ASA's response to Grey's Anatomy

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Specializes in NICU,ICU,PACU,IV Therapy.

Yesterday the A$A President Orin Guidry, M.D., responded to "unrealistic depiction of anesthesiologist on “Grey’s Anatomy.”

http://www.asahq.org/news/news020606.htm

After watching the episode I did think that it was an unrealistic portrayal of an anesthesia provider but it was what was said in the ASA letter that was more concerning to me. I am not a CRNA (yet) however I have read a lot of history behind the role of a CRNA's particularly as it pertains to military. The ASA President stated " Anesthesiologists are at the forefront of treating soldiers on the battlefield" Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought CRNA's were/are the anesthesia providers for the military. I would like some comments from the CRNA's who were/are part of military missions.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
......" Anesthesiologists are at the forefront of treating soldiers on the battlefield"........

As an Army-trained Vietnam-era CRNA myself I have no necessity to whitewash this. Two CRNAs' names are on The Wall. CRNAs, not MDAs. You want to know who's out there in the forefront?

http://www.gaspasser.com/CRNAinIraq.html

and

http://www.aana.com/archives/war_stories/default.asp

CRNAs, not MDAs. In my experience MDAs are generally known throughout the military to develop 'back trouble' when gunfire erupts, as in vertical yellow stripe back trouble. Yes, there are exceptions, but the A$A shill is full of their usual chauvinistic shiznit.

deepz

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

I am an SRNA at Georgetown and our program is combined with the Navy Nurse Corps program out of Bethesda, MD. A couple of Navy students in our class gave a presentation just yesterday about the history of CRNAs in the military and I believe the figures in their presentation stated that CRNAs provide roughly 80% of the anesthesia in the military.

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CRNAs provide roughly 80% of the anesthesia in the military.

i would be interested to know what percentage is front line and what percent is stateside, crna vs mda

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I find it very laughable that the ASA is feeling threatened by a mini-series on television.........I find it funny to point out the fallacies in medical shows but I've never found it threatening to a career; it's a stinkin tv show!!! They must be feeling the effects of getting phased out or something by CRNA's if they find it necessary to defend themselves against a tv show.......cuz eventually that's what's gonna happen and I will find myself doing this :roll .

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Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

jiffygriff - i agree with you. it's a "stinkin' show" for crying out loud. :uhoh3: nothing about that show represents the truth about healthcare - impo. the doctors and interns are doing things with patients they don't do in real life (nurses do a lot of that stuff). nurses are in the background on the show as if they "do nothing" - yet, we know if we walk inside any hospital in this country, we will see nurses busting their buns helping to save lives, caring for patients, interacting with doctors and other healthcare staff, etc. the show is strictly for "entertainment" and laughs. i enjoy the show, but i certainly know the lot of it is played in humerous unrealistic ways. :coollook:

is bug's bunny real? is superman real? is batman real? well, grey's anatomy isn't real either. :rolleyes:

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While I don't know enough about the military anesthesiologist/CRNA ratio to comment on that aspect of the letter, I do think the ASA was perfectly justified in alerting the show to its unrealistic depiction of the anesthesiologist. All medical organizations should work to prevent off-base and even sometimes ridiculous depictions of its members. While most reasonable and educated people realize it is just a show, I seem to remember running into a very high proportion of the pt. population and their families that were neither reasonable in their expectations and perceptions of healthcare nor educated. Probably the only exposure some of them had to healthcare was through TV. If it was a CRNA that the program depicted abandoning a pt. (lucky for us the writers probably don't know what a CRNA is) I can promise that the AANA would have written a very similar letter, as well they should.

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While not specific to CRNA practice, the web site http://www.nursingadvocacy.org follows gross misrepresentations of nursing in the media. They have followed the poor nurse representation in this show, and others.

I have to agree with the above poster, CRNA is not a well know position and deserves some great PR for a change! Or maybe we should keep it a well-kept secret........

Jennie

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I think the ASA has a legit gripe. It IS a fictional character, but it did dummy down a complicated job.

We gripe all the time that nurses are portrayed as glorified handmaidens and love interests on these types of shows, while the doctors and interns do the 'real' work that they'd have to show nurses doing, to be real. But then their 'stars' wouldn't be at the bedside for all the dramatic effect.

And dramatic effect or not, I cannot conceive of a highly trained medical person leaving a much lessor trained person alone in such a situation. It was just a silly hook to put that other doctor under the bomb for the 'cliffhanger'.

It's even been mentioned here about how nurses are also horribly portrayed in these programs.

I can understand why the ASA was upset.

Squeeze the ambu bag a time or two, and you too can be an MDA. Not.

~faith,

Timothy.

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While I don't know enough about the military anesthesiologist/CRNA ratio to comment on that aspect of the letter, I do think the ASA was perfectly justified in alerting the show to its unrealistic depiction of the anesthesiologist. All medical organizations should work to prevent off-base and even sometimes ridiculous depictions of its members. While most reasonable and educated people realize it is just a show, I seem to remember running into a very high proportion of the pt. population and their families that were neither reasonable in their expectations and perceptions of healthcare nor educated. Probably the only exposure some of them had to healthcare was through TV. If it was a CRNA that the program depicted abandoning a pt. (lucky for us the writers probably don't know what a CRNA is) I can promise that the AANA would have written a very similar letter, as well they should.

FINALLY, a voice of reason on this thread. The rest of you have totally lost your objectivity. How long ago was it that there was a thread about a magazine article that quoted some plastic surgeon who said he wouldn't use CRNA's? Y'all went absolutely ape-sh*t.

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True, I guess you just need someone to put it into a different perspective sometime. Though I seriously doubt the ASA had any sympathy for us when that plastics guy did write that article.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
.... Y'all went absolutely ape-sh*t.

I bow to your obvious expertise on THAT subject.

.

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