TV nurses: the good and the bad
When it comes to TV's depiction of nurses, too often they are relegated to tired stereotypes, say authors Sandy Summers and Harry Jacob Summers.
The pair, who penned the book "Saving Lives: Why the Media Portrayals of Nurses Put Us All at Risk," and are behind the Baltimore-based group The Truth About Nursing, have come out with a list of the best and worst portrayals of nurses of 2009.
The best: Edie Falco's "Nurse Jackie" on Showtime. She's tough as nails, with a few, um, issues - an addiction to painkillers and an affair with a co-worker, for starters - but she's human and fights for the best care for her patients.
Among the worst: ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and Fox's "House" give viewers the same old demeaning images - nurses mocked by doctors and nurses as "silent handmaidens to physicians who provide important care."
Negative images of nurses on TV aren't just entertainment - they affect real nurses and their patients, Summers writes. Getting it right is important in an era of nursing shortages when Summers fears the clinical needs of nurses could be overlooked.
The Baltimore Sun
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