Scrubbing In and the Negative Portrayal of Nursing

Scrubbing In is a reality television show on MTV that follows a group of travel

nurses who are assigned to work in Orange County California for a short-term
hospital contract lasting twelve weeks. Travel nurses relocate across the country
for a hospital contract with the benefit of exploring a new city and meeting new
people. Scrubbing In shows nine nurses in and out of the hospital. In The Image
of Nursing Shelley Cohen believes that we need to recognize the effect of our
behavior outside of the workplace as it is a representation of not only ourselves
but of our work. Your behavior outside of the workplace can have just as big of
an impact as your behavior inside the workplace. The negative portrayal of
nurses as unprofessional and naughty from the series Scrubbing In showcases
to its viewers a perception that is detrimental to the nursing profession as it can
turn away future nurses in a time where nurses are in high demand because of a
nursing shortage.
The role of a nurse is to care for their patients. Once a patient enters the hospital
they put their life in the hands of their nurses and other health care professionals
trusting that they will put forth their best effort and care for them to the best of
their ability. Frequently, in the series Scrubbing In the nurses are portrayed as
unprofessional which can impact the trust patients have in their nurses. In the
first episode Tyrice states that, in her opinion, a balanced life is 60% play and
only 40% work showing that work and her patients are not her top priority,
which could lead to mistakes concerning a patient. On the first day, Heather and
Nikki complain about having to go to work by saying things like God, do we
really have to go? and Lets call off. These comments do not show
passionate nurses who are going to deliver the best care to their patients. Also,
on the first day Fernando and Heather were unprepared and sent home because
they did not have a valid California RN license. Trying to work in a hospital
without a valid license is both dangerous and unprofessional. Additionally, in the
first episode Tyrice states that she is unfamiliar with the equipment and
therefore, does not know how to use one of the machines. Tyrice practices
doing an IV on a fellow nurse and is then sent home for going against hospital
policy and breaking their rule of not practicing IVs on other staff members. In
episode ten, at the end of their contract, Chelsea tried to apply for another job in
the California area however was turned away because she spelt nurse
incorrectly on her resume. Chelsea and her friends later laughed at how ditzy
she is implying that Chelsea is also ditzy in the hospital with her patients.
Throughout the series these nurses were portrayed as unprepared rule-breakers
who are not passionate about their work, which ultimately gives the viewers the
impression that all nurses are unprofessional and should not be trusted.
Nurses are the number one sexual fantasy among men partly because of the
naughty nurse stereotype that is constantly displayed in the media. The naughty

nurse stereotype is represented in television shows, movies, advertisements and

even Halloween costumes. This stereotype implies that nurses are so focused
on sex with patients and/or other staff members and therefore are not focusing
on their job by caring for their patients. The naughty nurse stereotype is heavily
displayed throughout the episodes of Scrubbing In. In the first episode Heather
said that because she wears makeup and has fake boobs people think she is a
stripper. She later went on to say that the hospital is going to think Oh, were
hiring strippers with big tits now. By sexualizing themselves they feed into the
sexual fantasy of attractive nurses. In the first episode, Chelsea tells the viewers
Hospitals are just like on television. I mean doctors fuck nurses, nurses fuck
doctors. The media inaccurately portrays nurses on many occasions yet an
actual nurse is validating every media portrayal on television. How are nonnursing viewers supposed to believe the true nature of the nursing profession if
a registered nurse is validating the naughty nurse stereotype? These nurses
focus on sex in the workplace highlights the unprofessional nature of the nursing
profession and implies that nurses are not putting forth their best effort to care
for their patients. These nurses not only validate the naughty nurse stereotype
by validating sex in the workplace but also by openly talking about sex. I might
wash my clothes on Adrians abs later, Tuesday night is Bobby and Thursday
night is Stephen and Did you guys bring your vibrators? are just some of the
many examples. Not only do these nurses sexualize their conversations but they
also sexualize their work when one nurse is flirting with another in the hospital
and asks her if she would like to be physically restrained and later cleaned by
him. Hardcore partying is another way in which Scrubbing In portrays the
naughty nurse stereotype. In the first episode they boys go to a club because
they believe the best way to get over one girl is to find another. Throughout the
series the nurses drink and party at many different clubs. In the first episode the
night ended badly when Heather was drunk and ended up skinny-dipping with
another nurse named Adrian. Heathers fianc gets very angry when he finds out
that Heather has been skinny-dipping with other men, leading to a fight between
him and Adrian. The hardcore partying, open conversations about sex and sex
in the workplace all contribute to validating the naughty nurse stereotype for the
viewers.
The negative depiction of nursing from Scrubbing In caused a strong reaction
within the nursing community. The Truth About Nursing is a non-profit
organization that promotes the public understanding of nursing by mending its
image in the media. The Truth About Nursing urged MTV to cancel the show due
to the fact that there were limited clinical scenes, no mention of nursing
education, specialties or research. In a letter written to MTV, The Truth About
Nursing stated that the actions and behaviors of the nurses on Scrubbing In
associate all nurses with sexuality thus reinforcing the naughty nurse image that

