Dissecting ZDogg MD’s “Always a Nurse” Tribute
ZDogg’s musical tribute seems like a genuine effort to honor nurses, and a few bits highlight how tough and valuable nursing is. But most of the song reinforces the unskilled angel or other damaging stereotypes.
February 2020 – To celebrate the WHO’s “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife,” we decided to analyze ZDogg MD’s video tribute to nurses from May 2019. Set to the tune of Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman,” ZDogg’s tribute has 9.1 million views on Facebook. Sadly, most of it reinforces the unskilled angel or other damaging stereotypes, starting with the title, which in effect merges nursing and femininity. But a few bits are actually helpful to nurses! Our line-by-line analysis follows in the form of a handy chart, with the song lines on the left and our views on the right. Cover up the right side and test your stereotype awareness!
| Line | Stereotype or sometimes not |
| She can cure with a smile | Angel |
| She can heal with her hands | Angel |
| She can ruin your high with 0.2 of Narcan | Battle-axe |
| She only sips Snapple where JCAHO can’t see | Angel / Unskilled (obedient serf) |
| She’s wise like a doc but she’s always a nurse to me | You could be a doctor! stereotype / Vague compliment – wise in what way? |
| She can lead you to vax | Great! |
| She can calm you and teach you | Great! |
| She can ask for your med list but she’ll never believe you | OK, she’s not a pushover, but there’s a little battle-axe too |
| and she’s got a side hustle — loan interest ain’t free | OK, she has a tough road, but some angel for having to endure inadequate pay |
| Steal your pen like a thief but she’s always a nurse to me | Human, a refreshing 3-dimensional non-stereotyped depiction, although we’re not sure nurses are more likely to swipe items from colleagues in the clinical setting. Ask nurses who steals their lunches from the staff fridge. |
| Oh, she can’t care for herself | Angel because this line and many that follow hold this suffering up as virtue, something nurses should endure, rather than seek fair treatment for their own and their patients’ sake |
| Understaffing for months | Good to highlight this, but in context, also the angel |
| She’s again (working) overtime | Angel |
| Oh, she never takes breaks | Angel |
| and she never pees once | Angel |
| She just changes bed 9 | Angel / Unskilled |
| and his patients want more than the Garden of Eden | Angel |
| and they still call him doc when he says he’s Nurse Steven | Good, a rejection of the You could be a doctor! stereotype |
| Still he brings out the best a caregiver can be | Angel |
| Blame it all on yourself, a nurse ain’t always a woman you see | Great! |
| Oh they take care of you well | Angel |
| Despite one nurse to nine | Angel |
| Their license on the line | Angel |
| Oh and she never gives out | Angel |
| And he never calls in | Angel |
| They just coded bed 9 | Good |
| She is caring and kind when you’re suddenly cruel | Angel |
| He can smile and stay calm while you act like a tool | May imply psychosocial skill, but also, the angel |
| And unlike that Gwyneth she’s earned her degree | Great! |
| And you love what you do although praises are few yet | Angel |
| You are always a hero to me | OK |
What about nurses who practice in settings other than acute care??
Thank you!
I enjoyed listening to Zdoggmd. I think you are putting too much into the words that he chose.
Zdogg supports nurses and doctors working at the bedside. He uses humor to show how the healthcare system is broken.
Sandy maybe you too should be supporting all healthcare professional like Zdogg does. The system is broken and needs to be fixed. He’s not what is broken. It’s the people in the Ivy towers telling us to do more with less. Upper management against safe staffing.
Spot on Jadene. I am not at all offended by this riff that Z did. I def think that someone is reading waay to much into dissecting this.
Yeah Jadene! Not offensive but this blog is! Nursing is a profession but it is also about caring and compassion. There is no shame in bringing comfort to a patient. You can do that and be very smart at the same time. A good nurse knows when to be kind and when to be tough. Doesn’t make her or him unprofessional, an angel, or a battle axe. It makes them a nurse.
