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Comic strips

Close to Home makes the rounds with ‘hot’ nurses

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Monday’s Close To Home made the rounds at the Saratoga Hospital in New York as it was copied, faxed, e-mailed and posted through-out the hospital. It even caught the attention of the local media. The cartoon depicted a man being loaded into an ambulance and the EMT saying, “You’ve got two options, bud. Mercy Hospital is 20 minutes closer, but the nurses at Saratoga Hospital are really hot.”

Not everyone thinks the cartoon was funny or flattering. The Center for Nursing Advocacy went on record as saying that the cartoon treated nurses sex objects.

So what was John McPherson‘s intent for doing the cartoon?

McPherson said the cartoon was based on experience. A couple of years ago he went to Saratoga Hospital for kidney stones. He was treated a year later at the hospital for gallstones.

“I’m a single guy, and I figured if I put this plug in, I might actually be contacted by some of the hot nurses at Saratoga Hospital,” McPherson said. “So if they want to reach me, they can e-mail me through the cartoon, and I can take them out to dinner.”

Sexism, datelessness aside, the one thing I find interesting in the cartoon is that on the back of the ambulance the word “ambulance” is spelled backwards. I understand that’s done on the FRONT of an ambulance so that it reads correctly in the rear-view mirror of the car it’s behind, but perhaps not only are the nurses hot in Saratoga, but the ambulances often drive in reverse.

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Comments 8

  1. Oh please! What a ridiculous thing for a group to complain about… why don’t they leave Close to Home alone and complain about Scrubs or Grey’s Anatomy. The dipictions on those shows are far more damaging…

  2. I thought Saratoga Hospital only had male nurses.

  3. People need to learn to take a joke. Jeez!

    I wonder if the center for nursing advocacy (CFNA) is staffed by Mercy Hospital?

    Rob and Alan … funny stuff!

    I believe the CFNA is also complaining recently about a place called the Heart-Attack Grill since they use nurse outfits for their Hooters-like waitresses.

    IMHO – hey CFNA – most patients in the hospital do not care what the nurses look like – they just want to be out of pain and out of the hospital! In working with a lot of nurses lately (my mom’s rehab from cancer) … I cannot express how appreciated good nurses are!!! One thing I noticed – the good ones all seemed had a good sense of humor.

    My 2¢

  4. RE: The backwards lettering on the ambulance: It’s on a par with the poor graphics of the strip.

  5. We DO go after Grey’s Anatomy and Scrubs. And ER and House and advertisements and films any other media that portrays nursing negatively. We also work to highlight positive, accurate media about nursing and we have Golden Lamp Awards every year to highlight the best and the worst media depictions of nursing. Look for them in about a week.

    The naughty nurse image is not a “joke.” It’s a slur against hard working professional nurses who work hard to save lives and improve health outcomes.

    In general, linking sexual images so closely to the profession of nursing–to even the fantasy idea that working nurses are sexually available to patients–reinforces long-standing stereotypes. Those stereotypes continue to discourage practicing and potential nurses (especially young men), foster sexual violence in the workplace, and contribute to a general atmosphere of disrespect. At ground level, the devaluation of nursing translates into an underpowered profession that may not be strong enough to save your life when you need it to do so. Desexualizing the nursing image is a key part of building the strength the profession needs to overcome the current shortage, which is a global public health crisis.

  6. I disagree. I think most people think of nurses as noble and professional. And most working people respect them as hardworking and caring.

    I think any intelligent person sees what the strip is for what it is: a gag, a joke, a lark. Your response strikes me as humorless and bordering on political correct thuggery.

  7. ALL humor is a slur to those who take it PERSONALLY.

    ALL humor is humor to those that take it for what it is: a joke.

    “Desexualizing the nursing image”????

    Sure, great idea, we’ll get to that as soon as we desexualize every man, woman and paramecium on the planet!

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