Do New Primetime Shows Nurse Jackie and HawthoRNe Help Nursing? Maybe It Doesn't Matter
Jun 29, 2009
It is not too often that mainstream and nursing news overlap, but recently that’s exactly what has happened. Two new television programs that feature RNs as lead characters have the entertainment and nursing worlds a buzz. The first, HawthoRNe, stars Jada Pinkett-Smith as a chief nursing officer at a hospital in Richmond, Va. Hawthorne, according to TNT’s Website, "is the kind of nurse who fights for her patients and doesn’t let them slip through the cracks. When necessary, she takes on doctors and administrators who are overworked, distracted or just unable to see the human being behind the hospital chart."
The second show, Nurse Jackie stars Edie Falco, formerly of Sopranos fame. Airing on Showtime, Falco plays an experienced, highly skilled ER nurse with a passion for her patients, but who has developed a bitter edge and a just a few bad habits (an affair with the hospital pharmacist and a not-unrelated prescription drug addiction, just two of them).
A quick review of what the nursing community is writing about and it is clear both shows receive mixed reviews. For example, some applaud Nurse Jackie’s focus on the main character’s patient care knowledge. In the series' first episode, Jackie assesses an emergency room patient, observes a significant problem and immediately alerts the doctor. This example demonstrates to the audience that nurses are educated and experienced. Critics speak up when, in the very next scene, we see Jackie abusing prescription drugs to "get her through her shift" or help her deal with severe back pain.
We at the Center will refrain from giving our review of either show in terms of entertainment value or accuracy in the portrayals of nursing. Instead, we’re wondering, do shows like Nurse Jackie and HawthoRNe really impact how health care consumers view nurses and careers in nursing? Let’s examine the evidence. According to a 2008 review of the evidence by Karen Donelan, Peter Buerhaus, and colleagues:
- Nurses rank highly (often first) in public opinion polls measuring the most trustworthy, honest and ethical professions.
- News stories about RNs working in disaster situations, such as Hurricane Katrina, generate substantial public respect for nurses (of the 66% who report seeing these stories, 75% say it positively impact their view of nurses).
- However, television shows and advertisements, as well as negative news stories about strikes, are more likely to have no impact than a positive or negative impact on the public’s respect for nurses.
- The public is significantly more likely to recommend either nursing or a career in medicine to qualified students than are either doctors or nurses. People who watch television shows (such as ER, Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy) were more likely to recommend both careers as compared with people who did not watch these programs.
So, television offers some influence. But, it is important to remember, that, according to the researchers, "the single biggest influence on conversations about nursing careers is personal experience with nurses as a patient or family members." In fact, they concluded "that while people are exposed to nurses in a variety of media, this exposure is more helpful than harmful."
There is the saying we can’t let the perfect get in the way of progress. Perhaps these RN characters are not perfect, but what’s most important is that they are lead characters in network shows, rather than supporting roles overshadowed by other providers, providing the public with more exposure to nurses. We will just have to hope that these findings hold true; in the end, these characters will do more good than harm.
Comments
I think that Nurse TV is one of the best shows about real nurses. It is also accessable at nursetv.com. The only thing is that the nurse themselves has to contact the show to be on it.
Michelle, RN
Iowa
I love nursing, and I love being a nurse. This is the most oppertune time in history and life to get out there in the forefront with nursing organizaions locally and nationally to speak out and demand change. A nurse has been at the forefront of every public advancement made in any society. I love to watch nursing tv the more exposure of the art and science of nursing the better. Hail, "NURSE POWER"
Reneatta LPN, student- RN
Miami, FL
As a critical care nurse, I can see the reality as well as the BS the producers add to the shows to make them more interesting to the public. It's too bad Nurse Jackie is portrayed as a two timing, drug seeking, nurse ratchet.... Much of the show hits home with issues and situations, like dying and working short. Nurse HawthoRNe is shown to have much more power and clout than a regular nurse in her position would have. I was shocked at some of the things she did. I guess rating are the most important thing, but it may discredit nurses in the bigger picture.
I am not impressed with Nurse TV. It is unrealistic and often inaccurate. They need to hire real nurses to edit this venue. Or hire a nurse who has really worked in a hospital. I found ER more realistic than "nurse Jackie".
Jan Huff RN
Ok. I have only seen the first episode of Nurse Jackie and I thought she behaved like a real nurse.She looks like a nurse. She is intelligent, hard-working, and is caring. She is also capable of talking to a doctor on an equal level and make her point. I really don't care for the affair and the drug abuse, but it makes for good TV and it does happen.
As for, HawthoRNe, I laugh quite a bit when I watch this show. We talk about it at work the next day and I laugh again. The male RN gives an obvious overdose of insulin because he couldn't reach the doctor;the nurse administrator, Hawthorne, does more patient care than an actual nurse has time to do; the young, new graduate in the ER cries when a doctor snaps at her and looks teary eyed at every other moment. Hawthorne and her doctor friend strip the bed after a patient dies. A DOCTOR STRIPPING A BED! The homeless women is hired off the street to work in the lab, walking through the hospital with patient specimens and snapping at nurses to move faster. And, of course, there is the cute nurse with all the makeup. No nurse wears that much makeup unless she works post-partum. It would melt off her face in the course of a busy day as a floor nurse, ER nurse, or unit nurse.
I wish they would take some medical shows out of the ER setting and go to the floors. Lots of drama and the ugly side of nursing. I love being a nurse, but I would like to see it portrayed honestly for once. Patient care at the bedside is the real work in a hospital. The patient is there for days, not hours. Individual personalities are on display across a wide range of people...nurses, doctors, nursing assistants, administrative supervisors, patients, family, visitors, case managers, dietary, housekeeping, secretaries, charge nurses, head nurses, call-ins, floaters, agency staff. Not always pretty, but always real. And, I think this picture of nursing would show America where health care stands at this moment. We are all at the mercy of the insurance companies and people without insurance get the short end of the stick. They come in to us sicker and the means aren't there to help them stay on a path to renewed wellness. There are even nurses without health insurance because they have financial choices to make too.
Sheila, RN
""She is also capable of talking to a doctor on an equal level and make her point."
Nurses and doctors are not equals; they are trained to do different things. Nurses are not trained to make medical decisions or diagnose diseases. However, just because the doctor is making the medical decisions does not mean that the nurse is playing a less important role in patient care.
Television helps a lot, the elders, the disabilities, all the people that needs viewing entertainment especially in nursing homes.
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I am an RN who has worked in every area and I can tell you none of these shows are even close to reality.
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