Code Black

[PMFB-RN]

So I know this show has been discussed here already.

Unfortunately I just sat through an episode. One thing that really stood out to me as being SUPER unrealistic, I mean part from the many, many obvious things, is physicians confronting patients and their families. Apperently in TV land the hospital's reimbursement is NOT tied to patient satisfaction like it is the the real world.

I can't imagine any physician who makes it a point to speak confrontationly to patient or their families would keep his job.

[thenightnurse456]

I know I'm not commenting on the same show (haven't seen it...probably won't), but can we talk about how the ER on Gray's Anatomy is always staffed by surgeons? They're triaging, treating and there happens to be 7 surgeons running a code? I would think even Doc's would be super annoyed by this! I get that they are going to promote docs on these shows, but these are all surgical residents and attendings so it gets even more specific and unrealistic.

Greys was never thought to make it past season 1. It was an unexpected super hit.

I imagine the writers brought in more ER scenes into the episodes as the show progressed; as they are a lot more dramatic and exciting for viewers.

But how funny is it watching 7 surgical attendings waiting in the ER ambulance bay! SMH!

[WoosahRN, MSN, RN]

My "favorite" was one episode of Night Shift that I watched. Awful. In one episode:

-Cop get shot and is brought to the ER (where all this takes place); cop happens to be a friend of theirs; code cop, crack his chest. ER doc "repairs" a tear in his heart. Two hours later (show was time stamped) cop is sitting up talking to everyone with a NC on. Two scenes later, cop is intubated again...they keep flipping on his acuity...and of course they keep intubated patients down in ER.

-An ER doc chases out a guy he suspects is drug seeking. Later every character is at lunch in their outdoor areas complete with food truck and decorative strings of light. Then their lunch is ruined because someone jumped from the roof of the hospital and landed on the food truck. It was the drug seeker that turned out to be a veteran. ER doc is sad and feels guilty.

-Cop needs a new heart. Turns out the one he had was a transplant. Even better, the transplanted heart is the heart of the brother of one of the ER docs. Him, the cop and his brother were all in afghanistan together. Brother and cop were shot. Brother killed. Doc transplanted the heart of his brother into the cop (eyeroll!!! Amazing how easy transplant are, eh?). But now that heart is damaged from being shot on the job this same night. ER doc tells all the nurses to call around for a heart. Even goes "Call the Border!". So that is the one representation of nurses on the show.

-The jumper/veteran is declared brain dead. Cop's doc has an idea...he can take this guy's heart. He literally is trying to wheeling the guy to ER so he can take his heart. Doc of jumper isn't ready to give up and performs brain surgery in the ER. Suddenly there is brain activity. Family is happy. Doc doesn't feel guilty anymore.

All in one shift ya'll. I personally love it when any show has docs and nurses jumping from job to job. ER doc=neurosurgeon, ICU doc, cardiothoracic surgeon...all in one night. I've seen other shows that have nurses go from ER to L&D to ICU to Oncology all in one shift. Oh and follow their patients from dept to dept.

You gotta laugh, but I have limitations to how much I can roll my eyes and still enjoy it.

I did watch ER (that was before I was a nurse so I'm curious how that would work out now), Scrubs (they managed to pull it off I think), and I do go through spurts of Gray's Anatomy (despite my earlier complaints, they really do a decent job at the medical stuff).

[SquishyRN, BSN, RN]

I've heard about the documentary. Is the show related to the documentary at all?

The show is adapted from the documentary.

The center stage thing is crazy. There is no privacy. A guy died on one of the episodes and the curtain wasn't closed and there was a patient in a bed two stretchers away who could see everthing. Trauma center or not that would never happen in real life.[/quote']

Center stage is real. At least it was real. In real life it was called C-Booth. The old LA County / USC hospital was built in the 1930s and was allowed waivers on privacy regulations as time passed because the way the building was set up could not provide the privacy needed for HIPAA (obviously). A new hospital was opened in 2008, though the old hospital wasn't torn down. Both the old and new hospital are on the same grounds, although the old hospital doesn't function as a hospital anymore. Code Black, both the documentary and series, is based off the old hospital's ER. In fact, the pilot episode of Code Black the series was filmed in the old, no longer used, ER. After the series was picked up, they built a replica set.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

The show is adapted from the documentary.

Center stage is real. At least it was real. In real life it was called C-Booth. The old LA County / USC hospital was built in the 1930s and was allowed waivers on privacy regulations as time passed because the way the building was set up could not provide the privacy needed for HIPAA (obviously). A new hospital was opened in 2008, though the old hospital wasn't torn down. Both the old and new hospital are on the same grounds, although the old hospital doesn't function as a hospital anymore. Code Black, both the documentary and series, is based off the old hospital's ER. In fact, the pilot episode of Code Black the series was filmed in the old, no longer used, ER. After the series was picked up, they built a replica set.

My first nursing job was in the old USC/LA County hospital. It was a great place to learn. I started in burn ICU. 6 months after graduation they were asking me things like "hey do you want to float to ER, MICU, CVICU, PICU, etc". Often with no or little additional training. 9 of us new grads started at the same time. One year later there were 2 of us still left. Most of the rest left nursing altogether.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I remember one ER episode where some docs and nurses were transferring a pedi patient, and in the elevator the patient's O2 Sat went down to 89%. The doc shouted, "Prepare to intubate!" I was throwing popcorn at the television at that point.

And they were always shocking people in asystole.

[WoosahRN, MSN, RN]

I remember one ER episode where some docs and nurses were transferring a pedi patient, and in the elevator the patient's O2 Sat went down to 89%. The doc shouted, "Prepare to intubate!" I was throwing popcorn at the television at that point.

And they were always shocking people in asystole.

Hahaha! "Prepare to intubate!" And always in an elevator, where else would you tube a patient? 😂

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

Oh man, my unit almost never waits 'til 89% to intubate a patient. The increasing O2 requirements plus increased work of breathing have us intubating people who are almost 100% sometimes. If they started out on 2L nasal cannula breathing 12/min and you're waiting until they're on nonrebreather and in the 60% range and gray with respirations at 60 and guppy breathing, to quote the Internet, "Ur doin it rong." :)

I think I saw part of an episode of Code Black in the break room one day. It had this MD who brought a patient back, but the patient had a very grim prognosis and the wife got mad that they brought her husband back as a vegetable. I actually laughed. The families I deal with keep the person a full code even if they've gone three days with a completely flat continuous EEG and have gone so far past rigor mortis in their arms and legs that said extremities are actually turning green/black and growing nasty crap, to the point they'd have to have bilateral leg and arm amputations if they somehow managed to "live." As if families actually care about a person's prognosis while the events are unfolding. Most are too concerned about their own feelings about how upset they'd be if their family member died to worry about whether the family member is going to be a vegetable or not.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Oh man, my unit almost never waits 'til 89% to intubate a patient.

I don't think anyone is going to intubate a patient by virtue of one 89% reading which is sudden and short lived. We get low sats ALL the time on my unit. They usually rebound immediately, after they take some deep breaths, or we re-position the probe, etc. The point is that you wouldn't notice a low sat and immediately intubate someone! You'd assess, make sure you are treating the patient, not the machine, etc. The scene was ridiculous.

[RAndaRoo]

I think I saw part of an episode of Code Black in the break room one day. It had this MD who brought a patient back, but the patient had a very grim prognosis and the wife got mad that they brought her husband back as a vegetable.

Lol this was an episode of Chicago Med! But when i saw that part I too was like dang I can't imagine someone acting like that in real life...maybe later on being like okay my husband is a vegetable, but not 30 seconds after!