Working in the medical field is not for the faint of heart. The hours are long, and you don’t see your family as often as you would like. Since becoming the Supervising Nurse at St. Denis, Alex has struggled to balance her home and work life. In St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 13, “Some Famous Internet Guy,” she finally has the opportunity to be with her daughter, Ella, on a day off. Still, it’s also a reminder of the time she has missed.
Chasing the Zoo Penny High
Since St. Denis Medical Season 1 premiered, we have learned that Alex loves her job and her family. But those two things often interfere with one another. We know that being in the medical field is daunting. Alex works hard, and she cares for her patients and her family. Since she became the supervising nurse, it hasn’t always been easy for her to get in family time. In the premiere episode, she rushed to see Ellas’ performance in her school play. Finding the time to be with her daughter means a lot to her, which is why she sees the appearance of Internet performer Colby Twill as the perfect opportunity for them to get in some mother-daughter time.
From the beginning, we can see that though Ella loves her mom, she’s growing into that stage of life when your parents start to embarrass you. Alex is struggling with this fact, and when she looks at Ella, she still sees the little girl who is thrilled by things like making a special penny at the zoo. Alex realized her job had made her miss a few moments in Ellas’s life. Because of this, she wants to connect with her because she doesn’t want her to think she doesn’t have time for her because of her job. Unfortunately, because Alex can never turn off her Nurse hat, even on a day off, that becomes a bit of a challenge once she’s presented with the chance to help out more patients.
More: Need a refresher on what happened on the last episode of St. Denis Medical? Read our review of St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 12, “Buffalo Bruce and Matty the Kid.”
When Ron approached Alex to help get the services to patients without insurance, she did not hesitate to do it. That’s who Alex is. She’s a helper. I will say this, though: it was her day off, and there was no way she’d be able to access patient records unless she clocked in. Also, she could have gotten into big trouble for sending Ella to the lab with patient specimens. Despite all of this, I will say that, in some ways, it worked in Alex’s favor because Ella had the opportunity to witness her mom in action. By the look on Ellas face, it was clear that she was in awe of her mom. She may not have said the words outright, but Ella now thinks being a nurse is much cooler than selling grass. Sorry, Tim.
Code Twill
Ron has become one of my favorite people at St. Denis Medical. I know he comes off as cynical, but he truly cares about his patients. In St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 13, “Some Famous Internet Guy,” he couldn’t care less when he learns that Colby Twill will be performing. Joyce, of course, was in a frenzy because, for her, a performance from a celebrity meant press for the hospital. She’s got her heart set on front-page placement in the local newspaper, The Oregonian. She believes Colby’s performance for pediatric patients is just what they need.
MORE: Read our exclusive interview with St. Denis Medical star Josh Lawson.
While Bruce, who believes surgeons are the hospital’s celebs, drives Colby up the wall with all his stories and requests for pictures, Ron is completely unfazed. All he sees is a regular person. That leads him to notice a lump on Colby’s neck that could have been an indication of thyroid cancer.
The thing with medical professionals is that we are constantly assessing you. Like Ron, I’m guilty of this. It’s just a habit. Our job is to be aware of all changes in patients. Therefore, when we meet someone in public daily, that assessment mode kicks in. When Ron noticed the lump, he told Joyce he wanted to get some testing done for Colby. And, of course, Joyce, being Joyce, was not on board with it because it would interfere with Colby taking the stage.
I respect Ron for not backing down. Joyce begged him not to tell Colby until after he got off stage, but he followed the most important rule at the heart of the Hippocratic Oath: “First, Do No Harm.” His priority was to make sure Colby’s health was okay. Once Joyce agreed, she told Ron to charge whatever services he received to the hospital. That was something Ron was not OK with.
As I said before, Ron and Alex have a lot in common. Ron was bothered by the idea that Colby’s services would be billed directly to the hospital. Because he’s a celebrity, Joyce basically said, “Charge it!.” Like Alex, Ron feels every patient deserves VIP treatment. This gave him the idea to gather all the charts of patients with non-coverage denials, treat them, and then charge them under Colby by way of the hospital. Ron asking Alex to help wasn’t surprising, and I wasn’t surprised she jumped at the chance to help. I will say this was some risky stuff the two of them did. I understand it, though. It can be incredibly frustrating to want to do something for patients, but insurance issues won’t allow it.
I felt Ron’s frustration at what Joyce wanted him to do for Colby. Now, I wouldn’t necessarily assume that Colby was some millionaire, but I’m sure he could pay his medical bills just fine. The idea that Joyce would have an already struggling hospital foot the bill for someone who could afford it while other regular people remained untreated because they didn’t have the coverage just wasn’t right. That being said, I admire Ron and Alex for their bravery despite the risk. Plus, Alex earned cool points with Ella as she watched her mom take charge. And in the end, she still got to watch Colby perform. Ya know, once his lab tests all came back fine.
I get that St. Denis Medical sometimes detours into a bit of unrealistic territory with some of the things they do because, let’s face it, everything that Ron and Alex did in this episode could have gotten them fired. Medical fraud is a big deal, and that’s what they were doing. But, the message was received. St. Denis Medical wants to remind us all that everyone is deserving of healthcare no matter what their circumstances are. Ron and Alex are out there and want to do their best for their patients. That’s why St. Denis Medical works; that heart keeps the show thriving weekly.
Other Thoughts
- If you watched Joyce yell at Serena and wondered, “Do Doctors and Administrators talk to Nurses like that?” The answer is yes. Yes, they do.
- Again… wow, Joyce…yelling at Serena like that was incredibly rude.
- The St. Denis Medical talent show was… something.
- Joyce asking Serena to flirt with the reporter to stall him…Serena is better than me because after the way Joyce talked to her, I would have been like, “Girl, you’re on your own.”
- Seriously, did Alex clock in or not because working off the clock… big no-no.
- When a kid gets permission to skip school, but the day is so bad they want to go to school…yikes.
- Those Colby Twill songs….
- “She used her ‘Clean the house’ voice on adults.”
St. Denis Medical airs Tuesday Nights at 8/7c on NBC.
