June 16, 2003 -- Tonight's prime time episode of ABC's "The View," which
consisted of a "His and Her Body Test" designed to impart basic health
information, included an attack on nursing, with co-host Meredith Vieira
appearing disguised as an "ugly nurse"--as Vieira herself put it in
previews--for comic interactions with passersby in a New York mall,
including one segment in which Vieira cared for a woman's "shin splints"
by drawing a happy face on her leg.
The episode was structured around a series of multiple choice questions on health issues, with an unsurprising focus on sexuality, and it did convey some useful information. The talk show's four co-hosts and a few celebrity guests offered serious and joking answers to the test questions. A rotating crew of physicians served as quizmasters, supplying the correct answers and graciously accepting praise (such as Vieira's comment that those with the highest total quiz scores were so smart they should have gone to medical school), as well as the other benefits of appearing on national television. Of course, the lack of any real nurses on a show devoted to the patient education and preventative care at which they excel, though unfortunate, is hardly unusual in a media environment still dominated by physician-centric views.
But what made the episode so anti-nurse was Vieira's "ugly nurse" segments. In contrast to the high regard the show displayed for the articulate, telegenic physicians, the "ugly nurse"'s appearance was cosmetically sabotaged. ("The View"'s web site describes these segments as Ms. Vieira "harassing unsuspecting folks at New York's Nanuet Mall when she went undercover disguised as a nurse.") The "ugly nurse" displayed no real expertise. Instead, she asked shoppers inane questions about faking orgasms and whether happy faces relieved the pain of shin splints. To the extent these segments had a conscious purpose beyond getting laughs, it may have been to emphasize how badly the average person needs the kind of guidance the episode provided, a point also made in one physician's recounting of the results of a poll the home audience had taken using the quiz questions. But the effect of using a "nurse" for this was to reinforce a harmful stereotype, namely that nurses are ditzy lightweights without knowledge or skills.
The "ugly" element operated as a curious final kick, since it is still far more common to see the reverse stereotype of the attractive "naughty nurse" in the media. We can only speculate that the show, sensitive to some women's issues, could see the problems with objectifying a female character, so it chose to go in the opposite direction.
Today, in the midst of a nursing shortage that is one of the nation's gravest public health problems--when dedicated, highly skilled nurses save or improve millions of lives every day despite short staffing that endangers their patients' health and their own well-being--it is sad that some seem to feel that female empowerment involves slavishly embracing medicine, to which women can now aspire, while blatantly disrespecting nurses, over 90% of whom are still women. To see these attitudes on Barbara Walters' "The View"--a popular, award-winning show celebrated for being progressive on women's issues--is more than a little ironic.
We encourage anyone who objects to this episode's "view" of nurses to write to "The Viewmaster" at the show's web site and urge the show to make amends to the nursing profession by creating a primetime show about the rewards of working in the nursing profession. If you do send an email, please send us a copy of it at [email protected] so that we can monitor the effectiveness of this campaign. Thank you.
Although I definitely don't agree with the View and its depiction of nursing, I don't think that it will have an effect on those wanting to become nurses. Those that really want to become a nurse will like many on this BB take exception to this view. Those that do "change their career direction" because of this depiction weren't very into nursing in the first place.
What they should do is have some patients go on TV and tell about their experiences in the hospital, specifically who their chief caregivers were and how very briefly they see their doctors.
Two years ago I was sitting on my couch nursing a newborn baby boy and flipping through the channels and ended up watching "The View". Star said something I found unfair and I went to the website and there was a place to personally email each of the ladies. I sent an email to Star and I heard back the next day.
I too think it is a "fluff" show . . . . but I do watch it sometimes while cleaning the house. Then I turn the tv off and turn on the rock and roll . . .. more fun to clean house while dancing. Or listen to talk radio. Or sit at the computer and get nothing done.
I too e-mailed them. I suggested they try coming and working with a nurse on a busy medical-surgical floor and see who does the work of caring for and curing pts. I also mentioned that the majority of education provided to pts is provided by the nurses in most settings. This is precisely why I prefer to see the APRN at my MD's office because they take the time to explain things to me and not just hand me a prescription or send me for a test and send me out the door clueless so they can hurry to the next patient.
I know they don't care but i feel better having just been able to vent.
I missed the prime time special but watch the show regularly.
As lighthearted as the "ugly nurse" sketch might have been, I concur with many of you, that didn't make it right because with the critical nursing situation we cannot affort further denigration of nurses perpetuated by the media.
As for The View, I have mixed opinions, and I've also seen Meredith announce once that there was a group of nurses in the audience three weeks ago, and they received a strong round of applause....
SmilingBluEyes
20,964 Posts
You are right, catsrule. It's just fluff ....
and I can't watch it. I would rather spend my time with a good book, I guess. I don't like fluff, espeically when it becomes mean-spirited fluff.
No one should hold his/her breath, awaiting a response. But it is good for the soul to register one's opinion/disagreement anyhow.