Television series

Nurses

Name: Nurses
Genre: Drama, Medical
Released: 2020
Cast: Tiera Skovbye, Natasha Calis, Jordan Johnson-Hinds, Sandy Sidhu, Donald MacLean Jr.

Medical drama

A medical drama following five newly graduated nurses starting at a busy downtown trauma centre. High-stakes hospital action mixes with personal drama—past secrets, family pressure, identity struggles—as the ensemble learns that nursing demands compassion as much as clinical skill. Character-driven and ensemble-focused, with the intensity of a pressure cooker and the intimacy of a tight friend group discovering who they are.

TVMaze rating

3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a hospital drama where the ensemble of four new graduates matters as much as the medical cases, and where workplace pressure and friendship are tangled up together.

Skip it if you need slow, character-heavy medicine with real clinical weight, since this leans heavily on romance and personal entanglements and treats the job more as a backdrop for young lives.

What it asks of you: A brisk hour per episode, twenty episodes across two seasons, with storylines often switching between the wards and the cast's private lives.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Grey's Anatomy2005

The template for ensemble medical drama: gorgeous cast, genuine high-stakes surgery, romantic entanglement, and real moments of loss. If you want to see this show done at maximum scale and budget, here it is.

But Twenty seasons and counting. The early seasons are tight; later ones meander. You're committing to a universe, not a story.

The Resident2018

Focuses on residents rather than attendings, so it captures that precarious feeling of learning on the job. Grittier about hospital politics and systemic failures than most medical shows, with real stakes.

But More procedural than character-driven. If you're here for the ensemble dynamics, this pivots toward individual cases pretty hard.

Scrubs2001

Also about young medical professionals finding their footing. Balances comedy and genuine heartbreak beautifully. The ensemble bond is real and earned, not just chemistry on screen.

But Tonally all over the place compared to Nurses—it's comedy first, drama second. Takes a few seasons to find its feet.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Nurses

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Knick2014

Both centre young medical professionals discovering their competence and ethics under extreme pressure; both ask whether the job changes you or reveals who you already are.

A hospital show set in 1900, so it's about medicine as frontier: everything fails, improvisation is survival, and the work is brutal and real. Stunning cinematography, incredible acting. Medicine as craft and terror.

But Extremely graphic surgery and violence. Harder to watch than contemporary dramas. Also cancelled after two seasons, so it doesn't resolve.

Code Black2015

Trauma centre setting, high-pressure environment, ensemble of residents learning fast. Each episode is a series of emergencies that test both skill and ethics. Urgent and immediate.

But Cancelled after three seasons. Also leans harder into procedure than character, so if you want the personal stuff, you'll be frustrated.

New Amsterdam2018

A new medical director tries to fix a broken system. Strong on the human side of medicine—poverty, addiction, desperation—and the small victories that matter. Warm and purposeful.

But Can feel preachy. The idealism isn't balanced by enough friction or failure to feel real.

ER1994

The grandfather of all ensemble medical shows. Fast-paced, genuinely unpredictable, and it trusts you to care about people. The emergency room never stops; neither do the characters.

But Fifteen seasons, filmed in the '90s and early 2000s. Pacing and politics feel dated now. A lot of it is just... efficient TV, not character work.

Private Practice2007

A Grey's Anatomy spin-off about doctors leaving the hospital system. If you like ensemble casts navigating both professional and personal chaos, it delivers. Less trauma, more complicated ethics.

But Feels like a Grey's episode extended to 42 minutes. Familiar formula, different setting. Some find it soapy.

Call the Midwife2012

Medical ensemble drama with real depth. Follows nurses and midwives in 1950s East London. The characters age across seasons; relationships deepen. Surprisingly moving and funny.

But Period setting is central to the appeal, not incidental. If you want contemporary hospital life, this won't scratch that itch.

Designated Survivor2016

Not medical, but similar ensemble under pressure: a group of people thrust into impossible circumstances, learning each other's limits and strengths. Tight ensemble work, moral complexity.

But Political thriller, not medical drama. The ensemble is secondary to plot. Very different rhythm and tone.

My Life as a Zucchini2016

Ensemble of young people with secrets and trauma, bonded by circumstances they didn't choose. The show's found-family dynamic at its core.

Stop-motion animation about kids in a group home learning to trust each other and survive. Funny, heartbreaking, unsentimental. A group of misfits becoming a family through proximity and time.

But It's animated and 66 minutes long—some will dismiss it immediately. Also deals with child abuse and loss, so it's gentle but not light.

Casualty1986

Both treat nursing as a vocation, not just a job; both value the quiet, recurring relationships between staff. The work itself is the drama, not just what happens between shifts.

British A&E drama running since 1986. Procedural but deeply character-driven. The hospital feels lived-in, the staff feel real, and the rotating cast of patients carries genuine weight. No melodrama, just life.

But Over 30 years in, the format is repetitive if you're new. Also very British in pacing and tone—slower than North American shows. The ensemble is large and changes; newcomers need time to land.