<Tr> <Th> Nationality </Th> <Td> American </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Birthplace </Th> <Td> Salem, Oregon, United States </Td> </Tr> <P> Nurse Ratched (also known as "Big Nurse") is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as well as the 1975 film . A cold, heartless, passive - aggressive tyrant, Nurse Ratched became the stereotype of the nurse as a battleaxe . She has also become a popular metaphor for the corrupting influence of power and authority in bureaucracies such as the mental institution in which the novel is set . </P> <P> The role in the film version of the novel was turned down by Anne Bancroft, Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Page, Colleen Dewhurst, and Ellen Burstyn before Louise Fletcher received it . Fletcher had only acted once in the 13 years before appearing in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . She was thought of for the role after Shelley Duvall was suggested for an alternative role and Miloš Forman saw Fletcher appear with her in Robert Altman's Thieves Like Us . </P>

Who is the nurse in one flew over the cuckoo's nest