Our executive director's letter the executives at Cali Nurse. (Our petiiton is now closed)

Dear Mr. Lambert, Mr. Holzman, Ms. Hussey and Ms. Wallin: I am writing to express concern about the casting call issued for the new show Cali Nurse, which seeks "gorgeous" young females (ages 21-30 only) who will experience "comedy, romance, and fun" and are all about "big hearts" and "dates with McDreamy." The casting material indicates that the show is going to focus on the naughty nurse and angel stereotypes that have plagued the nursing profession for decades. I am sure that you mean no harm to nursing in creating this show. But for decades the naughty nurse stereotype (including the false idea that nurses are mainly interested in romance with physicians) has sexualized the profession and undermined real nurses' claims to the resources and respect they need to save lives. That imagery continues to tell people that nursing is just a tired sex joke, not a profession for educated men and women who need more clinical and educational resources if they are to keep saving lives. And nursing has suffered in a similar way from the common notion that nurses are unskilled angels, workers with big hearts but small brains. We would like to draw your attention to the 1988-89 NBC show Nightingales, which presented an image of nurses that is similar to what we see in the casting materials for Cali Nurse. Nightingales lasted only 14 episodes before pressure from thousands of nurses across the US persuaded NBC, advertisers, and producers to end the show. Even before the cancellation, nurses had persuaded the show to use a nurse advisor help reduce the damage it was doing to the profession. See more at www.truthaboutnursing.org/media/tv/nightingales/. Perhaps you are not aware that we are in the midst of a global nursing shortage that is one of the biggest health crises we face. Thousands of people die every day because there are not enough nurses to educate them about how to live healthier lives or avoid disease. Thousands die because nurses are not there to provide care and advocate for safer health care systems. One of the biggest reasons for the shortage is that nursing is chronically underfunded. It is underfunded because it is undervalued. And it is undervalued in significant part because of decades of negative stereotypes of nurses in the media--a media that for the most part does not understand the true value of nursing. I urge you to revamp the premise of your show so it will not harm the nursing profession. You might shift the focus to nurses' rigorous college training, their life-saving skills, or their central role in the substantive care of a wide range of patient populations. In any case, please hire nurse advisors who understand the media's effect on the profession. And please do your best to avoid the naughty nurse and angel stereotypes. You can learn more about them at www.truthaboutnursing.org/faq/naughty_nurse.html and www.truthaboutnursing.org/faq/nf/angels.html We hope you will join us in helping to get nurses the respect and resources they need to save lives. Thank you.