Recently I had a patient tell me that if CPR was necessary, we would not have to break his wife's ribs because just the night before he watched House, and they just shocked a patient and then she was fine. (would have been funny if it weren't so sad)
What are your favorite medical TV inaccuracies?
I love the CPR with bending elbows, and how patients come out of surgery, still under because of anesthesia, but they're on room air, or maybe a nasal cannula.
My favorite is when they perform an injection and the effect is immediate. Sometimes they haven't even finished pushing the med before the person passes out. Yeah, because Ativan works that fast and well. I wish! Or they give an IV injection and they have a massive needle injected at 90 degrees that, if it was real, would probably go though through the other side of their arm or hit bone. Cracks me up!
Re: the immediate effect, I've always thought that about any food or drink - especially food - commercials. Whatever it is, the split-second it hits their lips, they just go "WOW, that tastes GREAT". No actual tasting first...
I've never watched medical shows much, except for Nurse Jackie, but when my ex watched "House" in its early days, I always cracked up at the team of 4-6 doctors spending a ton of time on ONE patient. Riiiiiiiiiiggghhht. Might happen occasionally at the Mayo Clinic, but otherwise, I doubt it.
On the other hand, as John Fogerty wrote in the 80's, "I know it's true, I know it's true, 'cause I saw it on TV".
That's the whole point of the show, though. A diagnostician with 4 doctors as muses and to do all the nursing/radiology/pathology work, and even many surgeries, because House didn't trust anyone else. It is made well known in the show that that is not typical, but provided to House because he's God's gift to man.
I was flipping through the TV last night and caught some new show, God friended me. I saw a man carry a woman out of a burning building and give 4 rescue breaths and 5-10 very light compressions. The woman coughed twice then was fine. Saved! I went into my usual bluster of how this is not real. My DH told me it's only a show. I had to tell him very matter of factly that there are many people who believe all of this that they see on TV.
It takes me to all the CSI, NCIS shows that use forensics to solve crimes. A recent murder in my town, the family was upset that the sheriff's dept didn't have the DNA and other clues processed that day, and a suspect arrested that night, because they had of course seen this repeatedly on CSI (this was even mentioned in the newspaper article, by mother of the victim). Sadly, that crime still isn't solved...
Recent episode of The Mysteries of Laura, new Netflix cop show: has a kid being kidnapped, who is diabetic, and if he doesn't get that shot at a precise time this evening he will go into a coma and DIE!!
They find the kid, and rush into the room with only seconds to spare, and jam a SQ needle into the leg, right through the clothes! He's SAVED!
It was a 50 unit sized syringe, and the detective only had to push about a quarter inch in. They treated it like an epipen. Didn't talk to the kid, didn't see if he was awake, didn't even make sure it was the right kid........ Yep, carry him to the back of the rig, upright and talking, and jumps into parents' arms.
I was shrieking, and my daughter laughing her head off at me.
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
I love it when the ER docs are also the surgeons.
In most any soap opera, the same doctors treat everyone in the hospital, regardless of what floor they are on or what they are being treated for. The same hospitals also seem to get by with very few nurses, because the same nurses (often singular) take care of every patient regardless of where unit they are on.
Since brain tumors and amnesia make up about 90 percent of what people are in the hospital for, perhaps this makes sense. As much sense as hospitalizing someone for days on a medical floor for amnesia, at least.
The doctors are easy to find because white lab coat = doctor (the same way that big ugly tie = lawyer). They are usually wearing some cheap stethoscope that no actual physician would be caught dead wearing. Looks like with all of the money that these programs rake in, they could at least buy a few decent scopes for the props department.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
I recently rewatched ER (love me some Noah Wylie!)...and the lack of hand hygiene/wearing the same gloves as they bounce between traumas was driving me nuts!
Me, too! I was like, do they really not change gowns / gloves between patients?!?
What gets me about these medical shows is that they show the doctor doing everything - I do find it somewhat insulting. Nurses just come in receive an order and say "right away doctor" and walk out. The doctor is at the bedside drawing blood, starting an IV, helping the patient to get up and walk - while the same doctor goes to the MRI room to review the scans while the patient is being scanned. Also the same doc pushes the patient in their bed or a wheel chair to some other area of the hospital or walks them out on their way home. In my time as a nurse, I never saw a doctor spend more than 5-10 minutes with one patient, and some only 2 minutes! Yet on the shows the doctors do everything including wheel them out of the hospital. These shows actually show what nurses do and a small portion of what the doctor actually does. Honestly, these shows wouldn't be too exciting if they showed only what the doc does except maybe in a trauma situation or surgery. Also all the codes on TV show the doctor's doing everything again. In my experience it is the nurses doing the work and maybe the doc come in and gives some orders.
Delia37, MSN
166 Posts
Let's see...on Gray Anatomy: two residents transporting an unconscious patient to CT, while discussing how a date went the night before.
Because, yes...that's a common practice.
I often wonder if those shows really use medical/nursing experts....maybe not in the budget?