‘The View’ Nurse Drama: Show’s Mocking Of Nurses Draws Responses From Nikki Ferrell, American Nursing Association
The View has stirred up a giant nurse drama this week after mocking the talent of Miss Colorado, prompting responses across the nursing world from Bachelor contestant Nikki Ferrell to the head of the American Nurses Association.
The drama was kicked off on Monday, when the hosts of the ABC talk show mocked Kelley Johnson, whose talent in the Miss America competition was a monologue about her experiences as a nurse working with an Alzheimer’s patient.
“The talent, though, I have to say, the woman who won sang opera, and she was incredible. Really good,” co-host Michelle Collins said. “But then there was a girl who wrote her own monologue and I was like ‘Turn the volume up, this is going be amazing, let’s listen.’ She came out in a nurse’s uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win… it was hilarious.”
“Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?” added Joy Behar, to which Collins responded: “She helps patients with Alzheimer’s, which I know is not funny, but I swear you had to see it.”
But The View soon found a giant backlash among nurses. As People noted, thousands took to social media to call out the show and defend the profession with the hashtag #nursesunite, and even the head of the American Nursing Association joined in.
ANA president Pamela Cipriano released a statement.
“Each and every day, the nation’s 3.4 million registered nurses provide expert, high-quality and compassionate care, as well as dedicated leadership from the bedside to the boardroom. We are the frontline caregivers, 24 hours, 7 days a week, who are with individuals from birth, throughout their lifespan and at the end of life. … That’s why it was disturbing when Joy Behar used her national platform and influence to mock Miss America contestant Kelley Johnson for wearing a ‘doctor’s stethoscope’ while performing a dramatic monologue about her experience as a registered nurse during the pageant’s talent competition, as if Johnson were wearing a costume.”
Former Bachelor contestant Nikki Ferrell, herself a nurse, joined in as well.
If @TheView issues an apology tomorrow can you let me know? I have to work, & it airs around the time I’m usually using my stethoscope.
— Nikki Ferrell (@Nikki_Ferrell) September 16, 2015
For her part, Joy Behar apologized for the flap on Wednesday’s show, saying she did not mean to come across as mocking nurses.
“I was looking at a Miss America tape, and there’s a woman wearing an outfit with a stethoscope, and I’m thinking is she in a costume?” Behar said (via Entertainment Weekly). “It’s not like I was trying to be funny. It was just stupid and inattentive. I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about.”
Despite the apology, The View isn’t done with its nurse controversy just yet. The hashtag #nursesunite was still popular on Twitter, with hundreds of comments still coming in.
[Image via YouTube]
