Tattle: Dr. Oz in hot water with nurses

OVER THE PAST few months, Arabs, Jews, Italians, Peruvians, Palins and others have all felt aggrieved by the way they've been treated on television.

Our latest group to be offended is . . . nurses.

A November weight-loss segment on "The Dr. Oz Show" featured six women wearing high heels, retro nurses' caps and white dresses with red lingerie peeking out. The women danced briefly with series host Mehmet Oz and the audience.

Sandy Summers, executive director of the nonprofit group The Truth About Nursing, called the segment demoralizing and demeaning to nurses. She has launched a campaign encouraging others to protest it.

"Many people look to Dr. Oz for reliable health information, and he should teach them who nurses really are, and be part of the solution to the nursing crisis," she added.

American Nurses Association spokeswoman Joan Hurwitz also criticized the segment.

"It's disappointing in terms of a show like 'Dr. Oz' using that kind of sexist caricature of nursing," Hurwitz said. Fighting media images that belittle nursing is an "uphill battle," she said, adding, "with a physician, I guess we would expect more."

Hurwitz suggested that Oz and his show highlight examples of the innovative work nurses are doing to foster preventive care and their crucial role in the changing health-care system.

In a statement, the show apologized for any unintended offense and promised, "We will do better in the future."

"Dr. Oz has worked alongside extraordinary nursing professionals throughout his medical career and holds nurses in the highest regard as they save lives and heal patients," the statement said. "Any attempt at humor should never call into question Dr. Oz's utmost respect for the nurses with whom he works and has lauded in other shows."

Summers responded to the statement by calling for an on-air apology.

'JWOWW' looks bad

in suit

In today's "Jersey Shore" story, courthousenews.com reports that rhyming Thomas Lippolis, an alleged former boyfriend of Jenni "JWOWW" Farley, claims she owes him $700,000 for his work finding her the "Shore" gig, negotiating a $17,500 per-episode raise (and a $75,000 bonus) and making sure she is not paid less than her co-stars.

Lippolis also claims he trademarked Jenni's "JWOWW" nickname and developed her website, tanning lotion and beauty products while she was out partying.

Furthermore, Lippolis claims he made a deal with a plastic surgeon for Jenni to have as much nipping and tucking and enhancing as she wanted in exchange for free advertising.

Lippolis is seeking $350,000 for breach of contract and $350,000 for unjust enrichment. He says "JWOWW" will not submit to arbitration, because she claims there is no contract.

Correction

For those of you who put a bid in on the Staten Island "Godfather" house mentioned in yesterday's Tattle, we erroneously reported the property as 4 acres when it is about a half-acre.

We will never trust you again, Fredo.

Tattbits

* Alicia Keys announced Monday that her charity, Keep a Child Alive, reached its $1 million fundraising goal in honor of last week's World AIDS Day. The bad news is that now she, Lady Gaga and numerous other celebs have signed back on to their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Fan donations, however, are not the main reason they're back: Their $500,000 in pledges were matched by billionaire philanthropist Stewart Rahr.

* "La Scala" conductor Daniel Barenboim appealed to Italy's president to protect the country's theaters from planned budget cuts in remarks from the orchestra pit before raising the baton on "Die Walkuere" for the gala season premiere yesterday.

The theater erupted in applause, with President Giorgio Napolitano joining in.

Alas, applause is cheap.

Opera-house officials say the government plans to slash $6.64 million from La Scala's budget in 2010 and twice that next year - part of large-scale cuts to the nation's cultural institutions that have threatened to bring down the curtain on several Italian opera houses.

"This is an attack on the whole cultural world, not just La Scala," said Giancarlo Albori, a CGIL labor-confederation official who helped organize protests. "It is a tragedy for Italian culture."

* On Broadway, NYC's TKTS discount-ticket booth has unveiled an iPhone app that tells users what shows are available in real time.

The app will be available free at iTunes through March 1.

* Jane Fonda is making workout videos again.

"People who are of a certain age tend to be ignored by the fitness industry, and being that I'm older and I've done a lot of research on what happens to a body when it gets older, I know that it's essential that we stay active," Jane said.

Jane, 72, recently released "Jane Fonda: Prime Time Walkout" and "Jane Fonda: Prime Time Fit & Strong." She says that too many older people dismiss working out and that needs to change.

"It's the worst thing that a person could do when they're older is to say, 'Why bother now? I'm older. I don't need to,' " Jane said. "I'm on this crusade to get older people out of the chairs, off their couches, moving in a way that's safe, easy and very doable even if they've never done it a day in their lives. It's never too late."

* Telling a judge he was embarrassed, disgusted and ashamed, bassist and music producer Richard Finch, a former member of KC and the Sunshine Band, has been sentenced in Ohio to seven years in prison for sex charges involving teen boys.

To clarify, he was embarrassed about the sex charges, not "Boogie Shoes."

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com