claims nurses are physician gold-diggers and sex obsessed. The National
Association of Critical Nurse Specialists claim that 50% of the nursing workforce
is nearing retirement and with such a high demand for nurses Scrubbing In will
turn away potential new nurses by demeaning the profession with negative
stereotypes and undermining the years of education and hard work nurses have
accomplished. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing show that The
United States will experience a large and prolonged shortage of RNs in the latter
half of the decade as the baby boomers age and the need for health care grows.
The Council on Physician and Nurse Supply determined that with this shortage
30,000 additional nurses are needed to graduate annually in order to meet
health care needs. This shows that nursing school enrollment is not growing fast
enough to meet the demands for RNs and in upcoming years the nursing
shortage will continue to be an issue. One of the proposed strategies to address
the nursing shortage is Johnson & Johnsons Campaign for Nursings Future,
which is a multimedia initiative that promotes the nursing career and polishes
the image of nursing in the media. By improving the image of nursing it is
thought that more students will enroll into the nursing profession thus
decreasing the issue of a nursing shortage. Scrubbing In is detrimental to the
nursing image that many organizations are trying to fix thus Scrubbing In can
turn away future nurses creating a larger nursing shortage.
The portrayal of the nursing profession in Scrubbing In does not highlight the
skills and life saving work that nurses perform on a daily basis. Scrubbing In
gives its viewers the impression that nurses are unprofessional, uninterested,
hardcore partiers and obsessed with all things having to do with sex. While
Scrubbing In does portray diversity within the nurses by showing both male and
female nurses, Caucasian and African American nurses and even homosexual
and heterosexual nurses I do think that this show provided more harm than
good for the nursing profession. This reality show is centered on the nursing
profession however it shows more interpersonal drama than it does clinical
scenes. These nurses were rarely shown in the hospital setting and thus did not
show the viewers the true role of the nurse. With the current issue of a nursing
shortage it is important to highlight the nursing profession in a positive light to
encourage and inspire both men and women to become nurses. Scrubbing In
does not portray nurses in a positive manner and can influence viewers into
believing that all nurses are unprofessional, unskilled and crazy. With 500,000
viewers watching the first episode, 3,326 twitter followers and 10 million visitors
on the MTV website each month Scrubbing In has the power to influence the
perception of nursing for many individuals. In conclusion, if the negative image
of the nursing profession continues to be represented in media through popular
television shows like Scrubbing In the issue of the current nursing shortage may
increase and become a bigger burden for society and the healthcare system.

References:
(2013). Episode 1- Scrubbing In The OC [Television series episode]. In
Scrubbing In. New York City: MTV.
(2014). Episode 10- Solstice [Television series episode]. In Scrubbing In. New
York City: MTV.
Cohen, S. (2007). The Image of Nursing. American Nurse Today, 2(5), 24-26.
MTV Scrubbing In. (n.d.). Twitter Counter. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from
http://twittercounter.com/scrubbinginMTV
Nursing Shortage. (n.d.). American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Retrieved April 3, 2014, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/factsheets/nursing-shortage
Scrubbing Less. (n.d.). The Truth About Nursing. Retrieved March 1, 2014, from
http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/news/2013/nov/12_scrubbing_in.html
Scrubbing Out. (n.d.). The Truth About Nursing. Retrieved March 1, 2014, from
http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/news/2013/oct/24_scrubbing_in.html