This is a great tribute song! Unskilled because of changing a bed? Seriously! I heard a youngun’ say once that getting a bedpan was not her job. It’s everyone’s job who is working that day! This is a very sad “dissection”.
So we need to find a nurse to write a new song with uplifting & realistic images and a groups of nurses to record it and another group of nurses to video it … We need to create the image and not wait for others to define us .
Good dissecting! I think it’s spot on. I think changing a bed should not be seen as menial. There is much to be learned about a patient’s state of health by changing a bed. I am concerned that younger nurses don’t appreciate the importance of this task. Of course the patient’s comfort is an important component of care as well!
You do know that actual bedside nurses contributed to the lyrics and submitted the photos for this video, right? I only say this because one of my photos made it to the video…and I’ve never been prouder. Maybe you should check the credits on his site.
I did not take offense to this at all. I think zdogg was raising awareness of current nursing issues like the code in bed 9 because of lack of staffing. I think to have sense of humor is better than being outraged all the time.
Totally agree! Shine the light on nursing! I find ZdoggMD exactly what is needed to support nursing as part of the team. Nurses are in the trenches and evaluate and report the patient responses ….caring and healing based on science. The use of humor is how the message gets through. Read House of God. No offense to this video here.
In general I usually agree with Truth About Nursing’s appraisal of nursing the media, but I think you missed the mark here. I think you are reading way to much into this by inferring it’s a backhanded compliment. Lighten up a little, would you? ZDogg said some very nice things about nurses and nursing in general. You say angel like it’s a bad thing. I’ve never felt disrespected by being referred to as an angel. Yes, I know stereotypes are bad in general, but I don’t think that’s what was inferred in ZDogg’s song. I think you are the ones inferring this. ZDogg has been one of few physicians who has stood up for nurses publicly— albeit humorously at times. Give the guy a break!
Love this tribute to nurses. Thank you Zdoggmd!!!!!
Yes thank you ZDoggMD !!!!
I love this song. He is singing about how it is, not how it should be. He is saying we are heroes because of the unfair and harsh conditions we work through and yes, some of us do smile at our patients. Stop being so sensitive about comedy and commentary. I’d rather have a Dr. sing about me this way rather than throwing a chart or making me vacate my chair. And honestly he hasn’t said anything that most of us haven’t complained about ourselves.
I thought the video and lyrics were great, and disagree with the breakdown (something I have NEVER said about a Truth About Nursing assessment before.) Ruining a high with Narcan is a sign of a battle-ax? Drinking Snapple where JCAHO can’t see is a sign of an obedient serf? Yikes. This was really a reach. Sometimes humor and appreciation is just that: humor and appreciation.
I agree that your dissection is a little off the mark. First, consider that he had to fit the lyrics to the music and make each word count. I don’t interpret any of the lyrics as demeaning; ZDogg nails it with a heartfelt tribute.
Thank you ZDogg!
I believe the intention of ZDoggMD is positive praise of nurses and nursing. He is fitting the words in and around the original song. The only thing that really irks me is that the gender focuses in the main on female, a point too that The Truth About Nursing fails to really offer any comment on, when analysing the above.
Please, cut the guy some slack; he truly appreciates nurses. To dissect the song line by line is displaying a thin skin, lacks a sense of humor and the inability to show some appreciation to someone who pays tribute to the profession. The critique by “Truth About Nursing” seems evident by the breakdown that nurses will never appreciate creativity without being critical if it isn’t absolutely perfect and plain critical at every twist and turn; it’s a song, the words need to fit the tune. Lighten up nurses and appreciate this gentleman who goes to these great lengths to communicate the immensely difficult jobs nurses both males and females have. From this nurse to Dr. ZDogg, thank you for the tribute!
While we appreciate that ZDogg is trying to help, our job is to examine media creations and their effect on people. The majority of the images in this video consist of unskilled tending by angels. Very few media creators actually intend to harm nursing. Most of the media that does intend to harm nursing is created by physicians who baselessly attack advanced practice nurses. But when media creators who are “trying to help” unintentionally harm nursing, harm is done nonetheless–even if they didn’t mean to cause harm. Our job is to raise awareness, even for those with good intentions, so everyone better understands how media stereotypes and unhelpful thinking harm nursing, so we can all do better in the future.
