Nursing on TV
Posted 10-15-2008 at 12:34 PM by 1530_nurse
Dear colleagues,
I am an ICU nurse and I was totally offended in last night's episode of House in which it was implied that us nurses are there to clean-up vomit and nothing else. It amazes me that the public and more specifically the writers of soaps like House, have no clue as what nurses really do, and that is deplorable. In that show we see interns taking blood pressure readings, giving injections, drawing blood, taking patients down to MRI or to the operating room by themselves! I have to smile at this lack of insight and ignorance since it is a fact that without a nurse a doctor can not admit a patient and in reality doctors don't do any of these procedures. Yes, we do lots of clean-up, but we are also the eyes and ears of the physicians during the hours that they are not at the bedside. We carry the physicians orders but we don't do anything blindly, we use critical thinking in our practice. And how much time do we spend at the bedside that makes us experts at what we do? Well, let me think... while a physician may report in his progress report spending 30 to 40 minutes at the bedside, our shifts cover 8 to 12 hours continuously at the bedside monitoring vitals, side effects and reaction to treatments. So perhaps in a hospital while a team of doctors consult for a differential diagnosis, without its nurses and ancillary staff nothing would get done.
I believe we need to do a better job at marketing our profession. It is time for the public to stop thinking we are merely housekeepers.
I am an ICU nurse and I was totally offended in last night's episode of House in which it was implied that us nurses are there to clean-up vomit and nothing else. It amazes me that the public and more specifically the writers of soaps like House, have no clue as what nurses really do, and that is deplorable. In that show we see interns taking blood pressure readings, giving injections, drawing blood, taking patients down to MRI or to the operating room by themselves! I have to smile at this lack of insight and ignorance since it is a fact that without a nurse a doctor can not admit a patient and in reality doctors don't do any of these procedures. Yes, we do lots of clean-up, but we are also the eyes and ears of the physicians during the hours that they are not at the bedside. We carry the physicians orders but we don't do anything blindly, we use critical thinking in our practice. And how much time do we spend at the bedside that makes us experts at what we do? Well, let me think... while a physician may report in his progress report spending 30 to 40 minutes at the bedside, our shifts cover 8 to 12 hours continuously at the bedside monitoring vitals, side effects and reaction to treatments. So perhaps in a hospital while a team of doctors consult for a differential diagnosis, without its nurses and ancillary staff nothing would get done.
I believe we need to do a better job at marketing our profession. It is time for the public to stop thinking we are merely housekeepers.
Total Comments 4
Comments
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I HEAR YOU SISTER! We nurses should get together and write our own TV series with realistic scenes. I always laugh when I watch those "medical series" like House and Grey's Anatomy.....such nonsense! But I guess it's good entertainment for those who don't know any better...Posted 10-18-2008 at 10:18 AM by lpoulin24 
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I completely agree with the above posts. I too was very offended by the dialogue on House. I used to be a huge fan, but now I refuse to watch the show. There is at least one comment each episode in which nurses are demeaned and completely misrepesented. It is quite unbelievable that the writers of the show, and other similar programs, have no insight into the roles of nurses. It is also discouraging that these comments continue on a weekly basis and are considered great entertainment for millions of viewers.
Posted 10-28-2008 at 10:04 AM by e1aliz
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Lots of Doc's think thats all we are.
Posted 10-29-2008 at 10:09 AM by copperrose
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I cannot agree with you more! There have been a few times I've heard such comments made on tv shows and have had to change the channel because I was disgusted. I'm sorry but nurses run the hospitals!
Posted 01-15-2009 at 02:52 PM by jlrose2113
