Where are the nurses on TV?

No, I’m not talking about those consumed with sleeping with all the residents or those dashing from one trauma room to the next all while giving holistic end-of-life care in the ER and coordinating a surprise birthday party for the Attending Doc.

I’m talking about the real nurses. Educated, trusted, respected. We’re over 3 million strong in the U.S. alone. We’ve been called the backbone of our health care system for decades and, recently, the beating heart of our medical system.

There are physicians everywhere on TV. I see them every day on the major networks. This isn’t a bad thing. The absence of nurses alongside them definitely is, though. And America is missing out. Nursing is missing out. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s report, Nursing Leadership From Bedside to Board Room, indicates that nurses should be present on every board and committee from Rural, Texas to Wall Street. (I wrote more about that here.) So, if that’s the case, shouldn’t they also be on TV – in front of millions of viewers as a respected source – working alongside physicians – like they do in *ahem* real life?

Is it just me? Am I missing the nurses on TV? Educate me if I am; then let me know what you think about this gross oversight.