| Genres: | Sitcom, Comedy, HBO Original |
|---|
A funny, refreshing and improvised look at the staff 'getting on with it' in an overlooked corner of the health care industry.
Care for the elderly is the least glamorous area, the bit that gets swept under the carpet, an overload of grumpy, messy old people patched up only to return again a few months later.
In this comedy of characters, they are doing the best they can in a place where difficult choices are the order of the day. It's the scene that awaits all of us, whether we like to admit it, or not.
(Series Premiere) It's July 4th at the Billy Barnes Extended Care unit of Mt. Palms Hospital in Long Beach, CA. On her first day of work, Nurse DiDi Ortley discovers feces on a lounge chair, and is torn between the conflicting orders of her co-workers. Meanwhile, the staff tries to determine the identity of a woman found wandering on a highway.
In the wake of Beverly's departure, a new (male) Supervising Nurse, Patsy De La Serda, joins the Billy Barnes staff with a customer-centric agenda he's convinced will improve ward efficiency. Patsy soon learns that managing patients--especially a highly uncooperative, un-medicated one named Varla--isn't necessarily improved through customer-service metrics.
DiDi ends up in conflict resolution after Patsy files a grievance against her for inappropriate remarks. Dawn learns that intimacy with a co-worker is no guarantee of evaluation immunity. Dr. James and Patsy go head-to-head when she decides to skip the 'Make Someone Happy' orientation. A gentleman caller sends shock waves through the ward.
Dr. James decides to implement a geriatric exercise program in the ward, upsetting Patsy. DiDi discloses Patsy's relationship with Dawn to her union rep as proof her homophobic comment wasn't serious. A homeless woman, and her accompanying stench, is suspiciously dumped in the ward. Dawn wins the grand prize in Dr. James' charity raffle. Dr. James considers relocating.
DiDi's nightshift in the ward is turned upside down after the arrival of a new patient and several unwelcome, inebriated visitors. Stopping by after a (lamentable) dinner party, Dr. James attends to her drunken husband Richard's ingrown toenail; a woozy Dawn looks for stopgap comforts in the lounge; and an elderly Swedish tourist shows off her gymnastic chops.
(Season One Finale) Phyllis (Molly Shannon), the daughter of an ailing patient, gets the travel runaround as her mother's condition worsens, improves, and worsens again. After criticizing a proposal to add men to the ward, Jenna tries to leverage her Cleveland opportunity into concessions from Dr. Stickley. Patsy goes the distance with Dawn; DiDi recovers a debt.
