Nurse “Feel Me Up”: A Showtime Original
Posted by realityrounds on April 26, 2009
The nursing blogosphere is on fire with contempt for a new Showtime Original drama called Nurse Jackie. Now, I am not one to criticize a show, movie, book etc., until I have actually laid eyes on it. But I can rip apart the trailer, which is linked above. Nurse Jackie stars the very talented actress Carmelo Soprano Edie Falco. It is a show about her escapades as an ER nurse. Here are some highlights from this sure fire Emmy award winning hot mess of a show:
- Nurse Jackie advises Doctor Man that her patient has a bleed. Doctor Man ignores her. Patient dies. Nurse Jackie indignantly tells Doctor Man the patient’s death is “all on you”. Doctor Man grabs Nurse Jackie’s boob. I can so relate. Just last week I was pissed at our OB resident for leaving his dirty dishes in the staff kitchen, and he grabbed my boob. OK, all he really got was a handful of ribs, but you get the point.
- Lot’s of images of drug addict Nurse Jackie snorting little red balls of some drug up her nose. Yes, yes, yes, we have all snorted. I swear to God I once accidentally snorted an M&M up my nose.
- Nurse Jackie humping some dude in a white coat in a medication storage room. Well of course I have spent my rare break time banging a white coat. However “banging a white coat” to me means beating the shit out of the vending machine when my Twinkie refuses to fall from the rack.
- Nurse Jackie laying in scrubs next to a different white coat while he grabs her boob. Wow. Nurse Jackie’s tits see more action than a mammography machine during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
- Fat nurse in bunny scrubs tells Nurse Jackie she thinks she’s a saint. Holy shit, I’m on a Showtime Original Series! Thank you casting couch.
So, the point of my blog is to bring the “Reality” to medical stories profiled in the media. My freshman diagnosis for Nurse Jackie is a case of serious sterotype-itis. Not very original Showtime.
Honest to blog, would it be so hard to portray a “real” nurse? You know the one’s. The nurse who saves Carmela Soprano’s ass when Tony busts a cap in it for serving him cold cannoli. The orthopedic shoe-wearing, tacky scrub jacket-wearing smart ass, who sits with Carmela Soprano during her upteenth visit to the ER for domestic violence. The millions of ones who are not drug addicted, over-sexed, dead-behind-the eyes harpies, looking to score some Percocet.
The only way to change the image of nurses in Hollywood, is for nurses to pick up the pen. Are you listening Showtime.
Awesome nurse bloggers: Rehab RN, Emergiblog, Nurse Ratched’s Place
RR
mamamia said
Hey, don’t “girls” become nurses to bag a Docter/Surgeon? Aren’t you all just biding time doing the brunt of the dirty work ’til your Prince MD sweeps you off your orthopedic shoes? My stereotypical scenario of a nurses motives are hanging in the balance here. So, set us straight you unsung heroes of hospitals everywhere, are you on the prowl for men in white coats w/ MD or PHD written on their stationary? Or are you dedicated individuals who are only out to do your best to ease the pain and suffering of your patients and carry out to the best of your abilities any orders of said white coats which will heal your patients?
I have an inkling it is the 2nd choice.
realityrounds said
Can’t stop laughing! Oh, if you ever worked in a hospital you would see the “Reality” nurses deal with. I have yet to meet the “Prince Md”. Lot’s of “Frog MD’s” though.
RN-ish said
When will it end? Who writes this shit? Have they ever met a real life nurse? Sickening.
Edward Gordon, RN said
Of course, as a blog writer, I’m going to at least watch the pilot episode. But the trailer is ridiculous. Having said that, all medical shows are ridiculous–even the reality shows wich are really just modern equivalents of a circus freak show. People want sex, and Showtime, like the pimp it is, will deliver up the fetish nurse.
I don’t know, as a man, the idea of a nurse giving me a bed bath when I’m sick, unshaven, unable to bathe myself, with a foley hanging out of my penis, is not a fetish I indulge. I think I’d rather have an eager labrador lick inside my mouth for up to three minutes.
But that’s me.
RehabRN said
Thanks for the kudos. You have a great blog here and your Nurse Jackie post is pretty funny. See what Showtime’s missing? All of the funny nurses out there….ah, but stereotypes are so EASY!