Yes! He should have had actual nurses submit photos of themselves instead, oh wait that is exactly what he did. Photos of what you call nursing skills being demonstrated isn’t the point of this video. Just being a nurse at all is a skill in and of it self so as far as I am concerned a selfie of any nurse is a photo of a nursing skill and an angel to boot. By the way, very first thing I learned in nursing school was the so called unskilled work you seem to put down here, bed baths and hand holding, smiling and reassuring are all what nursing is built upon- taking care of the person. Nursing is an art and passion, not a learned set of skills to be regurgitated! This video is a love letter to nurses from a physician, a pretty uncommon occurence, written from the heart saying to us that we are seen for all we do despite having to put up with negativity. It’s a love letter to nurses and an acknowledgement that we are being heard. Dissecting it line by line cheapens it and removes the passionate meaning behind it. Much like trying to dissect a beautiful poem, it ruins the overall message when separated. You missed the point entirely.
you are full of caca. No one else has done a tribute. get your head out of your arse and have a chuckle at some of the depictions.
Curing with a smile and healing with her hands are embodiments of Watson’s theory of caring. Bringing out the best a caregiver can be may refer to family teaching and caregiver support. I think his chosen lyrics embody the realities of acute care nursing and she’d light on flaws in the system we should change (understaffing, verbal and physical abuse by patients.)
ZDogg for life, and I’ve been a nurse 37 years! Keep it up my tribe❤️
26 years of bedside nursing for me. I’m far more offended that HCAHPS scores allow patients to rate me as a “professional” based on my ability to produce turkey sandwiches and warm blankets on demand. Government regulations and initiatives are far more patronizing of our practice than this parody. ZDogg is very pro-nursing – I think your assessment has missed the mark.
Have you considered having the pole removed from your ass?
Exactly…
I feel sad for you that you are so critical of positivity. If you feel insecure about changing a bed it is not because of a song but because of something inside. It is a very large part of my job and I’m proud of it.
Anita, you are a nurse I would be proud to employ or have take care of me! Thank you!
Dissecting any lyric and attributing it to a stereotype is well kinda a task similar to watching chrome rust.
Why bother .. what is the purpose .. this tribute song depicts real nurses doing what real working nurses do
Perhaps reviewing television series that depict nurses unrealistically would have been a better choice.
Or perhaps “The View” cast trivializing a Nursing monologue would have been a better choice to dissect their discussion
This was a tribute not a trivialization .. why trivialize this video that was a collaboration between the performer who wanted to make sure Nursing was able to share the reality of working in healthcare today .
Not offended at all by ZDogg’s parodies! As anyone who actually listens to what he has to say, whether through his parodies or discussions, knows that he brings to light real issues that face nursing (as well as other health care professionals) all the time. There are far greatest issues on social media that negatively impact nursing more than this specific video.
Healthcare is broken. This kind of crap perpetuates the us vs them mentality. It’s a huge problem. We need to work together to fix it. Not tear down other clinicians that are not nurses.
Tearing apart a very heartfelt sentiment and support of nurses only goes to show the insecurity of the person doing it.
Try some incense and fairy dust instead of derision.
Historically there has been friction between physicians and nurses. However I’ve been following ZDogg long enough to know he has respect and appreciation for the nursing. As far as stereotypes, some still exist (male heterosexual here) and I’ve had to educate some folks. This video to fantastic leave ZDogg alone.
First problem, people still using stereo-types. I am not the stereotypical nurse but, many patients are thankful for me being their nurse. I am loud, I do not coddle, I will fight tooth and nail if I see that the physician is missing the issue, I will hold your hand and listen or I will let you know that your anxiety is getting out of hand and calm you down.
Please stop putting us in boxes that you determine is appropriate or not.
