Review of MTVs New Reality TV Show “Scrubbing In” – Worth the Watch?
Nov 20, 2014 | 9:00 am
Anyone who enjoys reality television certainly knows by now (we hope?) that Reality TV is far from real life. Many of these shows are scripted, and “choreographed” so that the drama and comedy gushes forth from otherwise typical days in the lives of various workers and personalities. “Scrubbing In” on MTV, which debuted on December 26, 2013, was certainly not real life nursing. However, it did tell the story of a group of nurses who relocated from across the United States to Orange County, California, where they worked together. The adventures or misadventures of Heather, Adrian, Tyrice, Chris, Michelle, Chelsey, Fernando, Crystal and Nikki debuted to an impressive 673,000 viewers.
The Aim of the Show
Executive producer Mark Cronin’s aim was to show working nurses as “highly educated, highly skilled young people who are working in a very important profession.” The nursing show also depicts the nurses’ personal lives, balancing work footage with “life on the road” footage of exploring local communities. One part of the show is watching these “real life” women make new friends, keep old friendships, and of course, dive into the dating pool.
Controversies About Scrubbing In
The nursing show “Scrubbing In” certainly had admirable aims, in its so-called mission to show the sobering side of nurses working in a tough profession. Of course, not everyone was thrilled with the result. The National Association of Critical Nurse Specialists announced shortly after the pilot that the show should be canceled for its disrespectful tone, depicting nurses as hell raisers, by over-partying, fighting amongst themselves, and all in a day’s work of treating patients for life-threatening conditions.
Carol Manchester, president of NACNS, wrote to MTV and suggested cancelation because of the tone of the show that was “purely salacious purposes.” The concern of the organization was that young people would be deterred from pursuing the profession because of the overly dramatic made-for-TV reality encounters of the sensational show. Apparently, Cronin’s vision of a realistic and intelligent show was not realized.
In addition, other organizations like the National Nurses United, the American Nurses Association, the Canadian Nurses Association, and Change.org joined NACNS in calling on MTV to cancel the show. As a compromise, MTV agreed to re-edit some episodes of the show and air the show at a less prominent time.
Critics Prefer Their Nurses Neither Shaken Nor Stirred
How about the show itself? Publications such as the Manhattan Digest weren’t too kind in their review, calling the show “Nursey Shore” and suggestive the reviewer got sick of it after only “one hour.” The critic concluded, “If Scrubbing In represents the future of American health care, than I pray that I don’t ever get sick.”
Most people don’t, of course, but we tend to agree. If thrust into a life or death situation, the last thing a patient wants to remember about life is a bunch of boozing, two-faced, petty nurses talking to a camera.
Showtime’s Nurse Jackie might be preferable in this case, since at least her morally challenged character gets things done.