Monday, May 7, 2012

5 Fictional Nurses

Today is 5 of your..... a theme for the Blogathon 2012 participants. It originally was supposed to be about movies, books, or some other type of influence that got you on your way to blogging or that gave you ideas. But, since I couldn't think of anything, I decided to list five fictional nurses that I have enjoyed "meeting" over the years.

Cherry Ames

The first fictional nurse I knew was Cherry Ames. I had several Cherry Ames books that I read, alongside my Nancy Drew books. I wasn't a Cherry Ames wannabe, but I did enjoy reading about her adventures. How many roles could a nurse really take on? If you were Cherry - many.

Look! You can still buy the books, written by Helen Wells.

Amazon link
Sorry folks - I'm a Kindle devotee, but really, some books just should not be ebooks and Cherry Ames books fall in that category.


Jill Danko

Doesn't ring a bell? Jill Danko was a nurse on a show in the 70s called The Rookies. She wasn't a major character; she was the wife of one of the police officers, but she was popular and Kate Jackson, who played Jill, ended up getting quite a bit of screen time.


Major Margaret Houlihan

Played by Loretta Swit in the hit sitcom M*A*S*HMajor Margaret Houlihan was a different breed of nurse. No nonsense, tough, but if you watched the show regularly, you would see that she did have a heart that she guarded very carefully. I think every female nurse should have a little of Hot Lips Houlihan in her. She knew her stuff and she backed up her nurses 100 percent.


Carol Hathaway

A newer name, newer than Jill Danko anyway. Carol Hathaway was a nurse at ER's County General Hospital and was the envy of many women as she became Doug Ross's lover. And who was Doug Ross - he was played by George Clooney.


Nurse Jackie 

I have a confession to make. I've never watched one episode of Nurse Jackie. Not my fault though - I don't get the network that runs the show. I've heard a lot about her so I figured the list should include her. She does belong on my list - I've heard enough about her!

What fictional nurses do you remember?

8 comments:

Nancy said...

I remember the Cherry Ames books but before that was a series of books about Sue Barton. We followed her from student nurse to visiting nurse to one form of nursing after another. I read them all. I also liked a nurse on a TV show about Vietnam--called China Beach. Dana Delaney played her, I think. Thanks for the memories.

www.writergrannyesworld.blogspot.com

Babette said...

Ooh, fun list. I don't know Cherry Ames...but I think I would have likde her!!

Anonymous said...

I love Nurse Jackie!

Hey, let's not forget those gals from China Beach, especially Colleen McMurphy (played by the fabulous Dana Delany.
I also liked ER's Abby Lockheart (Maura Tierney).

Marijke Vroomen-Durning said...

I've heard of Sue Barton - in fact, I think I vaguely remember reading about her.

When my parents moved here from the Netherlands, my mother worked on perfecting her English by reading "throw away" books, like Harlequin Romances. I remember as a teen reading about all those British nurses who ended up meetin stern, brooding doctors, usually from the Netherlands, now that I think about it.

I forgot about Abby Lockheart in ER, but I have to admit, I've never seen China Beach.

Kathryn (KL) Lance said...

Oooh, I LOVED Cherry Ames. Also Sue Barton. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Rachel Ward said...

Oh, wow! I'd quite forgotten Cherry Ames and Sue Barton. I read my mum's copies - she did go on to become a nurse, maybe because of them.

Unknown said...

Oh wow! I loved Cherry Ames growing up! I had forgotten about that series. Thanks for the reminder; now I'll have to look them up again!

bookworm said...

Sue Barton! I think I read the first three. And, speaking of other memories, I loved the Major Houlihan character on the TV show M*A*S*H - I loved how she evolved during the many years of the series.