After two hosts of ABC’s “The View” made insensitive comments about the monologue of nurse and 2015 Miss America contestant Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson, nurses around the country fired back, taking to social media to let them know just what they think of their brash opinions.

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Why? There are more than 3 million nurses in America today, and they are at the forefront of each patient’s overall experience and treatment when ill or needing care.

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They often, however, don’t get the respect they deserve, and this show’s derision was a last straw of sorts. The collective reaction to the insensitivity to the beauty contestant’s words shine a social media spotlight on nurses who are underpaid, overworked, and many times fed up, but remain dedicated to their patients’ care.

“I’m sorry, but many times we are correcting doctors, since we are more familiar with the patient file, and more familiar with the patients themselves,” one Boston, Massachusetts nurse told LifeZette, asking that her identity not be revealed. “I, like a lot of nurses, have stopped a well-meaning, but uninformed ,doctor from making a potentially terrible mistake.”

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#NursesUnite began trending after “The View” aired, and one doesn’t have to look far to understand that the show’s opinions did not jibe with real patients’ experiences with well-trained and often overlooked professionals.

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“My infusion nurse George Lillie was a life preserver in an ocean of fear, sickness and exhaustion,” said Erin Squeglia, of Reading, Massachusetts, who was treated for breast cancer last year with a bilateral mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. “George not only made sure I felt cared for, but was spot-on with all of the science and the details of my treatments. I felt so comforted by the fact that if something went wrong, he would be on it — immediately.”

Squeglia was treated this year at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

U.S. News.com, reported that a nurse who works in a doctor’s office is one of the top 10 most underpaid professions, citing efforts to control medical costs. They state, “…nurses these days provide much of the care that doctors used to — but get paid far less. Several types of nurses and medical aides landed on our underpaid list, including those who work in emergency rooms, intensive-care units and delivery rooms.”

A 2014 study on nursing by the Vicki Milazzo Institute in Houston, Texas, and shared on Healthline.com, found that of 3,300 respondents, 64 percent of nurses surveyed said they rarely get seven to eight hours of sleep per night, and 31 percent said they get enough sleep just two or three nights a week. Seventy-seven percent of nurses surveyed said they do not eat well regularly. Long shifts and on-call availability can cause them to be on duty for 24 to 36 hours in a row.

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The survey also found that 75 percent of nurses do not feel they have enough authority, and 89 percent said they cannot work effectively due to “apathetic superiors and a lack of support staff.”

“What really bothered nurses about ‘The View’ hosts’ comments was the crack from (Joy) Behar, ‘Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?’ as if Kelley wasn’t entitled to wear one, or had ‘borrowed’ one from a  doctor,” Martha Wallner, a communications professional for National Nurses United, told LifeZette.

“Nurses are often viewed as the ‘handmaidens to doctors,’ when in reality they have autonomy in their scope of practice, are highly trained, and professionally licensed.”

“Nurses are often viewed as the ‘handmaidens to doctors,’ when in reality they have autonomy in their scope of practice, are highly trained, and professionally licensed,” she said.

Another hashtag has sprung up on Twitter along with the #NursesUnite, #nursesshareyourstethoscopes has been with images of nurses with their stethoscopes, sharing testimonials of what they do with them in their daily practice.

“The View” hosts might want to be careful in the future about directing their snarky comments at America’s nurses.

“Expecting @TheView @JoyVBehar @michcoll to apologize to the 3.4 million nurses in the U.S. for your insulting comments #nursesunite,” tweeted registered nurse Nicole Brown, bringing home the idea that they will be listening.

“The View” did offer a quasi-apology on Thursday, with Michelle Collins saying on-air, “Nurses, we love you, we adore you, everybody clap for nurses,” in a somewhat feeble mea culpa.

Nurses may have viewed this “I’m sorry” as being on life support — and fading fast.