Fictional Nurses That You Wish Were Real, and Why!
Dec 1, 2014 | 12:00 pm
One can only imagine how many times a popular actor or actress has to give the line, “I’m not really a nurse, I just play one on TV.” Indeed, it is hard to separate an actor’s face from the fictional “reality” we are asked to accept for dramatic purposes. We fall in love with the character over time and whenever we realize that no, Nurse Espinosa or Houlihan don’t actually save people, and it is a bit of a mind bender. Nevertheless, their art lives on and actually does help the nursing profession, by humanizing real people and depicting their pathos on screen. Consider a few of our favorite famous fictional nurses.
Nurse Carla Espinosa (Scrubs)
It’s easy to write off nurses as supporting characters, giving the archetype of the strong female doctor that we so often see. However, few nurses depicted on TV have been as strong, lovable and dare we say realistic as Carla Espinosa, a supporting character on a sitcom. Playing a sassy Dominican Republic nurse with a hard edge, but a soft heart, actress Judy Reyes was able to elicit humor without dumbing down her character. She was certainly good company for the jocular and dorky Christopher Turk, and helped everyone up their game at Sacred Heart Hospital.
Major Margaret J. ‘Hotlips’ Houlihan (M.A.S.H.)
As impressive as Carla’s character was in the 2000 era, female nurses were taking care of business on TV 20 years ago, thanks to performances like Loretta Swit and her portrayal of Hotlips Houlihan on M.A.S.H. Originally depicted as sexy, ambitious and conniving, viewers soon discovered layers behind the character; a woman who was dedicated to her profession, sensitive towards her friends and patients, and good at what she did. Of course, what most viewers will remember is her epic feud with Hawkeye Pierce. It’s nice to think a nurse this fun could be tending to your wounds in wartime.
Carol Hathaway (ER)
Julianna Marguilies certainly wasn’t the blonde bombshell nurse cliché TV viewers expected in the 1990s, but when E.R. debuted, they were treated to a three-dimensional character by the name of Carol Hathaway, who was not only a competent nurse, but a confident one, bold enough to tell a doctor, “If you would step off your pedestal maybe you would realize it’s the nurses that make this place run and not you.” Hathaway was strong, often disliked by co-workers, and quite scandalous in her romance with Dr. Doug Ross. She helped to define sexy-brainy in the 90s and also reminded a generation of new nurses why this profession is a great one.
Jackie Peyton (Nurse Jackie)
What do you get in famous fictional nurses when you mix The Sopranos with House with E.R.? A very politically incorrect character like Jackie Peyton, an Emergency Department nurse who repeatedly violates the Nursing Code of Ethics, and earns the scorn of the real life New York State Nurses Association. You’re not supposed to approve of Nurse Jackie, but that’s what makes the character so compelling. She is the type of nurse you want to get a beer with at the end of your shift, so you can exchange relationship advice, horror stories, and histrionic drama.
These are four of our famous fictional nurses, but there are many more welcomed to attend our TV Nurse Party.