The View Celebrates Nurses Amid Controversy: ''One Thing That's Abundantly Clear Is That Nurses Wear Stethoscopes''

Ladies invited the ''dedicated professionals from NYU College of Nursing'' on the show

By Alyssa Toomey Sep 18, 2015 3:41 PMTags
The View, NursesABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqua

The ladies of The View are celebrating nurses today. 

On Tuesday, the panelists, including Michelle Collins, Joy BeharRaven-Symoné and Paula Faris sparked backlash and the trending topic #NursesUnite after discussing the talent portion of the Miss America competition, during which Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson performed a monologue about her profession as a nurse. Co-host Michelle Collins said her act was "hilarious" and that she "basically read her emails out loud," while Behar inquired as to why she wore a doctor's stethoscope onstage.

In spite of the co-hosts' apologies, the controversy continued to pick up steam, and on Thursday, both Johnson & Johnson and Eggland's Best pulled their advertisements from the show

VIDEO: Miss America Betty Cantrell defends Miss Colorado

So, naturally, the ladies invited a number of nurses to appear on the ABC talk show today ''to share firsthand what these hard-working nurses do on a daily basis.''

"After we made comments about the Miss America broadcast and the talent performance by Miss Colorado, we heard from many of you," Behar said, addressing the camera. "You let us know you were offended by some of our comments and believe me, we were listening. We apologize for our remarks and we know how important nurses are. But we didn't want to leave it at that. So we have invited the dedicated professionals from NYU College of Nursing to share firsthand what these hard-working nurses do on a daily basis."

ABC/Ida Mae Astute

The panelist spoke with Director of Simulation Learning Kellie Bryant as well as assistant professor Larry Slater, who explained that "sometimes we don't feel like we're the most respected [profession]." 

"Nurses come to the forefront a lot at times of tragedy," he said. "But the truth is, there are countless heroic nurses and countless Kelley Johnsons that are impacting lives every minute of every day." 

VIDEO: Watch the clip that caused all the backlash

"I personally, I want to say, I learned a lot this week. I think we all did. Thank you so much for coming here," Collins added. "You know, as a result of this situation, I didn't understand the challenges facing nurses, the need to improve how people view and appreciate what you do and I'll be honest I think the comments made Monday kind of played into that and I'm sorry about that." 

ABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqua

Bryant and Slater were then asked to talk about the "emotional impact" of being a nurse before Behar later added with a smile, "One thing that has become abundantly clear is that nurses wear stethoscopes" (the panelists were all then given stethoscopes). 

"Hopefully, by focusing on this today, we can help better understand and recognize the critical role that nurses play in caring for others and making such a big difference. Thank you, guys. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me say thank you to some very special people," Collins concluded before inviting a number of nurses to join them on stage. "Guys, come on out!"

"Thank you nurses," Behar added, "Thank you all very much." 

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