[brian]

How many nurses does it take to help resuscitate a patient? On a certain episode of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," the answer was zero.

"All the physicians and attending (physicians) and the hospital supervisor were in the code, but not one nurse was available. That is not accurate in the least," said Heather Grant, who used to watch medical TV shows until she became a registered nurse.


"Resuscitations alone require an incredible amount of team work; no one discipline of health care could complete such a task alone," said Grant, an emergency room registered nurse at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. "Nurses couldn't do it alone just the same as doctors couldn't. Neither one of us could function without the other. Nurses are kind of nonexistent on (medical) shows unless they are in some dramatic relationship with somebody."


Yes, on TV shows such as "Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice," "ER" and "House," nurses are either an afterthought or a temporary way to thicken the plot. Case in point: Nurse Rose, a before unknown and unseen character on "Grey's Anatomy," was recently launched into the limelight when Dr. McDreamy kissed her as the two disinfected their hands after surgery. A love triangle was born.


For every hunky McDreamy, McSteamy or Clooney-seque Dr. Doug Ross, it seems there's a spunky nurse Carol Hathaway.

Full Story
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbc...PC04/804220453

[talaxandra]

Make that "for every hunky McDreamy, McSteamy or Clooney-seque Dr. Doug Ross" there are five to ten nurses off camera

[rn/writer]

ER is the most accurate. Many times they show experienced nurses saving a resident's bacon. And when needed, they tell the attendings to get over themselves. The everybody-has-been-involved-with-everybody-else (except Frank) dynamic gets a little old, and no ER on the planet has as many shoot-outs, explosions, helicopter crashes, etc., but much of the actual medical treatment looks pretty believable.

Can't stand GA. Way too melodramatic for my taste, although I do like Miranda .

Love House for the snappy writing and the medical mysteries, but nurses appear only as docs' love interests, whipping girls, or occasional set dressing. Of course, this show is an equal opportunity offender in that these super-docs don't need any help with blood draws, lab work, CT/MRI scans, or just about anything else. Once in a while, they let nameless surgeons operate, but that's about it. I still love the show. And Hugh Laurie. And the writing. And the music. And Hugh Laurie. And Robert Sean Leonard. And the exceedingly intricate medical enigmas. And Hugh Laurie.

Speaking of Hugh Laurie, his name should be McReamy.

[wsuchic1]

I would love to watch a medical drama similar to "ER" that would be centered around the day-in-the-life of nurses. It would be cool to see a show that squashed all of the lies, hype, and doctors as superheros myths that shows like "ER", "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scrubs" constantly portray.

I can't even think of one show-ever- that centered around nurses.

I think it's time!

[santhony44]

We were just talking about this at lunch today- I won't watch any of them. I get too focused on the goofs or way-too-far-from-reality stuff. I once heard a doctor on "St. Elsewhere" order "Vitsaril" for a patient, I've seen a ventilated patient with a nasal cannula on, seen a doc listening to breath sounds with the ears of the stethoscope around her neck, and of course there's the old "Somebody please put the siderails up!" issue. I know all these shows supposedly have consultants, but I'm not sure what they do with them, since they don't seem to take advice from anyone medical.

I think a show centering around nurses would be a great idea, except that it would probably be about as realistic as most of these "medical" shows. The nurses would most likely either be nymphomaniacs, or homicidal maniacs.

[MoonRN]

My kids get so irritated with me. I say "That is completely unrealistic- no way they would all be running in the room like that for a heart rate of 115." They're like "Mom- you're doing it again! It's TV!"

[traumaRUs]

When you watch TV, its fantasy. Fantasy isn't real! One reason I don't watch much TV - oops except old MASH reruns....not that's real - lol!

[CHATSDALE]

i have to agree with you all
does anyone have as active a storage room as these shows

[rn/writer]

Originally Posted by santhony44

I know all these shows supposedly have consultants, but I'm not sure what they do with them, since they don't seem to take advice from anyone medical.

Lots of shows have docs as consultants. What they're missing is nurses. The docs can focus on the diseases. The nurses can fill them in on everything else. The docs give the orders, but it's the nurses who carry them out. Seems like someone would have figured that out by now.

[talaxandra]

Yeah, there's not a lot of sex in spare, out of the way areas where I work (or is it just that I'm not invited?!).

The bedrails bug me the most - where I work unconscious patients always have the rails up but never, ever in TV Land.

Well, that and the complete absence of nursing staff. I think the most realistic medical show in TV is "Scrubs" - doctors who are great, doctors who are incompetent, doctors who are on a giant ego trip, nurses who are clinicians, nurses who have a clue, nurses who are tanty battleaxes... and great dialogue!