Ridiculous medical mistakes on TV

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We've all heard it: nurses can't watch medical shows without getting annoyed about how inaccurate they are. Lately, I'm finding that the most ridiculous medical mistakes happen on police procedural dramas (Law and Order, Criminal Minds, etc.); at least the medical shows have people with medical backgrounds advising them.

Anybody have some funny tv medical mistakes to share??

Last week I was watching a rerun of Criminal Minds. The victim had been drugged with haldol by her kidnapper. When the police rushed in to save her, the EMS gave her a bolus of narcan and she magically awoke. It was a flipping miracle!! ?

Specializes in Neonatology.

I was yelling at the TV when watching the doctors on "House" put in a central line with no gloves, or anything else remotely close to sterile procedure.

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Just watched an episode of "the night shift" when the defib was used and everyone still had hands on the patient, the bed and the ambu bag and yet no one was injured.

Side note:the acting on that show is so bad...

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Specializes in ICU.
New Netflix show Bloodline -

Character goes to ED for chest pain.

"You didn't have a heart attack. Your heart was in atrial fibrillation. We shocked you back to normal rhythm. We're going to send you upstairs for an EKG and echocardiogram."

I don't know - I have emergently cardioverted someone in a-fib with RVR at the bedside before. I guess I'll just have to watch the episode to see what was wrong with it. I'm curious now. :)

I just watched that The Lazarus Effect movie, and I didn't think it was totally wild. They were talking about injecting the brain with glutamate, serotonin, and selectively applying electricity - things like that. I was totally wrapped up in it until they stuck someone in a MRI machine, had a normal MRI picture come out, and started talking about electrical activity in the brain. Ugh

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Great post! I've often heard of shows like this being ridiculously off the mark on things like this. Looks like they would do more research. My husband and oldest son are firemen and some of the movies they say, are laughable, like when the firefighters run into a huge fire without a breathing apparatus or other PPE.

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Specializes in critical care.
I don't know - I have emergently cardioverted someone in a-fib with RVR at the bedside before. I guess I'll just have to watch the episode to see what was wrong with it. I'm curious now. :)

Are you sure it was afib rvr and not SVT? We cardizem our rvrs. I was under the impression that this is the standard.

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Arterial spray. Never ever ever looks right.

And the amount of a beating someone can take for the crazy amount of time it goes on. No way.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Cardiac Telemetry, Pulmonary.

lol omg I would have a ball with you at work!!

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Can't read too many of these mistakes scared I'll forget all I've learned....

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One of the first scenes of John Wick, he's sitting at his dying wife's bedside. There is dramatic music playing, with the pinging sound of her heart monitor over. A doctor comes in and says something to John who nods his head. The doctor turns around and pushes a button or a switch on a blank bedside monitor. Immediately the heart rate flat-lines. The woman isn't even intubated. I told my husband I never want to go to that hospital that has a bedside kill button.

He hates watching movies or tv with me that have any sort of medical information.

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There is a commercial running in my area where a Nurse takes a blood sample and doesn't remove the tourniquet after the blood is taken most people remove it as soon as they get a blood flow.

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I hate watching a code happen on a tv show or whatever. Most recently o saw it on some soap opera, the weakest CPR possible.

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That's why nurses give insulin!

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