Nurses on TV – how accurate are they?
Let’s face it, if you’re watching television dramas and comedies to pick up nursing tips, you’re already in trouble.
But it doesn’t hurt to see if there’s anything redeeming about your favourite TV nurse that maybe you can apply to your nursing career or support worker duties.
Nurses Now has taken a look at some of the most famous fictional nurses to have ever graced our small screens over the years and judged them on their qualities and realism.
Mildred Ratched: Ratched
Author Ken Kesey drew inspiration from his real-life experiences when he wrote his 1962 novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
When Kesey graduated from college, he was a night orderly on the psychiatric ward at the Menlo Park Veterans’ Hospital in California.
Kesey based the character of Nurse Mildred Ratched on the real-life head nurse at the time on the ward where he worked. Scary!
“The doctors and nurses here, they want to give you hope that one day you can leave here and see your family again. But you deserve someone to show you mercy, Mr. Salvatore, and so I have to tell you that I know for a fact that they are never going to let that happen. You are going to spend the rest of your life in here, because your family doesn’t ever want to see you again. It’s something I wish someone had told me when I was young, so I could stop believing otherwise. How different I would be if someone had.” – Ratched, Netlfix TV series
Nurse qualities: ⚝⚝⚝⚝⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝
Carla Espinosa: Scrubs
Carla Espinosa (played by Judy Reyes) is a full-time mum and worked in the ICU on TV’s Sacred Heart Hospital before giving birth to her second child. She worked as a nurse for eight years and often had to deal with budget cuts – plus, the cleaner feared her.
She always stood up for herself and hated being wrong. She always dealt with many of the stressful and challenging tasks with bravery and humour. Great nurse qualities to have!
“Listen, I run back and forth for 18 hours a day between patients who might die and patients who will die, and if I find time to write an order for bedpans, I write it fast. So you will forgive me if I don’t feel like being judged by some guy in his thirties who still wears shorts to work!”— Carla
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝
Kitty Forman: That ’70s Show
Kitty works at TV’s Point Place General Hospital, and, despite all the medical advice, is a smoker. It doesn’t seem to calm her stressful nature down that much.
But she’s a good mum, and she makes others feel comfortable around her.
“I am a nurse. I know that one in five teenagers smoke. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Now, I’m going to close my eyes, and when I open them there better be a cigarette between these two fingers. C’mon people, hop to!” – Kitty
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐ ⚝⚝⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⚝⚝⚝⚝
BokHee: Grey’s Anatomy
Scrub nurse BokHee (Kathy C An) does her best work in the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital operating theatre on TV’s Grey’s Anatomy. That’s because she’s a scrub nurse in real life. You can’t get any more realistic than that.
And she must have all the right qualities, because being a nurse is what she does best.
“Wonder Woman.” – BokHee
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Carol Hathaway: ER
Nurse Hathaway (Julianna Marguiles) is an RN and became nurse manager in the emergency room of Chicago’s County General Hospital on TV.
She’s often overlooked and disregarded despite the hard work she does, and often butts heads with staff when she has to make the tough calls.
Her romance with paediatrician Dr. Douglas “Doug” Ross (George Clooney) proves nurses can find love in the workplace despite their busy schedules.
“Do you think you love me? For how long Doug? How long till you start wondering if there isn’t someone better in the next room or the next bar? How long until that little voice in your head reminds you of all the infinite 22-year-olds you could be screwing tomorrow, or the next day, or the next? I will not let you do this to me again.” – Carol
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐⭐⚝⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⭐⚝⚝
Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan: M*A*S*H
Chief Nurse Major Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit) whose portrayal of a professional nurse is one of TV’s most accurate. Chief Nurse Major Margaret Houlihan dished out just as much as she received, and was always caring around her patients.
“You think a woman is dead until she lives for you. Well, let me tell you something, Benjamin Franklin, we actually survive without you. We live, we breathe, we dream, we do our work, we earn our pay, sometimes we even have our little failures, and then we pull ourselves together all without the benefit of your fabulous electric lips! And let me tell you something else, buster. I can walk into that kitchen anytime I want, and replace those fabulous lips of yours with a soggy piece of liver!” – Major Houlihan
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐⭐⚝⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝
Jackie Peyton: Nurse Jackie
Nurse Jackie (Edie Falco) had many personal problems and was battling addiction.
However, her TV portrayal of a nurse working in an ER as well as the situations she faced in order to provide proper patient care was well received.
