MAURA TIERNEY CHECKING OUT OF  'ER'

After eight years on "ER," Maura Tierney is leaving the series shortly after the show's upcoming 15th and final season.

It's been a long, stressful run at County General for the actress, who has enjoyed her own share of ups and downs playing Dr. Abby Lockhart.

Tierney first appeared on "ER" in 2000 and is currently the longest-running actor on the series, next to Goran Visnjic, who plays Dr. Luka Kovac.

The actress received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Lockhart in 2001.

One of the things Tierney will miss when she leaves the show is the community she enjoys with her fellow actors.

Because she's been on the show the longest, she tries to take pressure away from the other actors when someone is having difficulty, or "Who is like, freaking out."

"Everyone knows how hard the job is," Tierney tells CTV.ca.

Executive producer and "ER" creator John Wells agrees with Tierney, and says that the series takes a toll on its actors.

Some of the challenges include requiring the actors to know their way around an operating table while spouting off foreign medical jargon.

Wells remembers an unusually stressful day for a previous cast member:

"When we cast Eric LaSalle on a Wednesday, on the following Thursday morning he showed up and had a ten-page 'walk and talk scene,' filled with medical dialogue and had to pull on gloves, do three examinations and walk into a surgery."

"That's what it's like when you come on the show, there's a lot to learn in a hurry," says Wells.

The last season has been hard on Lockhart, who has been trying to raise her son alone while her husband, Kovac, has been out of the country.

Lockhart has recently returned to her battle with alcoholism and during a relapse, wound up sleeping with Dr. Kevin Moretti (Stanley Tucci). Since then Lockhart has come clean about her addiction with her co-workers and is looking to make things right in her relationship with Kovac.

"ER" returns with six new episodes following the writers' strike, beginning Thursday, April 10 at 10 p.m. on CTV.

Both Wells and Tierney are both grateful to finally be back to work after the lengthy strike, which stunted what was originally expected to be the final season of "ER."

"I felt relieved," says Wells, who walked the picket line in front of Warner Bros. studios in Los Angeles.

"There were very important things we were striking over and I realized how much I just miss my work and the people I work with."

Tierney agrees and says, "It was very odd to not be working; it was a shock to the system, especially after being there so many hours, so many days."