Do “The View” hosts have a bad bedside manner? Some nurses certainly think so. Sunday’s 2016 Miss America pageant featured Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson, whose talent consisted of a monologue about her profession as a nurse. The next day, “The View” co-host Joy Behar said she did not consider the monologue a legitimate talent, and appeared ill-informed on the nursing profession as a whole.
In particular, she didn't understand part of Johnson's nurse scrubs, asking: “Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on her neck?” Host Michelle Collins also remarked: “She basically read her emails out loud and surprisingly did not win.” She then jabbed, “She (Johnson) treats patients with Alzheimer’s, which is not funny, but you have to Google it (her performance).”
Nurses were quick to retaliate with a hashtag campaign #NursesUnite to support Johnson.
“The View trivialized the profession of nursing, referring to the nurses scrubs as a costume. They also demeaned the role of the RN by referring to a stethoscope as a doctor’s instrument," a rep for the National Nurses United, the largest U.S. Organization of nurses, told FOX411. "This statement ignores the RN's role in constant assessment of a patient's health status. RNs provide more than kindness to their patients. They have a large and dynamic scope of practice necessitating education in biological and social sciences, critical thinking and health assessment skilled. RNs use many tools to facilitate this role, including the constant use of a stethoscope.”
New York City based ER nurse Misty Miller also called out “The View" hosts, and also echoed the NNU’s explanation saying nurses use stethoscopes “just as much if not more than doctors.”
“I don’t know where these women come from but obviously they have a lot of ignorance," Miller said. "Yes, it’s not a conventional talent, but it’s a skill and an art requiring a noble, unique mind."