Nurses on Television

In the last few years, nursing has emerged as one of the most preferred professions. It is counted among one of the largest healthcare occupations, employing more than 2 million jobs. In terms of salary, the earnings are above average and better, particularly for advanced practice nurses, who have additional education or training. If we talk in context of growth and future prospect then it is one of the top occupations in the United States that have offered the largest numbers of new jobs and opportunities in recent times. However, in the recent years, nursing as a profession has gained tremendous popularity. It won’t be wrong to state that today nurses are more than just healthcare professionals. They have actually become the symbols of courage and sacrifice.

Not too long ago, there was the time when nurses were considered and treated very mediocre to doctors and surgeons, but in present circumstances things has changed drastically. These days nursing profession has great respect and nurses are given very much importance. This major transform in the perception towards nursing has helped in the rising of the emergence of television shows focusing on the different aspects of nursing, especially in the United States.

Television has always been one of the most influential mediums in the human history. Since its introduction, we have all witnessed different sorts of dramas, serials and mega serials, but television shows that were based on the life of nurses and healthcare professionals has always pulled the attention of viewers and gained high TRP ratings.

In fact, it was during 1950s when television viewers witnessed various medical dramas, and many of those were focused on the life-saving heroics of physicians. And, one of the initial shows that gained wide popularity was “The Doctor”. Featuring nurses in different peripheral roles, this television show was telecasted on NBC and one of the most favorite programs in1952-53. “Medic”, was another television program telecasted on the same channel in 1954-56, which too received a tremendous response from viewers. The key feature of this show was it presented different cases from the records of the Los Angeles County Medical Association that were highly emphasized on the nursing background.

During the period starting from 1962 to 1965, the television industry witnessed numerous prominent shows exclusively focused on the professional and personal life of nurses. Now out of this, the most popular show was “The Nurses” which was telecasted on the CBS. This program series was filmed in the New York and primarily emphasized on the practiced lives of nurses performing their duties in a big urban hospital. The key performer of the program was the Shirl Conway who played Liz Thorpe- the character of an older and experienced nurse, and Zina Bethune who played Gail Lucas- the character of a young and naive nursing student. However, it was the year 1964, when Dr. Ted Steffen (Joseph Campanella) and Dr. Alex Tazinski (Michael Tolan) brought some new facets to the show that ultimately resulted in the change of the title of the series. And, finally the title of the program was changed into “The Doctors and the Nurses”.

After this, in the year 1968, a TV series called “Julia” was premiered on NBC. This television program was truly significant and it was starred by Diahann Carroll who played the role of a Julia Baker, an adolescent and independent black woman who was in nursing profession and performing her duty in the medical office at Astrospace Industries. The key feature of this program was it stemmed around the interaction among different member of a nursing group. Finally, the portrayal of nurses on television improved with a new series named “St. Elsewhere” (1982-88, NBC). In 1990s, another equivalent of “St. Elsewhere” called “ER,” was telecasted. The program was created by best-selling author Michael Crichton, who was even a physician. In recent years, Grey’s Anatomy has been yet another television show that is primarily revolves around the nursing industry.

Thus, portraying nurses on TV has always been a major trend to make actors respectful and appreciative of the real thing. TV creators may be reluctant to acknowledge the medium’s dismissive attitude toward nursing, but many actors who have portrayed nurses are aware of the fact that it takes lot of effort to understand the character. Playing the role of nurse is never that easy as in real professional life one has deal with sudden circumstances that could be very difficult. Over the last few years, medical reality shows have gained popularity in the US that was based on the characters of nurses, and in the near future, it won’t be wrong to expect more and more such powerful TV portraits of nurses.

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