How Nurses Are Portrayed in Television Versus How They Are in Reality

Our Featured Guest Writer Today is Elaine Hirsch

Television is an incredibly powerful force. All too often, people will believe that the way things occur on television are accurate portrayals of these events in real life and will be influenced by what they see in television shows. While some things on television are accurate and inspire people to study nursing, others can be grossly misleading and even detrimental to the reputation of the whole profession. The field of medicine has seen its fair share of television portrayals and has suffered from this phenomenon.

Real Life versus Television

In real life, nurses perform many of the tasks that doctors do, such as administering medication, using the defibrillator paddles or providing comfort to patients. Nurses are also much more likely to purse advanced degrees in nursing, from Masters degree programs than they are to become doctors, and nurses are highly respected within hospitals. However, many shows have shown a deeply compassionate side to nurses and the value nurses serve to the patients and the medical profession as a whole. Yes, sometimes nurses are more likely to have to perform the less glorious tasks in patient care, but they also do not just stand next to doctor during procedures or diagnoses. Below are some examples of shows which portray nurses in less accurate manners.

Nurse Jackie

“Nurse Jackie” airs on Showtime and has been met with scathing reviews from real-life nurses. The eponymous character is played by Edie Falco who stars as a nurse that abuses drugs, short-cuts the hospital administration and provides some “tough-love” advice to characters in need of a reality check. Nursing organizations have sought to have a disclaimer attached to the show that it is not an accurate portrayal of nursing, and they worry about the effects of the show on patients. While the character may, at times, mean well for patients, she violates the nursing code of ethics numerous times for personal reasons and does not show nurses in a flattering or realistic light.

Grey’s Anatomy

“Grey’s Anatomy” is one of the most popular television shows and follows in the tradition of “ER” by showcasing a specific part of a hospital and its all-star staff of doctors. Unfortunately, “Grey’s Anatomy” also has some of the least accurate portrayals of nursing. Several doctors have taken insult when they were referred to as nurses, implying that nursing is less important or useful than being doctor. The show also regularly depicts doctors and surgeons performing tasks performed by nurses in real hospitals while the nurses stand by watching or only seem to perform very basic or simple tasks. One of the worst portrayals is how doctors are shown to provide more counseling to patients and developing deeper relationships with patients than nurses. While some doctors do, in general it is nurses that do so since they spend more time with each patient.

The Bottom Line

The fact is that television producers and writers are in no way obligated to portray any profession in a positive or even realistic light. They are seeking to provide entertainment, and sometimes that means blending the lines between reality and fiction for a good story. Whether television is good for bad for nursing is a complicated question and has multiple answers. Nurses that are shown as using drugs or manipulative or simply as doctor’s assistants can make people leery of nurses which may stall their care or recovery. Many nurses are portrayed as being very caring and passionate about helping patients and being excellent care providers, which helps instill a certain level of trust in patients and families, and may possibly even inspire people to become nurses. Ultimately it is up to the viewer to determine what is real based on fact and not what is shown on television, and up to nurses to show that not everything on television is real.

 

Comments

[Orfyn RN]

The entertainment industry is locked into the anti-hero model of late. Perhaps the best example is "House", the pill popping antisocial cynical egotist only interested in pursuing his own interests, doing good only when it coincides with his needs. It was perhaps inevitable that this model would be applied to nurses.

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Really Many nurses are portrayed as being very caring and passionate about helping patients and being excellent care providers, which helps instill a certain level of trust in patients and families, and may possibly even inspire people to become nurses. It is up to the viewer to determine what is real based on fact and not what is shown on television, and up to nurses to show that not everything on television is real.