Lani's Blog

Clueless Hollwood

I have been a nurse for 29 years and have seen a lot of changes. Unfortunately, the media and the public have been slow to embrace those changes. This imagined conversation is snippets of some I’ve had over the years especially with the younger nurses.





“I hate this show. Why are we watching it? I’m on dinner break. I don’t want to watch medical crap.”





“Because it’s interesting and because McSteamy is a hottie.”





“Come on change it. There is not one intelligent nurse one that show. And I saw that look you gave me. I mean it. When was the last time an intern started an IV around here?”





“Uh never.”





“Or transported a patient to the front door? Draw routine lab work or even run their own labs?”





“Again never.”





“When was the last time a doc held a patient’s hand and talked like McSlimey is doing now?”





“What’s your point?”





“My point is that Hollywood always shows doctors doing our jobs. Why? Because what we do is important. It matters. Sometimes it’s down right exciting and life changing. Gray’s Anatomy,House and E.R. portray interns and residents advocating for the patient to the attendings or adminin. We’re the ones at the bedsides 12 hours a day. They see the patients five minutes a day, if that, after they read our notes. We know our patients. We do the advocating to the residents,attendings and admin.”





“You’re on a rant. You better watch your blood pressure.”





“I know. I know. It just bothers me that we go to nursing school (which is harder than med school in some ways) get a degree, do the work and they get the glory for doing our job on these TV shows. Hollywood is clueless.”





“Okay so what do you want to watch?”





“If you want to watch backstabbin’ whiny, people, how about Survivor?”








This is not a rant to bash doctors. I work with some great docs who hold hands and talk with parents. Doctors and nurses have two very different, but complementary jobs. I’m just annoyed at how nurses are portrayed in the media.





I will cop to watching House. I love how he screws with people and the medical mysteries. Since I don’t work with adults, most of the shows don’t apply to me or my work. I just ignore the mostly nonexistent nurses, respiratory therapists, and lab techs on the show as does most of Hollywood.





Postscript





This article was produced before Mercy, Nurse Jackie and HawothoRNe made their debut. Of those shows, I’ve only seen Mercy and I’ve only seen it a couple oftimes. It annoyed me that they had the stereotypical doctor/nurse romance nonsense. So after spending 12 hours with nurses and in hospitals, I came to the conclusion that I don’t want to watch ‘em.





Lani