Future nurses concerned with message “Scrubbing In” may send.
Here at USC, there are 1,163 undergraduate nursing students many of whom will go on to work around the country or the world.
Some of them could also go on to be traveling nurses who are assigned to hospital locations for a limited time. That means they could work anywhere from a small town to be a big city, or, like the cast of MTV’s newest show, “Scrubbing In,” Orange County, Calif.
The show, which airs tonight at 10 p.m., follows traveling nurses Adrian, Tyrice, Chris, Michelle, Fernando, Crystal, Nikki, Chelsey and Heather during their 12 week stints at an Orange County hospital.
MTV highlights not only their time on the clock, but their lives outside of work as well, including dating, fighting and exploring a new city.
“Expect to see nurses at work doing what they love,” cast member Heather Ambrose said, “but also what we do in our off time. Living in Orange County is like work and vacation in one.”
The reality show’s trailer includes cast members at work taking care of emergencies — and partying, fighting and going out, which cast member Chelsey Ferri said is what makes this show different from others.
“It shows what nursing is really like,” Ferri said.
But some USC nursing students aren’t too pleased with the way they’ve seen nurses represented on the preview.
“There are already so many stereotypes that go along with being a nurse. For example, all Halloween costumes on the market to be a nurse are short, tight skirts or dresses with the top being low cut and showing lots of cleavage. We don’t dress like that,” fourth-year nursing student Rachael Byrnes said in a written response. “This show is adding to that negative stereotype — that all we do is party and sleep around.”
Byrnes added that she is concerned about the amount of partying on the show and wishes the preview focused on the more serious aspects of being a nurse.
“Getting a nursing degree is a gruesome process that consists of long hours of studying and learning how to safely care for patients,” she said. “We take pride in all we have done to earn that degree, and the nurses on this show seem to be throwing all that hard work out the window.”
Ferri and Ambrose disagree, though, and say that although they go out sometimes, they take their jobs very seriously.
“We never went out before a shift,” Ferri said, “and we never did anything to jeopardize our career or bring any outside stuff into the job.”
Unless the show proves that its focus is on nursing work, some students said they would be hesitant to watch.
“I am embarrassed,” fourth-year nursing student Olivia Caradonio said in a written response. “I don’t want my future patients to see this show and have it be a reflection on me and all nurses, because that is not how we all act.”
Ambrose and Ferri said that the cast didn’t do anything other young professionals don’t do and
that they are happy with the experiences they had and hope others can have the chance to be travel nurses as well.
“Go out and experience the world,” Ferri said.
Ambrose added, “Don’t say ‘I wish I would’ve done this.’ Just go do it.”
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