Your take on actors playing "nurse"...

Staragate, ADN, ASN, RN · Apr 5, 2013

I love Carla from Scrubs. The show is hilarious, but don't mess with Carla!

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Apr 5, 2013

Carla from Scrubs is my favorite nurse. So is the other nurse on that show. She was an older black woman (I fail to remember the character's name).

I also liked Carol Hathaway from ER.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Apr 5, 2013

Carla from Scrubs is my favorite nurse. So is the other nurse on that show. She was an older black woman (I fail to remember the character's name).
I also liked Carol Hathaway from ER.

Laverne.

That show mixed so many serious and funny moments.

uRNmyway, ASN, RN · Apr 5, 2013

I think that show Mercy actually tried to give a more realistic view of nurses. They failed miserably, but they are the only ones I've seen TRY!

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Apr 5, 2013

And don't forget to put your stethoscope on backwards-- tips pointing towards your pinnae, not your nose, so we can laugh when you listen and nod sagely.

christophernftl · Apr 5, 2013

Laverne.
That show mixed so many serious and funny moments.

Even as a full-grown man I am not ashamed to say I bawled like a little baby when she died. That show was all laughs until they threw a curveball and kicked you right in the pants with something sad.

aflower1325 · Apr 6, 2013

I think perhaps the most believable nurse that I have seen on television was Haleh from ER. She was the most "nurse like" in my opinion. And to note: my favorite medical show is ER and then House. House however really doesn't show the nursing side of it.

MN-Nurse, ASN, RN · Apr 6, 2013

If you had a tip for an actor/actress playing a nurse what would it be? Is there any medical shows that come close to being believable? What's your favorite medical show?

I am fan of the Nurse Jackie show. The show has almost nothing to do with nursing - much like MASH had nothing to do with the Korean War, but it's entertaining.

The one thing I always notice is that EVERYONE on the show (EMTs, MDs, nurses) wears their stethoscopes backward. They stick way out from the actor's head every time.

I remember thinking, "I know they have nurse technical advisors, why are they all doing it wrong?"

I realized, well if you aren't used to handling a stethoscope and you weren't actually listening to anything in them...if you put them in correctly, they would blast your ears as you banged them into things.

But if you put them in backwards, the sound is muffled. So I figured the actors were putting them in backwards on purpose.

So use a stethoscope that has the acoustics killed or put the dang thing in in backwards.

rumwynnieRN · Apr 6, 2013

I think perhaps the most believable nurse that I have seen on television was Haleh from ER. She was the most "nurse like" in my opinion. And to note: my favorite medical show is ER and then House. House however really doesn't show the nursing side of it.

I like Haleh too. I liked a lot of the ER nurses since they were all pretty believable, with few issues here and there. I hope one day I can say what Haleh says to Dr. Pratt's younger brother, "That's why God invented med students."

aflower1325 · Apr 6, 2013

Ah yes, that would be Chaz! Forgot about him. Dr. Pratt's death was so tragic! Gah the memories! But yeah, you do pick up on errors. But after all, they are actors and directors and writers, not doctors, nurses and surgeons! Besides, its TV. But, how can you not like ER? Made a lot of people now a days want to get involved in medicine one way or another.

RamblingSN · Apr 6, 2013

I hate the way most nurses are portrayed on TV. Like Olivia on Grey's Anatomy.

I do have to agree that Haleh was probably the most realistic.