Nurses Onscreen
The Pitt
Noah Wyle stars in a buzzy new medical drama set in a Pittsburgh ED
Thirty years after “ER,” Noah Wyle has returned to the emergency department in a new HBO Max series called “The Pitt,” where he plays seasoned ER attending physician Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.
Created by former “ER” writer R. Scott Gemmill and set in the ED of a fictional inner-city Pittsburgh hospital, “The Pitt” has reminded a lot of people of “ER.” In fact, the estate of Michael Crichton, creator of the 1994 show, has sued the producers, claiming that “The Pitt” is retooled from a planned revival of the earlier series. (The producers insist that it’s “a completely different show.”)
The new show differs from “ER” in some important ways. Since “The Pitt” streams on HBO Max rather than on network television, it can highlight more sensitive issues without clashing with network censors.
It also includes a lot more cursing and bodily fluids, along with some pretty gnarly injuries. (While watching, my husband frequently has his hands over his eyes, saying, “Tell me when this part is over.”)
One Shift Per Season
The first season covers just one 15-hour ER shift, with each episode representing a single hour, beginning at 7 a.m. This means that we see things play out in real time, with some plotlines extending across several episodes.
The ensemble cast of “The Pitt” is large and diverse, and the characters are more charming and helpful to each other than I remember my hospital coworkers being. There are burned-out senior staff, wise nurses, social workers and nursing assistants, quirky new residents trying to establish themselves in the pecking order, and of course the tough but empathetic Dr. Robby running herd on his unit.
With its rapid pace and frequent shifts from light and zany to achingly sad, “The Pitt” can be a bit of a roller-coaster ride. It features a good mix of critical situations — like an unexpected fentanyl overdose resulting in brain death — and the comical (why did the scrubs machine dispense morgue scrubs?)
“The Most Important Person You’re going to Meet Today”
It’s interesting to note what’s changed and what hasn’t since “ER” debuted in 1994. Homeless patients are still with us, but everyone now understands power of attorney a little better, and teen mental health issues and patient confidentiality are taken more seriously.
Medical technology is much more sophisticated, but there are new problems, like hospital administrators preoccupied with patient satisfaction scores.
One change Working Nurse readers will appreciate is that “The Pitt” has more respect for nurses. In the first episode, when Dr. Robby introduces the new residents to charge nurse Dana Evans (played by Katherine LaNasa), he calls her “the most important person you’re going to meet today,” and sternly advises, “Do what she says when she says it.”
With lots of gritty drama and rapid-fire medical jargon (even nurse viewers might want to keep the subtitles on, or have a thumb on the pause button), “The Pitt” may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
For me, it’s just enough adrenaline rush, comedy, and reminder of my hospital nursing days to keep me coming back each week.
CHRISTINE CONTILLO, RN, BSN, PHN, is a public health nurse with more than 40 years of experience, ranging from infants to geriatrics. She enjoys volunteering for medical missions.
In this Article: Emergency, Nurses in the Media
