History Main / BattleaxeNurse

There's also a milder version more common in comedy. This version is still rather unsympathetic and enjoys having power over the patients and other nurses, but can still say with some justification that everything she's doing is [[ForYourOwnGood for the patients' own good]] (although the patients are unlikely to see it like that), and sometimes [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools she's actually right.]] In British works, she almost certainly has the title Matron[[note]]which is the actual, if old-fashioned, job title for the most senior nurse in the hospital[[/note]] and is played by Creator/HattieJacques (who actually was a Red Cross nurse during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII). This type of Matron figure was also popular in older Australian series.

* John Gafe deals with one from canon in the ''{{Series/Emergency}}'' fic [[http://www.tbillingsemergencyfanfic.com/complicationspart1.htm "Complications"]]. He is confused and recovering from encephalitis. He also still struggles with a badly abusive childhood and a mild case of Asperger's, and when the nurse wants to examine him, he panics and fights. Her answer is to slap him and restrain him, which only terrifies him more, due to his background, and sedate him. Roy, [=JoAnn=], Dr. Brackett and Dixie are all outraged. The nurse is fired and the Desotos take John to recover with them. That said, Roy is still kind and helpful to the nurse when he comes upon her in a car accident later.

* Subverted in ''Film/HeavyTrip''. The head nurse of the psychiatric hospital in which Turo works is very strict and strong personality, but she has her heart in the right place and is impressed on how Turo found heavy metal pacified Oula on his violent bouts.

* Nurse Maria Bulwell in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novel ''The Taint'', who actively despises her charges, both as a group because she sees mental illness as a sign of weakness, and individually for unique reasons. (She has a bit more sympathy for the ex-soldier, since fighting in World War II is an "acceptable" reason to have a breakdown, although her view of him as a hero turns out to be as inaccurate as her contemptuous opinions of the others.) When one of the patients is murdered, she's darkly fascinated to realise she doesn't actually care.
* The senior nurse in ''Literature/GoingPostal'', who seems to be a little hazy on the difference between a hospital and a prison. Dr Lawn, supposedly in charge of the hospital, claims that the only way to deal with the nursing staff is to throw a handful of chocolates in one direction and then run in the other as fast as possible.

* Martin discusses one in ''Series/{{Frasier}}''. When he was in the hospital after being shot in the hip, he was cared for by Sister Joselia, "the scrubbing nun" and "terror of Ward 3", who he still has nightmares about years later.

* Not as extreme as some of the examples on this list, but ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' had Nurse [=DeFarge=] (played by [[Series/TheHoganFamily Edie McClurg]]) in its final season episode "Beauty and the Beast". The episode's B-plot revolved around a scenario where Sophia fakes being injured so she can be tended to by the aforementioned Nurse in a wheelchair.

* ''VideoGame/EndlessNightmare'' have nurse zombies in the second game, who weeps loudly if left idle (and can be heard a whole room away). But if you're in sight, they rush at you clawing away like crazy, easily ripping off chunks of your health in no time.
* ''VideoGame/IsleOfTheDead'' have the zombie nurses in the laboratory, and they're among the most dangerous enemies in-game. Let them sneak up on you and you suffer a OneHitKill.
* ''VideoGame/NotDyingToday'' have zombie nurses as enemies, who attacks you either by slashing with scalpels, or throw [[PlayingWithSyringes syringes]] at you which can paralyze you with an InterfaceScrew, blurring your vision long enough as other zombies surround you.

* Nurse Claiborne, a recurring villain in ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', is both this ''and'' an EvilChef. With her first appearance in ''Operation: P.I.N.K.E.Y.E.'', she was once the school nurse at Gallagher Elementary School. At first, she seemed sweet and friendly and her apple crumbles were popular among the students, even Numbuh Two... until it turned out that she was behind the mystery epidemic of pinkeye going around the school, simply so she could use the eye crust from her patients as [[{{Squick}} topping for the crumbles]]. Unlike most examples of this trope, Claiborne was ''very'' much capable in a fight, packing a water gun with highly concentrated conjunctivitis (pink-eye) germs. At the end of the episode, she escaped and was fired from her school nursing job and had no success at finding other nursing jobs anywhere in the country. However, she didn't learn her lesson; her second appearance in "Operation: H.O.M.E." had her go into the cereal business [[spoiler: by making the sweet bits from Rainbow Monkey dolls. Including one of Numbuh 3's most prized doll.]] Kuki was not amused. (On another note, Claiborne is one of the few villains who was regarded as insane ''even in-universe'', which is hard to do, considering what the KND's RoguesGallery is like; pretty much ''all'' of them would be labeled criminally insane if put into any remotely realistic context.)

* ''VideoGame/EndlessNightmare'' have nurse zombies in the second game, who weeps loudly if left idle ([[HellIsThatNoise and can be heard a whole room away]]). But if you're in sight, they rush at you clawing away like crazy, easily ripping off chunks of your health in no time.

[[folder:Live-Action-TV]]

** One of these was the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Ghost of the Week]] in [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E19FolsomPrisonBlues "Folsom Prison Blues" (S02, Ep19)]].
** In "Sam Interrupted" when the Winchesters go [[GoAmongMadPeople undercover in a mental hospital]], Dean lampshades the trope to the nurse who's giving him an initial examination. The nurse is quite friendly though [[spoiler:except she's the MonsterOfTheWeek.]]
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Many, Many Monkeys", Claire Hendricks is a mild example. She is professional and diligent in her job but she is cold and offhand with patients, never paying them more attention than is strictly necessary. After the plague of blindness spreads, Claire comes to realize that she gradually lost her compassion and came to view patients as numbers with charts as opposed to individuals with life stories.

* ''Film/DoctorInTheHouse1954'' has Sister Virtue, who has no time for medical students or disruption in her ward:
-->'''Sister Virtue''': Well, I do not like students, however, I am forced to put up with you. But I warn you, I stand no nonsense in my ward. Is that clear?

* Miyo Takano of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' likes to make morbid jokes painting herself as this, and is slightly creepy at times, [[SubvertedTrope but is otherwise a kind]] ([[BeautyEqualsGoodness and]] [[HospitalHottie attractive]]) nurse who [[spoiler:helps Keichii and friends unravel the conspiracy- [[DoubleSubversion until she turns out to be]] [[BigBad the de-facto leader of the conspiracy]]. She also [[CuteAndPsycho subverts the ugly]] [[EvilIsSexy aspect of this trope]]]].

On a deeper level, the concept of a sadist nurse explores a very real fear that many patients have going into hospital. It is, sadly, TruthInTelevision that some of the most vulnerable people are badly treated while they are weakened and in the care of strangers. By creating characters in media that express this fear, negative emotions can be explored from a safe distance.