‘The View’ Nurse Backlash: Joy Behar & Michelle Collins Mock Miss Colorado’s Stethoscope As #NursesUnite Goes Viral

The View has become the center of a firestorm following the co-hosts’ mocking of a nurse who used her career as the basis for a monologue for the Miss America talent competition portion. Some of the co-hosts of The View made fun of Kelley Johnson, who is Miss Colorado, because she talked about how a patient battling Alzheimer’s clarified her work as a nurse, reported USA Today.

“… She came in in a nurse’s uniform, and basically read her emails out loud,” mocked Michelle Collins, The View co-host and comic.

Joy Behar, who recently returned to her co-host role, also questioned the nurse’s appearance.

“Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?” asked Behar.

Michelle then tried to reduce the backlash by clarifying her statements on The View.

“I, for all of us, want to say we love nurses. Nurses, if you’re watching, we adore you, we respect you. I was not talking about her as a nurse, and we were talking about the talent competition and it got misconstrued.”

As for Behar, Joy claimed that she had thought Johnson’s scrubs were a costume and that she was not aware that she had a career as a nurse.

“I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about,” confessed Behar.

But following that first show, health care professionals including many nurses challenged the conversations. On Twitter, the #NursesUnite hashtag went viral, reported MSN.

For many, the fact that rather than dance or sing to showcase her talent in competing for the title of Miss America, Kelley Johnson chose to wear her nurse scrubs to talk about her work as a medical professional was moving.

But among those admirers of the nurse, whose monologue focused on an older patient with Alzheimer’s, The View co-hosts struck a dissenting voice in dissing the nurse.

“The talent, though, I have to say, the woman who won sang opera, and she was incredible. Really good,” praised Collins of one contestant. “But then there was a girl who wrote her own monologue and I was like ‘Turn the volume up, this is going be amazing, let’s listen.’ She came out in a nurse’s uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win… it was hilarious.”

When Behar asked for clarification of the stethoscope, The View comedian even made fun of the nurse’s work with Alzheimer’s patients.

“She helps patients with Alzheimer’s, which I know is not funny, but I swear you had to see it,” laughed Collins.

But nurses on Twitter were not entertained or amused.

“Reminder to the ladies of the view, my NURSE stethoscope may help save their lives one day #RespectNurses,” slammed one person.

“Ever wonder what 3 million p****d off nurses look like?” questioned a Twitter respondent.

“@TheView I use my stethoscope every day. I’m #notjustanurse – Im the nurse trying to save your life- YOUR nurse. #nursesunite #NursesMatter — Julianne van kalken (@JKalken) September 15, 2015”

And one individual emphasized the use of that stethoscope in life and death issues.

“Used my very own stethoscope to help confirm time of death today on another RN’s patient #NursesMatter — D (@sharpcheddar) September 16, 2015”

In all, the Twitter hashtags that soared in popularity as a backlash at The View for their comments about nurses included #NursesShareYourStethoscopes, #nursesunite, and #NursesMatter.

“I’ll continue to use my ‘Nurse’s Stethoscope’ to save lives. Joy Behar will still be an idiot. #NursesMatter #NursesShareYourStethoscopes — Bianca Davis (@biancadavis90) September 16, 2015”

[Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images]