Learning from TV

If I hear another instructor tell us in class, "It's not like Grey's Anatomy" one more time, I think I may scream. Of course it isn't like that. Grey's is television. Fiction. It's very nature is entertainment.

However, I am never one to throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water...

I am currently a nursing student who still works at my local hospital as an aide and clerk on the weekends. Recently, I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy that hit home. It's from season 6 and entitled "I Saw What I Saw." It's available on Netflix. It's about a chaotic day in the ER with mass casualties and all the typical drama that goes with it on tv. However, it goes moment by moment from different physicians' perspectives on what all went on during the shift that led to a preventable death. The ultimate cause? The assessing physician failed to look inside a patient's mouth during the initial assessment. Dr. Webber tells the doctor what a good doctor she is. But ultimately, she is fired. Although it is fiction, I think episodes such as this can be a valuable teaching tool. It certainly made me think.

On another note, I have been watching their "code" scenes. Most of the time they shock, it has been v-fib. But I did see Karev break asepsis. Just sayin....

Any thoughts?