I’m genuinely curious, are the authors of this blog actually nurses, do they have ANY clinical experience taking care of patients at all? Or did they just decide to take a video and pick apart the lyrics and decide they were condescending and paternalistic and reinforcing an angel stereotype? Are the authors “journalists”? If so did they do any research? Do thy know that the photos in the video are nurses or that a good portion of the lyrics were submitted by actual bedside nurses? And maybe the fact that we can’t pee or haven’t taken a break or are working overtime again or are sweet when you act like a tool isn’t perpetuating an angel stereotype it’s because we’re so understaffed and our healthcare system is so broken that our pay and jobs are directly influenced by said tools satisfaction scores and the song was trying to make light of that? Hmmmmm…… Also the part about cleaning or feeding patients perpetuating the idea that nursing is unskilled. That’s just silly. Because cleaning and feeding people comes with the job in acute care sometimes. Not all departments in all facilities employ CNAs or techs. Or we just shouldn’t talk about it so joe public doesn’t think we’re unskilled? The point of the freaking song is that we do all these things. They should have added a line about checking our strangers veins in supermarkets though (nurse porn) ? maybe that would have made the authors not think ZDogg was perpetuating an angel stereotype
It’s not a stereotype if it’s true, right? I’ll own it.
I think he did a good job of capturing what we as nurses do, and the challenges we face. I personally believe our system is broken because we have disconnected leaders who neither understand or care to understand the front line battle, and if you are a leader who supports your staff you don’t last long. Our system will never change until we truly have clinical leadership at the top in systems versus administrators who haven’t ever touched a patient. It would be interesting to see how quickly our system would crumble if all of us took the same day off. That will never happen because patients come before our pride, our kudos, and usually ourselves. I wouldn’t have it any other way because I’m proud to be a nurse, and of all my fellow colleagues who are making a difference in the lives of those we care for every day. Thanks Doc Z for your song.
It’s disappointing to see a critique of such a sweet, positive tribute. Heart and skill are NOT mutually exclusive; in fact, you need both to be a great nurse. You don’t think compassion, patience, grace under pressure, listening, strong work ethic, therapeutic communication, etc. are skills? Those qualities are the reason that nursing is still the most trusted profession.
And you know what? If you or your loved one are sick and scared in the hospital, a good nurse IS AN ANGEL. That is not an insult.
I’d like to recommend that the author spend some time dissecting “The Coddling of the American Mind” by Jonathan Haidt
So you have a Medical Doctor who takes the time to write a song supporting Nurses, and who constantly and almost daily makes posts about supporting Nurses, but still you have the courage to criticise it. It’s because of atitudes like this that Nurses aren’t more respected. Why would other healthcare professionals respect Nurses when some members amongst us constantly and persistently show a complex of inferiority?
Clearly experience is missing here. I think being the angel at the bedside, the badass and all of the stereotypes all at the same time. Every day. Depending on which one you need. This is what we do. Anyone that has been and still are at the bedside knows this almost every shift. And proud of it. This is petty.
It’s apparent this review of ZDoggs song was not written by a nurse that has actually worked at the bedside. If you had, you would know this nurse tribute is spot on. If you continue to keep pushing an untrue narrative about what nursing is truly like in a busy hospital your “students” will be dropping like flies when they go into the real world. If you really want to help the nursing profession be an advocate for better staffing and safer patient care, not picking apart parody songs. You are ridiculous.
In response to T Porter, we DO review television that degrades nurses. Please click below to see the many dozens of shows we have reviewed: https://www.truthaboutnursing.org/media/tv/index.html, and films https://www.truthaboutnursing.org/media/films/index.html and music https://www.truthaboutnursing.org/media/music/index.html and other media https://blog.truthaboutnursing.org
And regarding “The View,” we were the ones who negotiated their apology
https://www.truthaboutnursing.org/news/2015/sep/kelley_johnson_the_view.html
Perhaps you should stick Hollywood reviews. Everyone knows actual medical professionals don’t watch that crap.
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that your goal here wasn’t to offend the hundreds of nurses that contributed to this tribute. But the reality is: you did.
Perhaps an apology? Careful though…you wouldn’t be any anyone thinking you’re too kind, caring or angelic.
