Image by: Thinkstock

Earlier in the current season of “Nurse Jackie,” we saw the difficulties that nurses returning to the floor after some time away face, illustrated through supervisor Gloria Akalitus’ not-so-smooth return to All Saints’ Hospital. And though Akalitus is a fictional character, we’ve all experienced the feeling that the more time you’re away from the floor, the harder it is to smoothly transition back into your normal routine.

Nurses who are coming back to the bedside after a long break are relying on nurse refresher courses, designed for those who have not practiced in a hospital setting for an extended period of time. Not only do these courses give nurses the opportunity to brush up on the latest standards and practices, they also provide an environment for nurses to sharpen skills and let their instincts kick back in.

Once such program is the Current Nursing Practice Update CE Certification Program at Harper College in Palatine, Ill. The program is designed to make returning nurses more “competitive” by allowing them to learn in an environment that allows them to function somewhere between a nursing student and member of a hospital nursing staff. Nurses gain practical, hands-on skills in a program that includes 68 classroom hours and 104 clinical hours.

Would you take a course like this?

Below: Gloria Akalitus return to All Saints’ Hospital:

Source:
Nurse.com

Image: Showtime

Maybe what irritated us the most about last season’s Nurse Jackie was the lack of serious consequences she received as a result of her philandering, drug use, rudeness, haphazard parenting…the list goes one.

We were left wondering after Season Three: Where could Nurse Jackie possibly go when there’s nothing left to wreck?

But our attitudes changed with the beginning of the Fourth Season, in which we see Edie Falco’s Jackie finally hit rock bottom and get into rehab. It’s about time (and kudos to Ms. Falco for keeping us mesmerized even as we were throwing our steths at the TV all through season three).

We think it’s going to be a good season. Do you? See what TVFanatic.com says here.

Image: Showtime

In its debut season Nurse Jackie ruffled many a feathers in the nursing community with the title character’s pill popping, adulterous antics. So what’s the latest controversy? There might just be a real Nurse Jackie! Or at least we’re convinced there is!

Whether you think Nurse Jackie should have her license revoked or you’ve been doing a little dance around your TiVo, you’ll agree that this bitingly witty and sarcastic list from Showtime’s Nurse Jackie message boards could have been written by Nurse Jackie herself! Enjoy (if you dare!).

YOU might be a nurse if ………

1. The front of your scrubs reads ‘Nurses… here to save your ass, not kiss it!’
2. You occasionally park in the space with the “physicians only” sign… and knock it over.
3. You believe some patients are alive only because it’s illegal to kill them.
4. You recognize that you can’t cure stupid.
5. You own at least three pens with the names of prescription medications on them.
6. You believe there’s a special place in hell for the inventor of the call light.
7. You believe that saying ‘it can’t get any worse’ causes it to get worse just to show you it can.
8. You wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom.
9. You believe that any job where you can drive to work in your pajamas is a cool one.
10. You consider a tongue depressor an eating utensil.
11. Eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly natural.
12. You’ve been exposed to so many x-rays that you consider it a form of birth control.
13. You’ve ever heard a patient with a nose ring, a brow ring, and twelve earrings say “I’m afraid of shots.”
14. You’ve ever placed a bet on someone’s blood alcohol level.
15. You’ve told a confused patient that your name is that of a coworker and to call if they need help.
16. Your bladder can expand to the size of a Winnebago’s water tank.
17. You have seen more penises than any prostitute could dream of.
18. You believe that not all patients are annoying… some are unconscious.
19. Your family and friends refuse to watch medical sitcoms with you because you spend the whole time correcting everyone and pointing out upside down x-rays.
20. You don’t get excited about blood, unless it’s your own.
21. You’ve sworn to have “do not resuscitate” tattooed on your chest. Soon.
22. Discussing dismemberment over a gourmet meal is perfectly normal to you.
23. Your idea of fine dining is anywhere you can sit down to eat.
24. Your idea of a good time is a cardiac arrest at shift change.
25. You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac.
26. You believe that ‘shallow gene pool’ should be a recognized diagnosis.
27. You believe that the government should require permits to reproduce.
28. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall anyone who utters the phrase “Wow, it’s really quiet, isn’t it?”
29. You have ever wanted to write a book entitled “Suicide: getting it right the first time.”
30. You have ever had a patient look you straight in the eye and say “I have no idea how that got stuck in there.”
31. You’ve had to leave a patient’s room before you begin to laugh uncontrollably.

Interesting…but surely not exhaustive! There must be more! C’mon fellow nurses, do you have any to add?

Posted by caliokieboi in Showtime’s Nurse Jackie message boards.

Catch the season 4 trailer:

Image: Ocean Illustration | Veer

What would a Halloween party be without a naughty nurse? What porn movie isn’t complete without the rather large-chested and always available nurse? And then, of course, there are the soap operas (and seemingly legit evening medical dramas) with the pouty-lipped nurses who are out to nab Dr. Right. Is it any wonder why nurses are fed up with how we’re portrayed in the media?

It’s not as if nurses don’t have a sense of humor. Heck, you have to be able to laugh to do what we do, right? But there’s a line—and it’s not that fine a line—between laughing with nurses and laughing at them. And when people are laughing at them, you can bet there’s less respect for the profession. Nursing isn’t the only profession that has stereotypes – librarians and policewomen are just two examples.

We nurses have to do our part to educate people about what the profession is really about. We certainly have our work cut out for us! Take a look at this list, then roll up your sleeves!

Here are 10 nurse depictions (with some horrifying examples!) we wish would go away:

1. Naughty Halloween Nurse
2. Addicted Nurse
3. Sex Object Nurse
4. Celebrities as Hot Nurses
5. Fetish Nurses
6. Nurse Ratched
7. Sexy (and Usually Gay) Male Nurse
8. Servant Nurse
9. Soap Opera Nurse
10. Bimbo/Helpless Nurse

FIRST: We’ve NEVER dressed like that.

Image courtesy FOX Broadcasting Company

How many times have you paused, shook your head at some random situation at work, and said, “I can’t believe this is happening.” And that’s real life.

We thought you might need a laugh at moments like this, so we dug through clips from TV shows spanning more than a half century to find these 23 unbelievable hospital scenes. Some are so crazy we can’t imagine how the actors kept a straight face.


Medical Dramas of the 1950s and ’60s

If anyone believed that the doctors in Ben Casey represented real doctors, hopefully they wouldn’t have believed the same thing about the nurses. The only nurse we see regularly is Ms. Wills, and she’s never referred to by her first name throughout the entire series. She never takes off her uniform, even when hanging out with other staff members (in street clothes) off-duty. In this episode of Ben Casey from the early ’60s, nurses are portrayed as very distractable (around minute 4:00 in the clip) or very befuddled and easily confused (around 5:15). Perhaps studios didn’t have research assistants in those days.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The 70s, 80s and 90s –>

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