I can't do this anymore . . .

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Specializes in CVOR, CVICU/CTICU, CCRN-CMC-CSC.

I mean, seriously, are there any TV shows out there that get the medical stuff right? I can't watch any show that features any medical scenarios. It always ends up in a shouting match between me and whatever incompetent is acting in the role of the nurse/paramedic/physician :banghead:.

I am able, with a significant degree of self-control, to contain myself when I watch such shows with friends, but they take one look at my face and know that whatever is on the screen is baloney :sarcastic:. It's gotten to the point that I'll switch the TV off if there's nothing but medical dramas on the programming. And then I'll take a peek to see if, by some miracle, the attending physicians on "Grey's Anatomy" have managed to pull their heads out of their rectums :facepalm:. And then the shouting resumes :madface:. The only shows that even slightly mimic reality, IMHO, are "ER" and "The Night Shift" - but even these brave attempts at reality have me writhing in agony at times :sniff:.

*sigh* I guess I'll just watch some more ZDoggMD. :cool:

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I was watching Orange is the New Black with my boyfriend, and I lost it when they stuck an IM injection into a vein in the girls arm.

Lol he was like "dude calm down, it's just TV"

I absolutely love the show though.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

Call the Midwife, Getting On (HBO), and Sirens ( about a group of dysfunctional and very irreverent paramedics) are realistic as far as medical and nursing practice goes.

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Specializes in CVOR, CVICU/CTICU, CCRN-CMC-CSC.
Call the Midwife, Getting On (HBO), and Sirens ( about a group of dysfunctional and very irreverent paramedics) are realistic as far as medical and nursing practice goes.

I shall give these a try! :yeah:

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I don't understand why unrealistic medical shows bother medical professionals so much.

Police shows don't depict police realistically. (Have you looked at the height heels they have police women wearing as they run after bad guys.)

Computer/math shows like Numbers, Scorpion, and others show people writing complex computer code in just a few seconds and it works the first time it's executed. No debugging required.

Lawyer stories show the lawyers yelling at the judge and the lawyers fussing back and forth with each other. In real life the court trials are very slow and boring.

The CSI and Bones type shows don't even try to be based on reality. The same person does the autopsy, analyzes the blood, identifies the insect activity, and identifies that the fiber that was found came from a 1987 red Mustang. Right...

Nothing on TV is realistic particularly reality TV. The point is to suspend reality and just enjoy a good story.

If you want accuracy, watch documentaries on PBS. They have some good ones.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

What always surprises me is the fact that all of these "medical" shows have MEDICAL CONSULTANTS listed in the credits.

SPOILER ALERT FOR GRAY'S ANATOMY

Last week's episode, as the nurse is shutting down the IV pumps for McDreamy's plug-pulling, EVERY SINGLE PUMP -- all four of them -- was running 5% Dextrose on the left side of the pump and Gentamycin on the right side of the pump.

And of course they clearly showed the face of every pump so you could see it go dark as the nurse flipped the switch, so you could clearly see that he had four bags of Dextrose and four bags of Gentamycin running, with absolutely no sedation, pressors, mannitol/HSS, or any other drug besides the Dextrose and Gentamycin.

Seriously, who set up that ICU set? Even if it was a non-medical "prop" person setting up the IVs, even a layperson should have been able to comprehend the fact that someone who is critically ill with traumatic brain injury among other injuries is not going to have the same two drugs running on four different IV pumps with no other medications.

frust.gif frust.gif frust.gif

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

I agree with your frustration. As Anonymous865 pointed out, many other fields suffer the same, erroneous, sometimes bizzarre depictions of thier profession. The problem is that almost everyone is going to come under the care of a nurse or be admitted to a hospital at some point in thier lives. Few of us are going to have to seek the skills of a forensic anthropologist to tweek out some obscure cause of death evidenced by a few scratches on a loved ones' bones. The publics expectations of nursing are so warped by our presentation on TV/film it makes it almost impossible to do our jobs. With the push for "patient satisfaction" as a component of reimbursment, nursing is under pressure to live up to the fantasy presented on TV. Hospitals must cure every disease, and all patients live despite the constant "Hail Mary" interventions that seem to be required with every diagnosis. I cannot make our profession more entertaining, but I do wish did a better job of educating the public about the realities of health care.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

Wait...you mean in real life 99.99% of "Dr. She's crashing!" patients aren't revived with a few charges of the paddles? And the same ER doc that diagnosis your brain tumor isn't actually the one that removes it...about 30 minutes later? And don't get me started on the nurses, as in where are they??? You rarely see a nurse at all, and if you do it's usually a story line where one either screwed up somehow or is screwing a doctor. I love the super unrealistic aspects of these shows!

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Call the Midwife, Getting On (HBO), and Sirens ( about a group of dysfunctional and very irreverent paramedics) are realistic as far as medical and nursing practice goes.

I love love LOVE Call the Midwife!

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Call the midwife is very well done.

Unfortunately, I do watch greys anatomy but not for the medical scenarios. Derek died because that ET tube wasn't properly placed! Did anyone notice?

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

The first three seasons of Call the Midwife were excellent. I enjoyed watching Sr Evangeline teach the novice nurse midwives. I loved her no nonsense approach. This season has so many new characters multiple plotlines and settings that it is hard to follow. It seems like a different show.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg.

Even on non-medical shows I end up arguing with the TV. "Bloodlines" on Netflix had a guy in the ED after an assault, and he had some broken ribs. The MD handed him and incentive spirometer on discharge and said "You need to blow into this every couple of hours to prevent pneumonia." Ugh.

Thankfully, they actually showed the character USING the incentive spirometer later in the episode and he was doing it PERFECTLY. A nurse must have been on set and showed him how ;)

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