For those who have entered the nursing world, at some point in time it has been brought to your attention, if you hadn't realized it already, the fact that nursing is not represented well on television, or in movies for that matter. If you're not a RN, LPN, or student nurse you may or may not have noticed. I came across a blog earlier that discussed this issue, and the source was from
The Center for Nursing Advocacy website. It really is a sad state of affairs. But I got to thinking about what shows there have been, and there haven't been many. Recently my class was instructed to do an assignment. We were given the choice to read a book or watch a movie, and then relate it in an essay to the three attributes we feel are necessary to uphold as a nurse. One of the movie choices was
MASH. I had already started reading
Life Support, by Suzanne Gordon, but didn't think I would be able to finish it in time for the assignment deadline. So I rented
MASH and then proceeded to watch it. I had only ever watched the TV episodes, and thought the movie would be just as good. My opinion? WRONG! The theme
song was irritating in it's entirety, as it plays on and on and on for the opening sequence. "Suicide is Painless"? Whatever.
I digress. Normally I am not one to give up on a movie, but found it necessary for my existence with my only viable neuron of sanity left. I did get about half way through. The representation of nurses? Not so good! As usual they were the typical handmaiden for the doctors, or were just an object of lust for the men in general.
Even in the latest episode, the season opener of
Grey's Anatomy, the one nurse shown, Rose, was seen portraying a bitter woman cast aside by McDreamy-one of the surgeons on the show.
My thoughts led me to reflect-haha-on
China Beach.
Dana Delaney (you might know her from Desperate Housewives), Marg Helgenberger (of CSI fame), and a few other stars graced the TV show during its run from 1988-1991. Delaney and Helgenberger, lead actresses, played nurses, in the Vietnam War setting. One of these days I might have to partake in a DVD marathon! I only saw a few episodes here and there, and can't quite speak on the quality level of the portrayal of the nursing profession.
Delaney can also be seen in
Vietnam Nurses, a documentary on the entitled subject matter.
My reflections also led me to the Internet and some of the other choices available representing nurses.
Nurse Betty with Renee Zellweger was front runner. Other selections were of the R- or X- rated variety.
Sad.
On a happy note there is plenty of reading material available. My latest find is
Nurses: The Human Touch, by Michael Brown. As a nursing student I am finding that reading these non-fiction books about nursing help to put some of the concepts were learning into perspective.
That's all we ever want is a good perspective, right?
