By Amanda Sounart, associate editor
Throughout most of television history, nurses have been relegated to the background of programming. They’ve served as extras and ancillary characters, but rarely has the profession taken center stage. Things are changing in prime time, however, as two new shows airing this summer bring nursing into the limelight.
Jada Pinkett Smith plays chief nursing officer Christina Hawthorne in the new TNT drama HawthoRNe. Photo by Erik Heinila
Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” and TNT’s “HawthoRNe” each take a revealing look into the lives of the title characters as they cope with the common—and sometimes uncommon—aspects of being a nurse.
“I think what strikes me the most about nurses on television is the invisibility of nurses and the indivisibility of nursing,” said Mary Dominiak, RN, Ph.D., chair of the board of directors for the Center for Nursing Advocacy, an organization dedicated to increasing the public’s understanding of nursing. “What I see most frequently is that nurses tend to be almost like the wallpaper. Physicians are often seen doing the work of nursing on television shows.”
Christina Hawthorne, played by Jada Pinkett Smith, and Nurse Jackie, played by Edie Falco, are far from wallpaper figures. They both emerge as strong characters serving the more realistic roles of nurses in patient care.
“It’s important to show nurses as strong members of the health care team that have a contribution to make,” noted Dominiak. “They are educated and not just there to hand physicians instruments. Over the years there were some shows that have done a decent job of showing a strong nurse character, but those have been more in the minority.”
Nurses take center stage in new prime time shows. Photo by Robert Trachtenberg
On TNT’s “HawthoRNe,” the title character is the chief nursing officer at the fictional Richmond Trinity Hospital, where she handles everything from suicidal cancer patients to overwhelmed novice nurses, all while deftly navigating through the complicated world of clinical care. Her multi-faceted role of administrator and clinical professional presents the often unseen side of nursing.
“One of the positives of Hawthorne is her role as a chief nursing officer,” said Dominiak. “I don’t think most people know that role exists.”
In the pilot episode—which airs on TNT on June 16—Hawthorne and her team of nurses tackle some of the biggest issues facing the nursing profession, including bullying doctors, limited patient beds, needy patients and even patient violence. Subsequent episodes reinforce the images of nurses as clinically trained professionals as opposed to scrubs-clad concierges who deliver medication.
Likewise, the dark comedy “Nurse Jackie” explores the fatigued and often thankless role that nurses take on in an emergency room setting. In the pilot episode, which aired on June 8, Jackie is confronted by a hospital administrator who tells her not to work more than 12 hours at a time, and in the same breath requests her to work a double shift.
Perhaps the more controversial aspect of “Nurse Jackie,” is the character’s apparent addiction to pain killers, which she takes throughout her shift. Despite the morose disposition of the character and her infatuation for barbiturates, the show sheds some light on the physical limitations of nursing.
As Jackie says in the opening monologue, “What do you call a nurse with a bad back? Unemployed.” She maintains her drug use in order to continue working.
Despite her colorful language and sometimes less-than-noble behavior, the character does show compassion toward her patients and does what she can to help them.
“Nurse Jackie is definitely a patient advocate. You see some of the stresses of being a nurse, but a lot of it is over the top,” said Dominiak. “Her drug use isn’t a positive depiction, but I hope people look past the dramatic license. Hopefully the character will continue to be a strong depiction of nursing and maybe tone down some of the other characteristics.”
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