for a full lifetime is not easy to correct in a short hospital stay. We as nurses need to have management and social workers assist us in letting patients know that we are very caring people but...we are here to correct whatever medical problem they presented with.
There were a lot of messages that I took away from that movie, but I don't even remember that scene. Not that it is ever right to call someone a "stupid cow", but was she a nurse? and people in distress do strange things........anyways, of all the messages in "Crash" that stick out in your mind......
I remembered the scene, but only because the OP described it. As I recall, I didn't see it as a reflection on nursing, but as a portrayal of 2 races interacting.
We admitted a man one evening that cursed everybody including his family member who cared for him at home. No psych prob., just plain mean. He made impossible demands, and then would hurl verbal abuse upon anyone who either tried to accomodate those demands or who tried to explain why he could not have what he wanted. You could hear him all over the unit. He ended up staying less than 12 hours. Wasn't my patient, so I don't know details. However, I heard the MD state, "He can talk to me that way, but he can't talk to my nurses that way." (Please ignore the "my," this MD did not mean it in the traditional "my nurse" kind of way.) Then, the patient was discharged. 2 RNs and the charge nurse worked on that one! The charge nurse took him to the car with him still hurling verbal abuse. Felt really bad for the family members as they live with this all the time.
I watched yesterday the Oscar-winner "Crash"... moment when Chinese woman running down the hospital hall screaming on Chinese, and she is approached by the nurse, who asked her in sympathetic and caring way: Do you speak English? And she yelled at nurse: Of course, I speak English, you stupid cow!
Well, that's the movies. In real life if that had happened to me, I'd have had a good way to respond to that...
we just watched that movie last week and mid-way through i realized that it was meant to demonstrate the kind of stereotyping we are all guilty of on some level, as well as pointing out that we all have a bit of, if not evil, then less than nice, part about us. it really was a thought provoking movie.
when the chinese woman used the "stupid cow" phrase, i told my dh, "uh-oh, someone on allnurses.com will take that one little thing away from this movie and miss the bigger picture altogether";) that woman would have used the same phrase to any woman; the fact that it happened to be a nurse is not important to the film and it does not in any way demonstrate the lack of respect many nurses feel is lacking. i think, however, that we all forget that respect should be earned, not just handed out on a carte blanche basis.
as a nurse i feel i must earn the respect of my patients and co-workers rather than to expect it be given me just because i have rn behind my signature.
I suppose we can be a little more sensitive and pick up on these things because we are nurses. But we are not alone. I come from a family where many are in law enforcement and over and over they are also portrayed in a not so good light. It is sad...no respect.
Multicollinearity, BSN, RN
3,119 Posts
I saw Crash a few months ago, and I vaguely recall the scene mentioned. The woman who said this was bad, correct? I think the character saying this only illustrated what an ugly woman she was. I'm think that was the point, plus don't assume someone who appears foreign can't speak English. It's not like the message was that nurses aren't deserving of respect, quite the contrary. Having an ugly character say such a thing illustrated 1) bad, bad character, and by implication that one should never speak to a nurse this way.