'Nurse Jackie' premier tonight!!!
Well, the wait and anticipation is over… Tonight is the night for the premier of the new dramadey, ‘Nurse Jackie.’ Don’t forget to tune in tonight at 10:30 ET/PT on Showtime.
This is the third post relating to this show and I think this will be it for some time. I’ll check back into it once the show has found its legs and the shock of its title characters lifestyle wears off a bit. Who knows, there may be some great things to take away from a show like this. While the representation of this ER nurse may not reflect that of those in the real world, it will be interesting to see how the producers of the show react to the viewership. The first episode has been available to preview for some time now and there are many opinions out there on the validity of the show, just check out the forum on AllNurses-Central.com.
So what do you think? Will the new shows like ‘Nurse Jackie’ and ‘HawthoRNe’ help the boost the perception of nurses as well educated healthcare practitioners or will it just extend the stereotypes that Hollywood has put in place for so long? There are mixed reviews regarding ‘Nurse Jackie,’ some like it for the fact that the title character is this no nonsense veteran nurse who obviously is a bit jaded with the system and has seen it all and won’t let anyone get in her way, while others don’t like it for the extra cirriculars she participates in. While shows in the past have portrayed nurses as servants with little or no input with the care for patients, we all know that nurses have a giant role in the care and recovery of patients. Hopefully with these new shows it will translate into showing nurses in a new light that they are hard working, knowledgeable caretakers and that without them the healthcare system would just buckle.
What we need from any movie and TV show today is to bring the profession of nursing in a greater light. We know the reason for this, the nursing shortage. If Hollywood continues to do what it has done for years, then nurses will never gain the recognition it so deserves. Sadly, many who watch television and movies believe what is on-screen actually happens. So why not show them doing what they actually do!? Now there’s a novel idea! With that I think there will be many who want to do what they see – There’s so much more to the job than there has ever been shown on-screen. I hope these new shows take that into consideration… So tune in and see for yourselves. Will you keep watching or maybe write your own script? I know you’ve got stories!
Here’s a story on StrategiesForNurseManagers.com that also talks about these new shows.
