Nurse Jackie

The show, Nurse Jackie, has been getting a lot of shit from the American Nurses Association. People (nurses) are offended by the "negative" portrayal of nurses on the television show; Jackie abuses drugs and cheats on her husband with a man at work (who is the one giving her the drugs). One concern of the ANA is that "the growing [nursing] shortage is exacerbated by the fact that young men and women are choosing other professions instead of nursing, in part because of the negative and often denigrating portrayal of nursing perpetuated in the media."

So I watched the first episode today. And, you know, I thought it was really well-done. And, hey, I didn't go straight to my nursing adviser to quit the program. Nurse Jackie is a television show that's more about a human being than a nurse. In the first episode, she kind of reminds me of Robin Hood; she feels guilt over a patient who dies, comforts the pregnant girlfriend of that dead guy, flushes an ear down the toilet that belongs to a man who nearly murdered a prostitute (rather than allow them to reattach it), and steals the wealthy earless guy's money to give to the dead guy's pregnant girlfriend. It's fucked up but I like her; she's brilliant and fierce. And not as annoying as Dr. House.

Now, if Showtime had a show portraying Nurse Jackie as this perfect, moral, lovely angel, then I might reconsider nursing as a career...