International Nurses Day: How Hollywood Sees Nurses - 12.05.2021, Sputnik International

On 12 May the world celebrates International Nurses Day. The date was chosen as a tribute to Florence Nightingale, the English nurse who was also a social reformer and a statistician. She was born 12 May 1820.

Nursing is not an option for those who aren't keen on hard work. Serving as a nurse means patients in care must be able to trust you. For many people a nurse is the one they spend their very last minutes with. So nursing is something more than an occupation - it is a vocation.

Numerous stories and legends have depicted nurses as heroes and those who sacrifice their life for others. There have also been numerous filmmakers who have found nurses a great source of inspiration and a tool for delivering a humane message to the audience.

Check out Sputnik's gallery to find out how nurses have been portrayed on the big screen.

1 / 11

Pearl Harbor (2001). Kate Beckinsale stars as Nurse Lt Evelyn Johnson. Set in the Second World War, she finds herself in the centre of a love triangle.

2 / 11

Testament of Youth (2014). Alicia Vikander plays the part of Vera Brittain - a renowned English nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist.

3 / 11

Across the Universe (2007). If you just can't get enough of Salma Hayek, this musical romantic drama in which she plays a singing nurse, probably is to your taste.

4 / 11

ER (1994 to 2009). Julianna Margulies as Nurse Carol Hathaway and George Clooney as Dr Doug Ross are developing just another story in the show which had more than 300 episodes.

5 / 11

Hacksaw Ridge (2016). Teresa Palmer plays nurse Dorothy Schutte in Mel Gibson's Second World War film.

6 / 11

In Love and War (1996). The film based on Hemingway's Farewell to Arms tells a story about an American soldier and nurse who fall in love with each other during the Italian campaign of the First World War. The nurse is played by Sandra Bullock, pictured with Chris O'Donnell.

7 / 11

Catch Me If You Can (2002). Amy Adams as Brenda Strong, a young nurse, and Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale, develop a romantic relationship in Steven Spielberg's biographical forgery film.

8 / 11

Kill Bill (2004). Daryl Hannah, aka Elle Driver, can't wait to 'take care' of Beatrix Kiddo in Quentin Tarantino's fourth film.

9 / 11

Scrubs (2001 - 2009). Judy Reyes stars as Carla Espinosa, the hospital's head nurse in the iconic television series.

10 / 11

Hawthorne (2009 - 2011). Jada Pinkett Smith plays the character of Christina Hawthorne, chief nursing officer at Richmond Trinity Hospital in the popular TV series.

11 / 11

Nurse 3D (2013). An American erotic horror film starring Paz de la Huerta, Katrina Bowden, and Corbin Bleu, about a serial killer nurse Abby Russell (De la Huerta) who is sick of men cheating on their girlfriends.