Ed:
When I get a patient who won’t take a bath, I’ll have to mention that Labrador one…what a picture!
And mamamia, I didn’t have to go to the hospital to hook up in the medical business, nor marry a doctor. I married a son of a doctor and got the other MDs as in-laws.
I’m on the prowl for patients only. Some of mine tend to escape the unit during daylight hours, so part of my job is to watch them.
And if you believe that as gospel truth, I have some swamp land in Florida for you…
Jen said
What – a new TV show that exaggerates the lives of its characters? Say it ain’t so! This show joins a long line of programs that have never accurately portrayed any profession. CSI, for example, hardly portrays what the average forensic scientist does for a living. I think the writers of Nurse Jackie just had to really exaggerate the story line so that we could forget Carmella – as if anyone is ever going to see her as anyone else! (especially when Meadow guest starts as a dying patient).
realityrounds said
Jen, you’re right. Thanks for reminding me that it’s Carmela not Carmelo Soprano (see, I am already forgetting her character!) It is just TV, but nurses are the most stereotyped profession. I have a lot of research on this, that I am too lazy to post. It just get’s tiring.
Kelli said
I am so happy I found your blog. You never fail to make me laugh.
I am in total agreement that TV, Hollywood and whoever comes up with these ridiculous scenerios need to get real.
Even though disabled and retired I love to keep up with your writings. A doc told me “once a nurse, always a nurse.”
realityrounds said
Muchos Gracias Kellie! There is a lot of icky negativity out there in the blogosphere, and I want to keep it positive, mainly through humor. I have checked out your site and love it. I will add it to my side bar. As far as Nurse Jackie, it just amazing that there is not an original thought left in TV writing.
Liz said
I thought WOW! when I first heard about a new show, Nurse Jackie. Could a realistic one be made about nurses? I could see it now, opening with report being given, setting the day’s/hour’s events. THEN, I saw the trailer. It’s the nurse counterpart to HOUSE, only she gets way more sex. (House doesn’t get much at all, if any, poor guy) Now, I’ve got to tell everyone who’s talking about the show, that “No, real nurses aren’t like that. The ones who are doing those kind of drugs, don’t get popular and allowed to ‘run’ things like that, to be looked up to like a ‘saint’. geesh
Cherokee said
I know it can be time-consuming to update your blog but thank you for keeping me informed and entertained!
LA said
This is no different than Gray’s Anatomy, etc…
I guess portraying REAL nurses wouldn’t sell air time. There are some creative details that they got right, but this is overshadowed by the stereotypes portrayed. You can see kindness and some caring in nurse Jackie, but all her credibility is flushed away as the ear was because she is stoned. This does for nursing what nurse Ratched did for us. Drags us down and does not promote the profession.
We pay the price for entertainment ….
ImThePro said
Facts Up Front: Just came by to try and find out what the hell the little red balls were Jackie was snorting. I’m male, 51, not a nurse (just a self-employed carpet cleaner). The post about nurses being nurses in hopes of a Prince MD really upset me. This is ONLY TV and especially in the first half-dozen episodes of any series I believe that writers AND actors are trying to find their way. However, it would upset me to see the usual stereo-types of my industry as well.
Back Story: But the real reason I was so upset about the Prince MD thing is that I spent two years trying so hard to help someone I loved beat leukemia (didn’t happen)and of course I dealt most with the nurses on a daily basis and they were JUST SO DEDICATED to helping (well there may have been a slacker here and there, but…). After she passed it became obvious no one was going to step up and take charge of her 14yr old daughter, so I have. Upon my urging for something in the medical field, she has said she wants to pursue nursing. I’ve applauded, and she’s half-way to a BSN, then who knows.
My Point: During ALL the talk with this girl about her direction in life and trying to help her find a career, NOT just a job, it NEVER dawned on me that someone would CHOOSE this just to find someone rich to fall in love with. You CHOOSE to be a nurse because you want to help. But I may be a bit naive…
realityrounds said
Hi thanks for your comment. I believe the “Prince MD” comment was written from sarcasm. I honestly have never met a nurse who became a nurse to marry a doctor. Never. I am heartened that your experiences with nurses have been, overall positive. I love nursing, and I hope your young friend will love it also! *If you keep reading my blog, you will see all the positive stories about nursing