Tired of "ER's" Portrayal of Nurses???

SmilingBluEyes · Nov 12, 2003

Thank you for that. I am doing my part. I agree, complaining without ANY plan of action is purty impotent. Thank you for that avenue in which to take a pro-active stand for nursing.

CarVsTree · Nov 12, 2003

I also just sent an e-mail to The Learning Channel/Discovery Channel asking them to do a program on Magnet hospitals and/or Graduate Nurses doing internships. I don't know if they'll do anything, but I pointed out the critical nursing shortage and the need for realistic portrayals of nurses roles as health professionals. I also said they have a responsibility to portray that (at least I think they do if they're going to have 2 programs focusing on MD residents and 52 programs on moms giving birth).

agent · Nov 12, 2003

Devil's Advocate:

There's a MAJOR fault in the argument they are making.

The "abby" character was originally a med student who settled into nursing.

Now she is just continuing where she left off.

Now if the argument is strictly based on the inferrment that doctors are better than nurses, then yes I agree they infer that, but so does most of the rest of the world.

An argument based on inferrment is not much of an argument, I'm sorry to say.

iliel · Nov 13, 2003

Actually, I talked to Sandy who runs the center this summer. She's been trying to get ER to change the description of Abby for a long time. Abby's site use to say she was a med student who was DEMOTED to nursing after her ex husband refused to pay tuition.

It was the use of the phrase "demoted to nursing" (it was recently changed which is only a small victory)

No one's demoted to nursing!

Now, they are trying to change a lot more about the show, like realistic Dr/Nurse ratios, etc.

allnurses Guide · Nov 13, 2003

Abby wasn't originally a med student who settled into nursing. She was an OB nurse who decided to go to medical school and had to drop out due to her husband's forgetfulness in depositing the funds for that tuition check, which then bounced.

She then continued to do the job she had been doing all along, nursing, only this time she transferred to the ER.

Actually I feel bad for the actors who portray the nurses in the background, who have been there since the beginning. Their lives would make great storylines. I'd love to see that fleshed out a bit more.

That said, I don't want to send anything that sounds like I got the info from an advocacy site. "Bullet point list" of grievances? Or asking me to write about the following:

"Send "ER" an email and let "ER" know:

"Nurses are at least 50 times more likely to go to graduate nursing school than medical school. "ER" should acknowledge that advanced practice registered nurses exist and portray them. Ask "ER" to have Abby Lockhart quit medical school and enter into an advanced practice nursing program. The Center would like to see her become an emergency/trauma Clinical Nurse Specialist so that she could stay on the show, display nursing expertise and teach the public what clinical nurse specialists do."

"Triage is not just a clerical assignment--it is a nursing responsibility. If patients have adverse consequences while waiting in triage, the triage nurse should accept--or be assigned responsibility, not a physician."

******************************************

I'd rather send my own little original note . . .this reminds me of the letter the troops sent over to newspapers, all saying the same thing. Not much credibility in that.

steph

-jt · Nov 13, 2003

The nurses in the background arent actors -- theyre real working nurses recruited from area hospital ERs for the roles. Theres also real nurses working on the set in the capacity of "technical advisors". So the question is where are their voices?

Another little tidbit I just found in an article in Nurseweek that was about the real nurses working on ER & how they got the job ---- the writer/producer of ER is a medical doctor. Maybe some of his fantasies about what an RN should be - along with some of his biases about nurses - are showing in his script writing. Didnt see his name on the list of people to email, though. Didnt see any names of nurse technical advisors either.

article: Reel RNs:

Nurse extras keep it real on the set of television's 'ER' to ensure authenticity and to help cast and crew give it their best shot

http://www.nurseweek.com/news/features/03-06/er.asp

allnurses Guide · Nov 13, 2003

No, not those background actors. I meant the ones like Malik and Shooney (sp?) and the rest who have peripheral roles.

steph

javajunkie · Nov 13, 2003

You mean ER is real? So, I WILL get to hook up with that hottie Croatian attending and that independently wealthy doctor at MY hospital? Cool. God, I hope my bipolar mother is taking her meds.

It's just a show people.

Liann · Nov 13, 2003

In my opinion, ER is real enough to be interesting, and fictional enough to be entertaining. I enjoy yelling at the TV every week. I think that the portrayal of docs as failures in their personal lives is very believable, and the fact that the nurses are quietly getting the job done in the background is realistic.

I am a medical technologist (who is NEVER represented on the show) in the Blood Bank of a trauma center, and laugh out loud when the docs on ER yell for "all the O neg you got" Yeah. That happens. We are really going to give you everything on the shelf. Lets see you draw a specimen for a type and cross, that is correctly labelled, so I can give you type specific and manage my inventory responsibly, saving the O negs for women of child bearing age. Oh wait...thats not very dramatic, is it?

It is a TV show. They have to be dramatic!:chuckle

allnurses Guide · Nov 13, 2003

Javajunkie and Liann . . . :chuckle :roll

steph

agent · Nov 13, 2003

Originally posted by stevielynn
Abby wasn't originally a med student who settled into nursing. She was an OB nurse who decided to go to medical school and had to drop out due to her husband's forgetfulness in depositing the funds for that tuition check, which then bounced.

I stand corrected