Characters In The Movie Wit

Human caring is what sets nursing apart from other professions. As Watson (1998) stated, “care and love are the most universal, the most tremendous and the most mysterious of cosmic forces: they comprise the primal universal psychic energy. Caring is the essence of nursing and the most central and unifying focus for nursing practice” (p. 32-33). It is important to establish a good nurse-patient relationship in order to create a healing environment that would meet patient’s needs on all levels including physical, mental/emotional and spiritual, promote recovery, maintain health, and create positive outcomes. Jean Watson emphasized the importance of human

The movie “Wit” is a great educational tool for healthcare professionals in terms of dealing with terminally ill patients. It teaches that nurses and medical professionals should always remember that their patients are not a case nor illness nor experiment but rather human beings with souls and pains. Palliative care is one of the most disputed issues of worldwide importance. While bureaucrats in different countries are making laws on the use of palliative drugs, patients with excruciating pains learn how to “take deep breaths and be strong” (Nichols & Brokaw, 2001). That is what nurse Susie Monahan from “Wit” advises her dying patient Vivian Bearing suffering from unbearable pains due to stage IV ovarian cancer after eight painful rounds

A nurse is given an opportunity to help patients, either if its by helping them through a very serious sickness or just helping a patient get to the bathroom on time, or a time when happiness is overfilling the room and a child is being born. Registered nurses provide a wide variety of patient care services (Mitchell, p.12). A Nurse must always know where to begin and where to stop, as any other career in the health field there is always something that cannot be done by everyone but only the certified person, a nurse must always remain inside her scope of practice to prevent any misunderstandings. A nurse must also follow a code of ethics , the code of ethics of the American Association of Medical Assistants states that a nurse should at all times render service with full respect and dignity of humanity, respect confidential information obtained by a patients file, uphold the honor and high principles the profession and accept its discipline, and last but not least always want to improve her services to better serve the health and well being of the community. (Mitchell, p.65).

Susanna also has help from her companions, who are also patients at McLean. With the help of: Georgina, a pathological liar and Susanna’s roommate; Daisy, a sexually abused girl with an eating disorder; and Polly, a burn victim with mental wounds deeper than physical, they provide Susanna with a deeper perspective on what real problems are outside of her head. Daisy, Georgina, and Polly also provide Susanna with the kind of friendship Susanna needs to take on her destructive thinking. Of course her companions are not the only aids Susanna encounters while on her Hero’s Journey, she also wouldn’t be able to complete it without the help of a mentor. For Susanna that mentor is Valerie, a nurse at McLean, who steers Susanna on the right path to better herself and that isn’t afraid to tell Susanna the truth, [...] She said things like “Cut that out” and “You're a bore”. She said what she meant, just as we did” (Kaysen 84). Valerie mentors Susanna into the right path in order for her to leave McLean as a healthy

In the play “Wit”, written by Margaret Edson, the author includes many characters in her work that have their own distinct characteristics that make them unique and valuable to the play. Vivian Bearing, the main character in the play, has been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. Due to her diagnosis, she becomes part of a clinical trial for a new drug regimen to fight ovarian cancer. The doctors working with Vivian are very insensitive and lack compassion while interacting with her. One character in the play who displayed a great amount of compassion for Vivian was her primary nurse, Susie Monahan. Susie was the only staff member in the hospital who reached out to Vivian, was kind to her, and cared for wellbeing. She did whatever she could to make Vivian’s stay at the hospital as comfortable as possible. Vivian at first was taken by surprise and rejected

For 3 years, she observed and recorded what she saw and heard in interactions between patients and nurses (Orlando, 1989; Pelletier, 1976)” (Alligood, 2010, p. 337). Ida Orlando categorizes the nurse that she observed into good and bad and developed her theory from there.

opposite of how most women and nurses are. After the attack, Nurse Ratched realizes she was

The Nurse is looked upon as a woman and sex figure when she is not demonstrating control over the patients. She focuses on knocking everything down in her path but comes to a halt when meeting McMurphy. She wins with the patient’s losses and never loses for herself. Once the patients lose to her once they lose for good and eventually they all lose. Nurse Ratched says her domination is all for “the patient’s good.”

