Hey is anyones life as a nurse like greys amatomy?

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Specializes in Critical Care at Level 1 trauma center.

I am a new grad and just got hired in a level one trauma center and I work in trauma ICU. I feel like my life has a lot of similarities to the show.... I live with two girls and the trauma team likes to go out (on our days off) a lot. It's kind of like big fraternity, everyone is super close and likes to have a good time :) we give awesome care to our patients and really live and breath trauma medicine! Just wondering if y'all have similar experiences?

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:sarcastic: Oh my.

Let's not perpetuate the Grey's Anatomy myth of nursing.

Professional cohesiveness is one thing. Friendships and dating relationships that develop out of a working situation are quite another and should be handled with care, not likened to a TV show that equates nurses with uneducated handmaidens.

The group I went to my first duty station with was a tight-knit little bunch. We learned a lot together, hung out after hours, and several of us were roommates. But we were soldiers, nurses, and professionals above all. At the end of the day, that's what mattered.

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Specializes in PDN; Burn; Phone triage.

There are nurses on Grey's Anatomy? /scratches head

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As much as I enjoy and depend of my co-workers, when all is said and done it may seem like a good idea to blend business with pleasure, but it rarely is.

All that co-mingling 24/7 is a recipe for disaster. As is living and breathing trauma medicine 24/7. Burn out is high, personal and professional boundries are blurry to non-existent. Hence why "medical" shows such as Grey's are meant to be entertaining and not something to aspire to as a nurse.

But as a young new grad, ya'll are part of a honeymoon phase. Fresh eyes, fresh goals, we're saving lives--one patient at a time.

So when the honeymoon is over, be sure that you have other interests, friends, and options for your personal life.

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Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.

Sooner or later reality will set in, and life won't be like a television show. I did not live with coworkers or engage in trysts in the supply room. I was focused on the job at hand. Then again, I was already 40 when I started this journey in medicine.

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Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

No and I hope it's not. I may be 20 and a new RN, but "Ain't nobody got time for that" drama and confusion. It's going to be enough to keep up with the learning curve of bring a new CVICU nurse.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

I have been in trauma for 2 years and no my life is not like that. I love my co-workers and they have my back. When the sh@t hits the fan, we are a well oiled machine working together for the pt. When we clock out, we clock out.. We all have other interests, as well as friends outside of work. Now don't get me wrong, we have cook outs and such but it is far from a fraternity. My frat days are over :)

Oh and where are the nurses on Grey's ??? I do watch the show and enjoy it but I can't recall any nurses name or face :)

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Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
IOh and where are the nurses on Grey's ??? I do watch the show and enjoy it but I can't recall any nurses name or face :)

Nurses on Grey's are only incidental bit part players. Only the doctors matter.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.
Nurses on Grey's are only incidental bit part players. Only the doctors matter.

LOL, yep I know, that's what my comment was implying hahaha..

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Specializes in Critical Care at Level 1 trauma center.

I am not saying that we are constantly hooking up in the break rooms but its just amazing how close everyone is here. And when I am not at work I study a **** load of critical care material. I don't want to come off as some stupid frat boy, I go 110% for my patients but when you are constantly facing life and death it makes a group of people really come together, the average age on my floor is 27 for the nurse. Some of us are as young as 22. Our unit also received a 98% patient satisfaction last year and receives national awards for standards of excellence in critical care. If a patient is too critical to transfer we can do open heart surgery at the bed side! I am just proud of my hospital and my co workers, I can not help the fact that I am living in the culture of trauma right now. As for burn out .... That may be but right now I would rather be at the hospital than anywhere else in the world.

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Specializes in Critical Care at Level 1 trauma center.

Call me a nerd but school and medicine are my personal life. I plan on going to CRNA in about two years and continuing my love for this profession. Then again too my mom was a flight nurse, my step dad an invasive cardiologist and my little sister just got a full ride scholarship to medical school and she just barely graduated high school at 16

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I am not saying that we are constantly hooking up in the break rooms but its just amazing how close everyone is here. And when I am not at work I study a **** load of critical care material. I don't want to come off as some stupid frat boy, I go 110% for my patients but when you are constantly facing life and death it makes a group of people really come together, the average age on my floor is 27 for the nurse. Some of us are as young as 22. Our unit also received a 98% patient satisfaction last year and receives national awards for standards of excellence in critical care. If a patient is too critical to transfer we can do open heart surgery at the bed side! I am just proud of my hospital and my co workers, I can not help the fact that I am living in the culture of trauma right now. As for burn out .... That may be but right now I would rather be at the hospital than anywhere else in the world.

But you do realize that this is not the norm. I am not sure of many Level 1 Trauma ICU's that are entirely made up of new or recent grads, and do open heart surgery at bedside. It is a specialty, and unless specifcally a new or recent grad program, most need at least a few years of basic nursing foundation to be able to work in Trauma ICU.

There are many, many units of a hospital that teamwork is essential. Where we all have to work as a team to benefit a patient. And to do it well, gains a patient satisfaction rate at well into the 90's.

That is awesome that you are a "nerd" and immerse yourself into the world of critical care. But remember, as a medical professional we are not super-human gods. There will be days that are amazing and lives are saved, and there will be days that are not so amazing and lives are lost. Not everything can be fixed.

To realize this is what makes a good nurse even better. It is how you conduct yourself when your team is down, and your patient is crashing, and you all come to the realization that your patient can not be saved is a true testament to nursing character.

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