Are you saying that nurses should leave their patients lying in feces because to clean them perpetuates the idea that they are “unskilled”?
Maybe what you are saying is that nurses should take all their breaks and never pick up the slack for poor staffing because it’s more important to stand up to the “stereotype” that nurses are “angels” (AKA caring, generous, kind, beautiful, patient advocates) than to actually make sure people’s pain gets treated and their suffering is eased.
Or perhaps nurses should let that teenager who tried drugs for the first time go ahead and die of an overdose because to push Narcan looks too much like being a “battle-ax”.
The professional, critically thinking, educated nurse is the one who “cleans bed 9” because bed 9 is at risk of sepsis from stool getting into their sacral decubitis ulcer. The professional, critically thinking, educated nurse actually knows that holding a hand and giving a smile and showing your care is more healing and therapeutic than almost anything sometimes — and is just what their patient needs to keep fighting and get better. The professional, critically thinking, educated nurse is going to do the “unskilled” task of walking their patient after surgery because they know this is key to avoiding pneumonia. The professional, critically thinking, educated nurse is caring and calm when the patient is suddenly cruel because to react negatively might make the patient leave against medical advice and then they will likely get sicker, suffer more, and may infect others in the community with whatever they have.
And, did you actually call nurses a “disempowered group”? Oh, that’s not insulting!!! And, it’s patently not true!! Nurses are passionate forces to be reckoned with — oh wait, that makes us sound like a bunch of battle axes. Sorry. I’ll go back to being kind and caring. Oops! That makes me an angel.
I’m more offended by your critique of this song than I am by any of it’s lyrics! It’s a song of love, gratitude, comradery, and respect from a doctor to and for nurses. It wasn’t made for the general public or intended to send a message to the general public.
I appreciate the intent, but the delivery was off the mark….this ditty continues to perpetuate the nurse in the role of the long-suffering angel of mercy, rather than the well-educated man or woman who is an essential member of the health care team.
When you are sick and in need of help and maybe not acting your very best, don’t you need and want a long-suffering angel of mercy?
Nobody cares how much you know unless they know how much your care!
This critique of the lyrics baffles me because coding bed 9 is considered a “good” nursing activity, but changing bed 9 is “unskilled” and therefore should not be talked about.
See, the reality is that coding a patient is not “good” at all. It’s certainly not fun. It’s often demoralizing! Sometimes you feel the ribs break in your hands. I’m this super cool, super smart, super educated, certified in my specialty nurse that cares for patients after open heart surgery. And nothing brought me to my knees in despair and horror more than doing chest compressions with my bare hands (because I RAN to the patient when I saw asystole on the monitors and didn’t stop for gloves) on a fresh sternotomy. The incision oozed on my fingers and the freshly cut sternum crunched and slipped into bogginess without any recoil as I compressed. Not good. Not even close to good. Actually one of the worst days of my career! Oh I showed the world how smart, proactive, educated and skilled I was! I did all the right things! But, I was devastated and it was traumatic!
So often coding a patient is clouded in hopelessness because if you’re a nurse who has been around the block any number of times you know that even if you get the heart beating again, that person will never be the same and likely won’t wake up or get off the vent you just put them on. Any nurse with a conscience asks themselves if there was something they missed or something they could have done differently to AVOID the patient becoming so sick that they coded. Nothing makes a nurse feel more small, more sad, or more helpless and questioning of their skill than coding their patient. And, truly, changing a bed, cleaning a patient, repositioning or walking them — these “unskilled” activities are the very things we MUST do to keep patient healing moving in the right direction and away from coding,
Nurses are the “most trusted” profession.
https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/01/10/nurse-trusted
Yes. Most trusted PROFESSION. As in “professional”. That’s a pretty fantastic public image we have. And, I don’t think we have that image because we refuse to be considered “angels of mercy”. I think we have that image because most of us actually ARE angels of mercy (albeit potty mouthed and prone to inappropriate laughter).
I think your analysis of the song was perfectly fair.