Who else is a fan of Nurse Jackie?
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Nurse Jackie is a popular show among in nurses. The Sydney Morning Herald described it “one of the finest programs to hit our shores“.
Currently in its third season, Nurse Jackie is a dark comedy that is described by critics as “wicked, heartbreaking and funny”. Edie Falco – who won the 2010 Emmy Award winner for Best Supporting Actress in Nurse Jackie – stars as the title character Jackie Peyton, a strong-willed and brilliant – but very flawed – emergency room nurse working in the complicated and frenzied environment of a New York City hospital.
She is a lapsed Catholic with a weakness for painkillers to get her through the days, Jackie keeps the hospital balanced with her unique bedside manner and own brand of medical justice. Every day is a high-wire act of juggling patients, doctors and fellow nurses along with her indiscretions.
Jackie’s relentless dedication to her profession and her family come into conflict with the complicated decisions she’s faced with on an hourly basis, leaving her in many moral and ethical quandaries that she somehow must find a way to figure out.
Before the series the writers told New York Daily News every medical show out there has been about doctors.
“Doctors are absolutely unable to do what they have to do without nurses. We want to tell those stories.”
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Are you a fan? If so, why?
How true to life do you find the series?
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I’ll admit, I haven’t watched the show….
… but as described, it doesn’t sound like we need the sterotyping for Australian Nurses.
Do we really need ANOTHER TV show, that has Nurses as drug addicts; dysfunctional in family and work relations, and generally showing Nurses as being overworked and ‘abused’ ??
I don’t bother with most of the ‘Scrubs’ type of so called humourous medico-nursing comedies. This ones sounds much the same !!
It is NOTHING like that trash “Scrubs”. I find “Nurse Jackie” a dark ,yet very confronting show. It does not stereotype Australian nurses either.Especially given it is American. One line from “Nurse Jackie” is simple but also very true , ” Doctors diagnose.Nurses heal”.
I enjoyed season one and am looking forward to season two being released. I never saw it when it was aired on channel Ten. I think it demonstrates how nurses are human beings with all the same fragilities as anybody. It also shows the pressure nurses face if unsupported by doctors in the workplace. How many times have you had a gut feeling about a patient;ordered to ignore it and then something happened to that patient? I’ve lost count. “Nurse Jackie” is about the American health care system which is nothing like ours and hopefully ours will never be privatised and reserved for only the wealthier portion of society.
I love Nurse Jackie. It’s a quirky program that reflects the dark side of what we experience working in an ED & is honest in it’s portrayal of the flawed staff. The invisibility of the work we do, and our influence on care and individual lives shines through, & can certainly be extrapolated to small rural hsopitals where RNs work as quasi nurse practitioners & the roles with medical officers are so blurred.
I adore Edie Falco -(Nurse Jackie) – brilliant in the Sopranos, & Steve Buschemi’s direction is a class act. Bring on Series 2. Licoricelegs
Ok, but didn’t we see that sort of ‘caring nurse’ reflection in All Saints ?
‘hand maiden’ & ‘nurses in love’ were the draw card for The Young Doctors ( perhaps a little before some of your time – Australian 1970s soapie )
Do tells us though ( because I and many others have not seen this Nurse Jackie ), do the male Nurses get treated the same as the female Nurses? What sterotypes are depicted of male Nurses?
GORDO
“All Saints” was not a comedy and had no central character. It depicted the way an ED team worked together and every now and then focused on one or two characters. “Nurse Jackie” is quite different and the stories of others are told through Jackie’s interactions with them. The male nurses are depicted the same way as the female nurses. They are not stereotyped. This show has a comedic theme that is quite genuine because it is the same black humour we as nurses see in our every day practice. Jackie displays a fascade of being aloof,detached and dry.However,every now and then her kindness shines through. We have all worked with someone like this.
Almost every medical show in the USA has focused on the doctors e.g ER:Chicago Hope,House… The odd medical show about nurses has always been a flop and ended up being pulled by the network for it’s poor ratings.
You have to order the series or rent it if you want to watch it as it is not on free-to -air or pay TV in Australia. Only part of season one aired on channel Ten but they kept changing the screening time and lost the audience in the meantime.
I actually DO remember “The Young Doctors” and recall how it made nurses look like nymphomaniacs in stupid ;tight, pink uniforms.Looking back on it I find it rather degrading and objectifying to our profession.
Yes, I’d agree with what you say about the Young Doctors.
There’s another series that only seems to be available on DVD.
RESCUE ME.
A comedy about a fireman / paramedic in the USA somewhere. From what I gather, he hallucinates while he’s on the job, and thus the comedy theme to his ‘adventures’.
A friend tells me, it’s quite off beat, and of course, the real firemen / paramedics don’t like the image it portrays of their profession.
GORDO
I have not seen this show but after hearing the debates i will try and track it down and watch it then i will pass comment.
I also loved watching Nurse Jackie. I cant wait to see the next season (if we do). I feel I also have known nurses much like Jackie in many ways over my 30 year career as a nurse…Heck! I can even see myself in her…and I guess that’s why i love it.She is so brave too and often makes decisions and statements I wish I could. If anyone hears when it is returning to our screens, let us all know.
I only have seen one episode of Nurse Jackie and I quickly changed channels when she went into the toilet, down a handfull of pills she had obviously stolen and then head back to the ward to “care” for her poor patients. Not a positive representation of the Nursing profession in my eyes.
Why do all TV show Nurses have to be always seen wearing a full on Cardiology stethoscope around their necks ??
Because if they have a crappy day they can hit themselves over the head with it.
Oh no! Not the stethoscope around the neck! I can’t stand that look! If doctors and nurses need to sceam at the world that they are a nurse or a doctor by wearing a stethoscope around their necks then they have a large identity problem! As for most ‘doctor and nurse’ shows, from what I’ve they are mostly rubbish. I haven’t seen Nurse Jackie but I don’t like the sound of stealing drugs etc. very bad look that one. I rather like RPA except that you very rarely see a nurse except for the one who checks patients into theatre.