| Mildred Ratched | |
|---|---|
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest character | |
 Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film adaptation | |
| First appearance | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) |
| Created by | Ken Kesey |
| Portrayed by | |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Mildred Ratched (film, TV series) |
| Alias | Big Nurse |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Nurse |
| Significant other |
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| Nationality | American |
| Birthplace | Salem, Oregon, United States |
Nurse Ratched (full name Mildred Ratched in the movie, also known as "Big Nurse") is a fictional character and the main antagonist of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, first featured in Ken Kesey's 1962 novel as well as the 1975 film adaptation. A cold, heartless tyrant, Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of the nurse as a battleaxe. She has also become a popular metaphor for the corrupting influence of institutional power and authority in bureaucracies such as the psychiatric treatment center in which the novel is set.
Nurse Ratched is the head administrative nurse at the Salem State Hospital, a mental institution where she exercises near-absolute power over the patients' access to medications, privileges, and basic necessities such as food and toiletries. She capriciously revokes these privileges whenever a patient displeases her. Her superiors turn a blind eye because she maintains order, keeping the patients from acting out, either through antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drugs or her own brand of psychotherapy, which consists mostly of humiliating patients into doing her bidding. Her tyrannical rule and her cruel personality stems from her time as an army nurse during World War II.