In Daily Dose of Sunshine, Jung Da-eun, a kind-hearted nurse, adjusts at the psychiatry unit of her hospital and attempts to be the best of help for every patient that comes her way. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Nurse Jung Da-eun is transferred to the psychiatry unit of Myungshin University Medical Center. She prepares herself for the change and arrives after learning a bit about mental health.
However, on her very first day, she gets slapped by a patient and gets her clothes dirty, which proves that she has a lot to learn about being a psychiatric nurse.
Da-eun does her best to be nice and comfort her patients. She volunteers and shows interest in learning about her patients and their illnesses.
At the same time, gossip spreads as everybody wonders why she has been transferred here. Da-eun claims that her head nurse at internal medicine said that she would be a better fit for psychiatry.
Later, Da-eun overhears the same head nurse whispering to her current head nurse that Da-eun was being a burden to them because she is too nice to patients; her overly sweet nature had become a nuisance for other nurses who had to cover up for Da-eun, as she was falling behind.
Unlike the nurses from the other ward, Da-eun’s new colleagues accept that this is how a nurse is supposed to be. The only thing that should matter to a nurse is making a patient feel comfortable and safe. Da-eun’s new colleagues come to support her when she needs it the most.
Another person who is impressed by her nature is Dr. Dong Go-yun, a proctologist working at the same medical center. Somehow, Da-eun’s presence helps Go-yun with his obsessive-compulsive disorder, in which he keeps cracking his fingers.
Go-yun knows he is falling for Da-eun, and he is forced to battle Da-eun’s best friend, Song Yu-chan, who has a panic disorder. Together, Go-yun and Da-eun help Yu-chan get treatment for it.
Meanwhile, another romance striking up at Myungshin University Medical Center is between Dr. Hwang Yeo-hwan and Min Deul-re. Yeo-hwan likes Deul-re, but she knows they can’t end up together as their lives are nothing alike.
According to Deul-re, Yeo-hwan has never showered in water that is not hot, and that says a lot about why he shouldn’t be with someone like her. She even compares herself to trash.
Yeo-hwan never stops pursuing Deul-re, and he eventually gets her to date him until her mother comes into the picture. Deul-re’s mother is one of those who don’t love her child and always burdens Deul-re with the loans she has taken.
If that’s not enough, she even starts pursuing Yeo-hwan after learning that he is a rich doctor. Deul-re doesn’t appreciate her behavior toward Yeo-hwan at all. It comes to a point when Deul-re begins thinking that she should break up with Yeo-hwan.
Go-yun, on the other hand, develops his relationship with Da-eun and eventually asks her to date him. However, he doesn’t get an answer as a piece of news shakes the whole psychiatry ward of Myungshin University Medical Center.
A patient named Kim Seo-wan, who had begun recovering and was discharged, kills himself. Da-eun was really close to Kim Seo-wan, and she played an important part in his recovery.
The death shatters everyone, but Da-eun keeps pretending that she is fine for a while until she starts showing signs of dissociative amnesia; her mind denies Kim Seo-wan’s death and makes her forget about it.
Da-eun eventually takes a break and starts focusing on processing her grief, which lands her in depression. Her condition gets so bad that she unknowingly attempts to kill herself.
Daily Dose of Sunshine ending explained in detail:
Does Da-eun recover?
Da-eun is forcefully admitted to another hospital by her mother and Go-yun. Da-eun avoids medicines and treatment by claiming that she knows what depression is and that hers is not that severe.
That is until she is reminded how she unintentionally made a suicide attempt. Da-eun then accepts that she needs treatment and begins working on herself.
What happens to Yeo-hwan and Deul-re?
With Yeo-hwan’s support, Deul-re is able to stand up to her mother. He becomes the first person to tell her to leave her mother, as she deserves much better than what her mother has put her through.
Deul-re pays off all her debts, gives up her house for lease, and kicks her mother, who is responsible for her debts, out. She also warns her not to come back, or she will approach the officials.
Deul-re spent her whole life adjusting and cleaning her mother’s mess. She even became a nurse because it looks good on a resume and for loan applications.
Yeo-hwan encourages her to do what makes her happy. Deul-re begins meeting old friends and finding her calling. Deul-re gets a chance to work on a cruise ship with her friend.
Deul-re hesitates when she learns that she will be away for a year, but Yeo-hwan tells her not to hesitate and to take chances. Hence, Deul-re decides to work on a cruise and leave her job as a nurse.
What happens to Song Yu-chan?
Song Yu-chan slowly recovers from panic disorder. Still on medications, he joins a company job. Last time around, work stress was one of the things that triggered Song Yu-chan’s panic attack.
This time around, Yu-chan stands up to his boss when he is given too much work. Yu-chan leaves the company’s premises once he completes his working hours every day. Soon, even his boss adapts to Yu-chan’s healthy work-life balance.
Does Da-eun quit being a nurse?
After recovering, Da-eun returns to work as a nurse at Myungshin University Medical Center. However, as she was a psychiatric patient, her credibility to work is questioned by everyone, except for her workplace friends who know her.
Protests are carried out against Da-eun, but her friends and her superiors support her and make these protestors think about what if their family member is put in Da-eun’s position, where they are not allowed to go back to their favorite line of work after recovering.
Things calm down. Da-eun begins dating Go-yun, and she gets back to doing what she is great at: making patients feel comfortable and safe. Ji Seung-jae, the trainee who had a panic disorder and was helped by Da-eun, joins her.
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