Nurse Jackie says goodbye The Showtime comedy’s final seasons had flaws, occasionally suggesting that nurses report to physicians. But there was still a lot of expert care and creative advocacy from the…
Category: TELEVISION
A comedy of errors
Inside Amy Schumer mocks nurses In 2014 Inside Amy Schumer aired a segment called The Nurses (a parody of The Doctors) that viciously reinforced most major anti-nurse stereotypes, including the ignorant physician…
Love heals all things
A message to nurses from Angel Williams, the woman at the center of the 2010 Dr. Oz naughty nurse segment January 28, 2018 — We recently received a phone call from Angel…
Ratched or Wretched?
Netflix Should Support Women, Not Damaging Stereotypes by MarySue Heilemann, RN, PhD, FAAN January 25, 2018 Dear Nurses and Allies, I’m writing because the Nurse Ratched show in development at Netflix has…
Angels and advocates
The nurses of Fox’s Red Band Society February 2015 — Fox’s Red Band Society was a teen hospital drama that featured three recurring nurse characters, each somewhat stereotypical, yet each displaying some…
No nurses no care?
The Night Shift‘s third season October 2017 – Now that NBC’s summer hospital drama The Night Shift has aired its fourth and final season, let’s take a look back at the third…
Bartender of the emergency department
The Night Shift‘s first season October 2017 – Now that NBC’s summer hospital drama The Night Shift has finished its fourth and final season, it may be instructive to look back at…
The Defenders of San Fransokyo
The fall 2017 TV season offers a few bright spots for nursing Call the Midwife can be expected to offer a consistently good portrayal of nursing. Chicago Med and even The Defenders may…
American Horror Story: “Ratched”
Netflix and Ryan Murphy plan two-season TV origin story for one of the most damaging anti-nurse stereotypes in history September 7, 2017 – Today media sources reported that Netflix bought the new…
The doctor school dropout
NCIS: Los Angeles investigates nursing stereotypes October 23, 2016 – In tonight’s episode, the popular CBS drama NCIS: Los Angeles engaged briefly with some nursing stereotypes, especially those that apply to men…
Healers and heroes
Fall 2016 overview of nursing on television October 2016 — The new U.S. prime time season includes many health-related shows, but as in recent years, most are physician-centric. It appears that the…
She does very inappropriate things to kitten posters
The Middle toys with angel and battle-axe imagery October 2016 – Two recent episodes of the ABC sitcom The Middle included appearances by Holly, a nursing student who presented a mixed but…
Excessively skilled
Fall 2016 overview of nursing on television October 2016 — The new U.S. prime time season includes many health-related shows, but as in recent years, most are physician-centric. It appears that the…
Reckless
Fox News doesn’t want veterans to “settle” for nurses June 1, 2016 — Please join our petition protesting a damaging Fox News story whose video says “Vets may have to settle for…
Scary monsters and super creeps
Nurses and The Mindy Project May 2014 – On The Mindy Project (Fox), which focuses on a New York City obstetrics practice, all the characters are odd and silly. But the physicians…
Both sides now
PBS highlights Civil War nursing on Mercy Street February 2016 — PBS’s Mercy Street is a U.S. Civil War drama about the staff at a Union military hospital in Virginia that treats…
A girl in trouble is a temporary thing
Call the Midwife returns to PBS tonight March 29, 2015 — Tonight the BBC drama Call the Midwife begins airing its fourth season on PBS, as the show enters the 1960s. Last…
Hollow
Angel of death haunts Fox drama! November 17, 2014 — Tonight’s episode of Fox’s drama Sleepy Hollow featured a strikingly clear example of the angel-of-death image of nursing: The being who was…
Love! Witchcraft! Cupcakes!
Fall 2014 television overview October 2014 — The fall U.S. prime time television schedule has several new shows with nurses among the regular characters, although there is a notable trend toward the…
All due respect
Another 24 episodes of misinformation about what nurses do May 2014 – The tenth season of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy followed the show’s by-now-familiar model, clinically speaking: ; Surgeons gave all important hospital…