Last weekend was the Miss America Beauty Pageant. While Miss Georgia Betty Cantrell, the winner, should be congratulated, there's a bigger storm on the horizon.
Miss Colorado, Kelley Johnson, came out for her talent section in her day job's uniform. Johnson is a nurse, and read an endearing speech she prepared about caring for patients, focusing on one who had Alzheimer's.
'The View' Loses Major Advertisers Following Miss Colorado Nurse JokesJoy Behar and Michelle Collins caused controversy when they made fun of Miss America contestant Kelley Johnson.
It was thought-provoking and sincere, but that's not why it's in the news today. Sadly, it's because two women on "The View" decided that she wasn't doing the right thing.
Joy Behar and Michelle Collins criticized the contestant for wearing "a doctor's stethoscope," which also shows how much they know about the healthcare system. They also said that all she did was "read her emails out loud" and that is why Johnson did not win.
"Entertainment Weekly" reported that Behar and Collins came out with a statement stating: "We love nurses. We adore you. We respect you. You guys are wonderful. You’re the most compassionate people. I was not talking about nurses, we were talking about the talent competition, and it got misconstrued.” If they had been more clear apparently, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Here's the thing, a lot of people don't seem to realize that being a nurse is a talent. It's a difficult job and it includes many things. As someone who has nurses in her family and has been around a lot of nurses, the fact that these two TV. personalities feel like they get to decide what is a talent makes me a little bit angry. I'm sure that they couldn't do Kelley Johnson's job.
The wonderful thing about this is that other nurses are standing up with Miss Colorado. Under the hashtag #NursesUnite, many are sharing photos of themselves at work, with their stethoscopes, and sharing stories of what it means to be a nurse. The positivity in the idea and the fact that these people are standing behind Johnson shows the happier side of America.
