Eleanor O’Hara, Nurse Jackie

Dr. Eleanor O’Hara (Eve Best): In medical dark comedy Nurse Jackie, Dr. Eleanor O’Hara was an ER doctor at All Saints Hospital. She was a colleague and very close friend of series titular character, the drug-addicted trauma nurse Jackie Peyton. She was seen to be quite flirtatious with men through the series, and in the second season it was revealed that she was bisexual in a short story arc when she revealed that she had a girlfriend, while having sex with a male nurse named Sam. O’Hara seduced him and though he resisted by saying that he has a girlfriend, she replies with, “So do I.” It was later revealed that O’Hara’s girlfriends name was Sarah Khouri and O’Hara introduced her to Jackie, but they soon broke up after Jackie told her that Sarah was also in another relationship with a woman.

In Season 5, O’Hara had a baby boy, though she never revealed the identity of the father to her colleagues at the hospital. She was very rich; she lived in a hotel whilst in New York and stated that she always threw her once-used clothes away.

Actress Eve Best on whether she knew Dr. O’Hara was bisexual: “It was a total surprise. I had no idea until the read-through of that episode. It was very exciting.” Source: AfterEllen

Appearances:

• 51 episodes. Main cast S1-5, guest S7

Female love interests:

• Sarah Khouri (Julia Ormond, guest, 3 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

Male love interests:

• Sam (Arjun Gupta, recurring 35 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Male (Recurring)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.