ADHD, defiance disorder, pregnancy, these are just few of the things medicalized in the West (Davies 1995). With the rising prestige of Doctors in the 19th century, came a widening of the gap of knowledge between Doctors and the general population (Davies 1995). Doctors have kept a sort of lock on medical knowledge, enabling them to medicalize all sorts of “issues” aided by the idea of the medical mystique. But with the emergence of medicalization and cures that are being searched for by Doctors, a new problem has arisen. This fixation on curing illnesses has led to Doctors viewing patients as experiments and not as human beings, this is seen especially in technologically advanced societies as exemplified in the movie Wit. In addition to this new problem, there are clear establishments of hierarchy between medical professionals such as Doctors and nurses as well as the emotional detachments with the patients which can lead to patients feeling left out and alone.

The film “Wit” portrays many ethical dilemmas in which arise continuously in the nursing profession. The author discusses the ethical issues when it comes to medical research, in regards to patients' safety, or even perhaps, their final wish. The author continues to highlight how a patient like Vivian can be seen as merely a research. But, what is really surprisingly fascinating is how a nurse, not a doctor, advocates to ensure that Vivian is receiving the most beneficial care. What was really surprising was how Nurse Susie reacted for her patient's sake when another ethical line was crossed. Towards the end of the movie, the young doctor “codes blue” and orders for the patient to be resuscitated (Nichols, 2001, 1:30:31) immediately after she

When he finished the examination, he mumbled to himself using medical terminology that the patient could not understand. You could see the fear and confusion on Vivian’s face. The movie is simply showing how it is important to treat people the same way you would want them to treat you and nobody would want to be treated the way Vivian has been treated so far in the movie. The author portrays how important it is

In the movie Wit, Vivian Bearings is a well-known and accredited professor that teaches 17th century poetry. Vivian is diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She is convinced to try an experimental chemo treatment; which ends up failing. During the movie Vivian narrates her experience with her, chemo treatment, the medical staff, and the different stages of dying. Other supporting characters include Dr. Kelekian, the lead doctor who informed her of her diagnosis, Dr. Jason Posner, the clueless fellow and Susie, her sympathetic nurse. The complete lack of professionalism and bedside manor from the doctors and hospital staff is what stands forefront in this film. While hoping for a successful resolution to Vivian’s sudden predicament, we watch as everything we all hope to never have to encounter while fighting such a debilitating and demoralizing disease. Wit (Bosanquet et al., 2001)

There are patients that you might not like just as much as they don’t like you. Not everyone will be grateful for your help, even with positive intentions behind it. There is also those patients that have endured abuse, whether elderly, adult, or pediatric, any is difficult to deal with. Losing patients in any capacity is also tough to have to endure as well. One of the most saddening situations was that of Biddy that the author faced. They found what they thought was a 60-year-old woman chained to a bed, half-starved, abused, and neglected; it was clear she had not been washed in years. This woman was 34 years old who had brothers that abused her. She had a baby out of wedlock which was then taken away and her lover had both his legs broken (later died from other complications) by her father; Biddy was subsequently kept inside for years. The sort of strength of character and composure it takes to help someone out of that situation while holding in yourself is insurmountable. There are truly depressing moments in nursing just as there are happy ones to match them.

Watson’s theory of caring is related to the nurse recognizing the patient and his needs as the priority, with regards to his body mind and spirit. Regardless of the setting, hospital, clinic, or community, care should be rendered to the patient with knowledge and skill while creating an interactive relationship that allows challenge and growth for both parties. It is not just the nurse completing tasks or treatments as ordered by the physician.

Despite the negative reaction and with guidance from Emily medical center’s nurse ethicist she was able to stand firm and stay resolute in her determination to do what was right. Emily was able to properly handle the situation, which is important because the negative effects of leaving this could have been profound.