Nurse Chapel, Role Model

Whoopi Goldberg has said that Star Trek comms officer Uhura was her role model growing up because she was the only black lady in space. Later, Whoopi played the incomparably great, occasionally cheesy character Guinan on ST: Next Generation whose special power was bartending. Uhura wasn’t the only inspirational ST character to inpsire future career […]
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11nurse_chapel1Whoopi Goldberg has said that Star Trek comms officer Uhura was her role model growing up because she was the only black lady in space. Later, Whoopi played the incomparably great, occasionally cheesy character Guinan on ST: Next Generation whose special power was bartending.

Uhura wasn't the only inspirational ST character to inpsire future career choices. Smartypants nurse blogger Mother Jones, RN says her role model is Majel Barrett's Nurse Chapel. (Fans of the franchise recall that Gene Roddenberry's sweetie Barrett also played Troi's overbearing mother and the voice of the computer.)

Mother Jones writes:

Nurse Chapel is my Starfleet role model. She was a loyal coworker, soI’m sure she didn’t engage in lateral violence against other nurses onthe Enterprise. That’s one of my pet peeves. Nurses aren’t going to getahead as a profession until we stop beating each other up. And becauseshe was so dedicated to the welfare of her patients, she obviouslyworked promoting galactic legislation that improved access to healthcare for all life forms. Too bad Spock, a Vulcan who squelched hisemotions, couldn’t appreciate Nurse Chapel’s attributes. Poor NurseChapel. She really loved Spock, but a relationship with the guy justwasn’t in the cards . . . In preparation for becoming the perfect nurse, I amwatching all six Star Trek televisions series, containing a total of726 episodes, and all ten Star Trek movies. I am also reading hundredsof Star Trek novels . . .

I hope this woman is my nurse one day. I already have a doctor who wears a Star Trek communicator pin on his lab coat, so they would make a perfect set.

Confessions of a Closet Trekkie [Nurse Rached's Place]