We do try to keep the nurses who shoot heroin and who must constantly have sex on duty to a minimum in the hospital.
Right, but still drug abuse aside- and it does happen (although I've never seen the main character in that show shoot anything...she was just a pill popper unless I was in the kitchen during her Axel Rose impressions...not that it matters other than semantics)- she was a far more realistic portrayal of almost every nurse I've met who did not just graduate from training than Christine Hawthorne.
You, like many other members of the public have come to expect alot of sensationalism.
Actually, I view Hawthorne as being more sensationalistic since it is so fake. I've yet to see anything on there that would even qualify one for an acting award from a community theater company. Just because it doesn't involve sex, drugs, explosions or car chases does not mean it is not sensationalistic.
Also, I can't stand most of the sensationalistic programming. I tend to watch a lot of forensics and history programming more than anything else because of a lack of good alternatives.
To me it is nice to just watch a show without see a bunch of hollywood glamour shots and stunts that I hope I don't always encounter or will even encounter even in a busy city ED.
Right, but then again, I think one of the reasons why I have such disdain of the crap put forth on Hawthorne is that it reminds me of the 'glamor shots' and self-aggrandizing stunts I see nursing and EMS students pull because of their vapid and clueless natures. Pinkett-Smith's character reminds me more of my fiancee's best friend Jamie- a new graduate nurse who still thinks she is going to save the world and is generally one of the most air-headed people I know- than any veteran nurse I have worked with.
Although, I'm sure they will eventually write in a helicopter crash or two.
Hopefully it won't last that long. I can't see people- especially those who tend to watch TNT- standing for a syrupy "drama" that makes some of the medical shows on Lifetime look like they were cut from real life.
Again, what I was stating were the issues that are commonly seen such as end of life, no bed space and organ procurement are the focus.
They hit the topics, but I've seen better acting in even the worst community theater productions I've had the displeasure of sitting through. I actually found myself nodding off at several points during the episodes I've watch. One of the reviews you can easily find online (nearly all of them ambivalent or negative) reported a similar effect: "For now, it does at least have an etherlike quality: It'll lull you into thinking you've watched some far better, far more intriguing drama. And then you'll go quietly to sleep." (Source:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/tv-reviews/hawthorne-tv-review-1003984566.story)
this show has an attractive RN working around a disability such as a prosthetic leg and dating which is where the Paramedic enters the scene.
There is something to be said for keeping the saccharine to a minimum otherwise it gives the show the excessive sweetness of the urine of a diabetic in a fudge shop. Failure to do so makes it a soap opera and one step above a PBS after-school special for making me want to fellate the business end of a Mossberg.
The only way they could have made this a more stereotypical central casting character would be if kid was a retard (instead of the traditional teenage trying to break away from her mom) on top of all the burden from work and had been displaced by Katrina. I mean they hit the race, professional standing, romance and personal tragedy buttons when creating the character. Oh....and surprise! Her mother-in-law is on the hospital board of controllers! I never saw that coming.....
The fact that the best friend has a fake leg doesn't seem to add anymore than to the mix than adding that retarded girl did to the
Facts of Life. In other words, it was there to appease one of the many special interest groups. Based on the shows out there the average person would be shocked to learn there isn't an ADA requirement that you have at least one handicapped person on every show. We've all seen this same horse and pony show before so many times that I've lost count. They even have a doctor who seems to be doing a Kojak impression with his lollipops. As one reviewer put it, "RN" in this case should be interpreted to mean "rather nondescript". (SOURCE:
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reviews_21/HawthoRNe_the_RN_s_for_rather_not.asp)
I believe the nurses who are advising them on this show are trying to keep it more grounded.
Actually, I read it exactly the other way: it seems to be nothing more than nursing propaganda to show how nurses are the
only thing standing between patients and the world and that strong powerful nurses can walk on water (although most CNOs have way too much power in hospitals). I can't tell you the last time I saw the CNO of a major medical center down in the trenches almost
constantly. They basically made her a pushy b***h whom we are to assume has as her only major fault that simply cares too much about her patients and protecting them from the big bad unfeeling male doctors who only care about their paychecks. I don't consider that to be grounded and actually take a small degree of offense at the gender bias that seems to be behind that (and you know me, I'm not easily offended by BS like sexist comments, etc). That is propaganda that would make Josef Goebbels go "Ja wohl meine Frau!"
