[UPDATED] ‘The View’ hosts mock Miss America contestant’s nurse monologue, face backlash as #nursesunite

Sunday night, the 2015 Miss America pageant was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. As usual, some of the contestants performed a talent for the competition, and one particular contestant shocked the audience with a rather unconventional monologue after she was chosen.

Miss Colorado didn’t sing a beautiful number, she didn’t dance or play an instrument. No, Kelley Johnson instead walked onto the stage in scrubs, with a stethoscope around her neck, and gave an incredibly heartwarming speech about her real talent — a profession she clearly loves and takes very seriously. Kelley is a nurse, and after watching her performance, my bet is you’ll agree with my suspicion that she’s probably a pretty great one.

The hosts of ABC’s The View had a different take on things, and are facing tremendous backlash for it today, for good reason.

“She came in a nurse’s uniform and basically read her emails out loud, and shockingly did not win,” said The View host Michelle Collins. “I was like, ‘That’s not a real talent.’ She helps patients with Alzheimer’s, which I know is not funny, but I swear you had to see it. Google it if you can.”

“Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope around her neck?” Joy Behar inserted.

Watch the clip below:

Now, I’m no rocket scientist or anything, but even I know that nurses use stethoscopes. Clearly Ms. Behar hasn’t spent much time around anyone in the medical community or she’d know that.

As you can imagine, nurses were none too pleased with the ladies on The View, and didn’t take long to begin expressing it on social media using the hashtag #nursesunite. Here are just a few:

Step 1. Figure out how to use this damn “doctor’s stethoscope”. #NursingSchool101 #NursesUnite #ScrewTheView pic.twitter.com/g74TjNqxSO

— Nursing 101 (@RNSchool101) September 16, 2020

I can’t believe someone with such a meaningless profession has the nerve to belittle a nurse. #nursesunite

— KELSEY (@KelseyKorst) September 16, 2020

.@TheView There are 3 million nurses in America. You picked the wrong profession to mess with. @JoyVBehar @michcoll #nursesunite — Isra Hashmi (@israhash) September 16, 2020

Good Luck To The Chicks @TheView The Next Time U Have An ER Visit. Nurses Pick Needle And Catheter Sizes, Ya Know. #NursesUnite #NursesRock — Kathy Sargeant (@KathySargeant) September 16, 2020

Enough of the ignorance in the media. 3.1 million of us nationwide. #nursesunite#NursesShareYourStethoscopespic.twitter.com/UjWnL2em3H — Michael R. Isaacs RN (@NurseMike911) September 16, 2020

I’ve stood by the bedside of a dying mother, a dying mother-in-law, a dying grandmother and a very, very sick father and have undoubtedly had some of the most precious nurses to ever grace the medical profession. While I’m no nurse myself, I certainly know from my very limited vantage point that it takes true talent to be a great nurse. Joy Behar and Michelle Collins certainly have a right to their opinions, Lord knows nothing much stops them from spewing their venom on a daily basis. But this time, they took it too far.

What say you?

[UPDATE] According to People magazine,  “Johnson & Johnson and Eggland’s Best, two of The View’s advertisers, have pulled the plug on the talk show in the wake of the recent backlash that erupted on Monday when co-host Joy Behar made controversial comments about nurses on-air.” Visit this link to read comments from both companies.