A Real-Life Nurse Had To Follow One Condition To Star In The Pitt

The Max streaming platform's surprise hit medical drama "The Pitt" is not just wildly entertaining — it's also one of the most medically accurate television shows of all time. On top of putting the actors through a kind of "medical boot camp" and having a unique set where everyone's always working to simulate a real emergency room, they also have six real-life medical professionals portraying some of the show's background characters. This allows for them to help as medical consultants in every moment and make sure things look and sound the way they're supposed to, adding even more legitimacy to an already accurate series. One of the most prominent is Nurse Jesse, portrayed by ER nurse and former EMT (as well as former Rooney drummer) Ned Brower, who helps Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) and the rest of the ER team over the course of one insanely hectic day. 

In an interview with People, Brower revealed what it's like to work on "The Pitt" and shared the one very important rule that he had to follow while working as both medical consultant and onscreen actor. While it seems like "The Pitt" set is extra full of rules, they're also making some truly unique television that requires an insane amount of coordination, so who can blame them? 

Brower explained that the one rule he absolutely had to follow was communicating any medical inaccuracies to one specific person instead of talking over others or stopping a scene in progress. Since quite a few medical professionals are walking around, it makes sense that they don't want people speaking up anytime there's a problem, making the already complicated shoot even more chaotic. He noted that there were a number of people keeping an eye out for inaccuracies, and that he thinks a big part of why audiences love the series so much is because "the details are so detailed." Some of those details include the extensive medical jargon that seems to flow easily off of everyone's tongue, and Brower definitely helps with that, as he told People: 

"My job [is] to say the numbers in a way that the audience will understand [like] 'Okay, this patient's getting worse, this patient's getting better,' kind of helping the audience maybe a little bit understand the language."

By explaining things in a way that feels natural but also authentic, Brower is just one of the many pieces that make "The Pitt" truly exceptional television. Not only does he get to help make the show more accurate, but he also gets to see some truly talented actors give career-best performances and learn to hone his own acting craft. Who knows? Nurse Jesse has a lot of fans on social media (especially TikTok!), so maybe we'll see him get an even more active role on the upcoming "The Pitt" season 2.