Showtime writes: “A drug-addicted nurse who struggles to find a balance between the demands of her frenetic job at a New York City hospital and an array of personal dramas.”
“What’s this about? Nobody ate your muffins? You found an ear in the toilet? So what? You know what this job is, honey? This job is wading through a sh**storm of people who come into this place on the very worst day of their lives. And just so you know, doctors are here to diagnose, not heal. *We* heal. All Saints is in the business of flipping beds. That’s it, end of story. The fact that you have even the slightest inclination to help people puts you miles ahead of one hundred percent of the population. So stop crying, okay? Buck up! If you need to cry, go do it in the ladies room. Is that clear?” – Nurse Jackie
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐ ⚝⚝⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝
Callie Cargill: The Glades
Callie is a nurse from a local emergency department. She is pursuing a medical degree instead of attending a nursing school. Callie manages to balance a demanding healthcare career with being a single mother.
Callie’s a no-nonsense, smart, driven woman. Many nurses balance parenthood with a busy career, but perhaps her past and ongoing challenges make her character a bridge too far in the realism stakes. But she makes for good TV.
“It’s just a waiver that relieves the hospital of all reliability if my treatment of you were to cause you to get an infection, lose your hand, or die.” – Callie
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐⭐⚝⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⚝⚝⚝
Zoey Barkow: Nurse Jackie
(Also Denise Cloyd: The Walking Dead)
Merritt Wever makes this list twice, despite not technically being a nurse in the traditional sense of the word. In Nurse Jackie, her character Zoey Barkow was still in medical school, studying to be a doctor and later a psychiatrist.
In The Walking Dead TV series as Denise Cloyd, she became a skilled nurse/medical aid. But she was ALWAYS believable in both her roles.
“I spend all day firing people and doing bull— paperwork and pee tests and worrying about everybody else. When I get back to my apartment, I just want to hide under the covers and listen to really sad Adele songs, so, basically all of them. I haven’t turned in a paper for the past three weeks. I’m just failing. At everything. I don’t even know if I want to be a nurse anymore.” – Zoey
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝
Peter Petrelli: Heroes
Milo Ventimiglia’s portrayal of Petrelli on TV’s Heroes is significant because he was a MALE nurse. Oh, and he had superpowers. So there’s that …
His empathy and ability to connect with people enabled him to mirror the powers of others around him – two qualities every good nurse needs.
“I asked to be extraordinary. And I promised I’d make the world a better place. So when I got my chance, I lived up to my end of the bargain. For what? I’m running for my life. A lot of people are running for their lives. They’re hurt and they’re dying and I can’t help them. Do You even care what You put people through? When they kneel here, before You, and they ask for help, do You even listen? And I’m tired of fighting. And I’m angry. I’m angry at my father, Nathan, and my mother. At You. We had a deal. I think it’s about time you lived up to your end. Please, just… show up.” – Peter
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐ ⚝⚝⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⚝⚝⚝⚝
Jesse Sallander: Code Black
The setting for this TV show is a busy emergency room in the Angels Memorial Hospital – it’s constantly overcrowded and understaffed.
Code Black is when there are too many patients and not enough medical professionals in an emergency room.
Nurse Jesse Sallander, known as “Momma”, manages the first-year residents. While it’s admirable to see a male nurse in charge, this is usually not the case in most hospitals. Hopefully, this changes over time to be more equal. But Code Black happens a lot, so that’s realistic, and that’s why Nurses Now has the jobs waiting for you right now.
“You know what a covenant is? It’s a sacred agreement. People come here, at their very worst, which means that, no matter what, we have to be at our very best. No-one said it was easy. That’s the covenant.” – Jesse Sallander
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐⭐⚝⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⚝⚝⚝
Ann Meredith (Perkins) Traeger (Parks And Rec)
A registered nurse by profession, Ann Perkins is loyal and caring, dedicated to her job, as well as spontaneous and fun around her loved ones.
Being a confident and competent woman is a valuable skill, and we would love to work alongside anyone with her special qualities.
“As a nurse and as your friend, I highly suggest you don’t try to stay up for the next 24 hours.” – Ann Perkins
Nurse qualities: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝ | Realistic: ⭐⭐⭐⚝⚝
Nurses Now encourages all our nurses and support workers to draw from the best qualities of all of these TV nurses (but perhaps not so much Nurse Ratched).
If you’re a highly-skilled nurse or support worker, we’d love to discuss working with you. We can find you ideal roles that match your requirements and help you make a difference right when you’re needed most. Call us today.