Jada Pinkett Smith, star of the television drama “HawthoRNe,” did not continue using the show’s original medical advisory team at the close of the series’ first season in 2009 following her mother’s detailed criticism of the team’s medical techniques. Pinkett Smith’s mother, Adrienne Banfield-Jones is the head nurse of an inner city Baltimore clinic. A new staff was hired prior to the start of filming on the second season, which premiered June 22.
“There were some minor things as far as nursing care and nursing techniques that were off-kilter,” Banfield-Jones, said in a recent interview with the AFRO. “I would give her my suggestions and basically what she did at the end of the season was kind of revamp her medical advisory team.”
According to Banfield-Jones, while the show’s errors could easily go unnoticed by the untrained eye, trained nurses could quickly pick up on the minor mistakes.
“This season, things seem to be much better and more realistic,” she said. “In the first season, some of their techniques were just a little bit off. They were minor things, but were things that would stick out from a nurses’ perspective.”
Pinkett Smith explained that while many real-life nurses enjoy the show, many pointed out inaccuracies.
“ things like how we put the cap back on the needle, or how we inject the needle or how we resuscitate,” Pinkett Smith told the British newspaper Daily Express. “It’s very specific and we got a lot of nurses last year e-mailing and saying, ‘We like the show but you’re not really doing this and this.’ At the end of the season I had a six-page e-mail . But this year she helped make a much better show, so kudos to her.”
According to MinorityNurse.com, in preparation for the role of Christina Hawthorne, Pinkett Smith explained that she didn’t need to be educated about nurses’ critical role in society. Instead, she was informed by her mom’s confidence and problem-solving skills.
“Just watching her, it amazes me,” Pinkett Smith told MinorityNurse.com. “She was there with me a couple of times where we’ve had some medical emergencies in the house with kids and how automatically she goes into this analytical problem solver.”
“HawthoRNe” debuted on TNT in 2009 and ended its first season with approximately 3.52 million viewers.
