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“ But so many of our senior nurses , including myself , pretty much know those surgeries inside out , back to front , upside down , and those surgeons are the ones asking us for advice and asking us for help on certain things .
“ I just think this is a really good way to show the public that there is so much more to nursing than that stereotypical view .”
Nurses goes on to highlight the various roles and responsibilities held by those working on the wards , taking viewers into the emergency rooms of St Vincent ’ s over a busy weekend .
On the eve of the end of Sydney ’ s lock-out laws , viewers are introduced to Nurse Manager Darren Scott , 32 , who oversees a stream of intoxicated patients coming in on his overnight shift .
Supervising up to 16 nurses at once , Darren shoots back and forth between his desk where he directs on-coming patients . Appearing on camera while juggling his duties , he said , was a difficult yet rewarding feat .
“ We are human at the end of the day , and it ’ s showing that we ’ ve all got different personalities and that we are all here for the same reason , which is to look after the patients ,” he told Nursing Review .
“ In emergency , we ’ ve got such a big team and everyone works differently .
“ I think the whole experience was pretty incredible to be honest .”
Growing up in a small town in central Scotland , Darren came to Australia six years ago and has completed nursing placements back home , on the Gold Coast and in Sydney .
He joins the around 118,000 registered nurses working in Australia who have migrated from other countries .
In September , the show is scheduled to air overseas under the title Nurses Down Under , offering distant friends and families a glimpse into the working lives of their loved ones .
“ I agreed to do it because it ’ s going to be airing in the UK and obviously I haven ’ t seen my family for two years now , so I thought it would be nice for them to see ,” Darren said .
“ And then for them to really see what I do , because you talk about work sometimes and no one really understands what it ’ s like on a day to day basis .
“ I think my mum and dad are really proud of it , and I haven ’ t spoken to my nana yet but I think she was super excited to watch it .”
For Darren and his emergency team , the recent airing of the program has provided a much needed morale boost on the emergency ward .
“ Especially now that we ’ re back in lockdown and it ’ s pretty rough on the floor at the moment , there ’ s so many different policies , procedures and everyone ’ s personal life is kind of on hold as well ,” he said .
“ It ’ s work , and then it ’ s your home , and then you ’ re in lockdown , and then at work you ’ re in full PPE , it ’ s just risk , risk , risk all the time .
“ I think with the show being on there ’ s been a lot of buzz around the department which I think is nice . A lot of people are talking and a lot of people are laughing .”
Executive producer Ben Ulm , an observational documentary filmmaker for over 20 years , said the pandemic had illuminated the role of nurses in bolstering the public during times of hardship .
According to Ulm , the idea of having the nurses tell their own stories from behind the camera was formed to offer a candid view into the profession .
“ There ’ s something about this show that really made me smile in the very early stages ,” he said .
“ It ’ s a wide ranging vocation , the things that nurses have to do every day are superhuman to an extent .”
After looking into the issues of nurse shortages , ratios and the effects of the closing of international borders , Ulm consulted with the Nursing and Midwives Association and got the green light to produce the show in 2020 .
Senior perioperative nurse Nakita Magua . Photo : Supplied
“ This is a really good way to show the public that there is so much more to nursing .
“ It was clear to me from that conversation that I would get support from nurses , because they felt like the time was right to tell their story ,” he said .
“ What I needed to be satisfied by was the range of their activities , because you know , the old cliche about nursing being about bedpans and bedside manner , I had a gut feeling that there was a lot more to it than that .”
Previously aired medical programs have featured the work of nurses , with the wildly successful Life on the ER and Paramedics following medical staff in everyday , high-pressure situations .
What makes Nurses unique , Ulm said , is the focus on the duty of a nurse as an individual , exploring their various backgrounds and experiences that they bring into the job .
“ All the projects I ’ ve worked on over the years , this one universally had this underlying good will .
“ Some of these stories that you ’ ll see across the series are very uncomfortable viewing , and there ’ s someone who is the subject of that story , that you go , well why would they want that to be on air ?
“ But there ’ s a public education and a public interest in demystifying the process or giving the public an understanding of the job that nurses do , and goodwill comes from that .” ■ nursingreview . com . au | 25