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!! ?

That's MJ's thriller scene lol

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Slightly different setting, but L&D coded a pt for >4 hrs one night. Amniotic fluid embolism. Horrible. They really pulled out all the stops to try and save her.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
The patient later says that he is 3 weeks away from turning 18 and wants to be a DNR. They just matter-of-factly tell him it's his mother's decision. No one consults an ethics team.

This part is actually sadly accurate.

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Specializes in Pedi.
This part is actually sadly accurate.

Not in my experience. We always consulted the ethics team if a terminally ill teenager wanted to stop treatment, especially a 17 year old. The mature minor rule can apply to much younger teens. For our Oncology patients, teenagers have to assent to the treatment their parents consent to.

I did once have a case of a 17 year old, senior in high school, I think 2 months away from turning 18. High grade inoperable glioma, unresponsive to treatment. Her mother wanted to put her through a phase I clinical trial or some other experimental chemo. She didn't want it. She was deaccessing her own port-a-cath any chance she got to prevent being treated. The ethics team sided with her.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
Not in my experience. We always consulted the ethics team if a terminally ill teenager wanted to stop treatment, especially a 17 year old. The mature minor rule can apply to much younger teens. For our Oncology patients, teenagers have to assent to the treatment their parents consent to.

I did once have a case of a 17 year old, senior in high school, I think 2 months away from turning 18. High grade inoperable glioma, unresponsive to treatment. Her mother wanted to put her through a phase I clinical trial or some other experimental chemo. She didn't want it. She was deaccessing her own port-a-cath any chance she got to prevent being treated. The ethics team sided with her.

I'm glad that things are done that way in other places. We don't see it here. :(

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Specializes in Telemetry.

I know assisting in executions is not in our purview so I could be way off base, but watching an old episode of CSI:NY and there was a scene where a death row inmate was being prepped for execution by lethal injection. Kinda snorted when I observed the person inserting the peripheral IV give the site a quick scrub. Because we are so concerned that the inmate will get an infection?

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Because we are so concerned that the inmate will get an infection?

It's reflex: wipe with alcohol pad before injection.

When I was in prison, I couldn't get over the reflex of putting down the seat after peeing.

You know?

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I liked House, where the doctors were always giving meds. Yeah, right.

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

In Mission Impossible, the 2nd season, the show titled Operation "Heart" shows a person undergoing open heart surgery, and his respirations are 'normal'. He is not on a vent during the surgery!

Also, they show 'fibrillation' by making the NSR rhythm on the screen get smaller in size ...

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Specializes in Medical-Surgial, Cardiac, Pediatrics.

Just watched episode of "Fringe" where they, a team of non-medical personnel, put in an emergency trach without any sterile tools or gloves,and magically, the non-doctor knew where to place the incision and the trach tube so the ubconcious dude could just breathe, all on his own.

I could not stop yelling, haha.

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I was watching some Lifetime movie (Lethal Obsession, I think it was), and the mother and daughter had escaped the abusive father and were living in another town. It turns out that the father had plastic surgery/changed his identity and was actually staying at their house. The daughter saw him inject a syringe into his neck (it looked like he stabbed it at a 90 degree angle into the jugular vein, lol), and later questioned him about it. He said, "I'm a diabetic, I had to give myself a shot." Okay, then :facepalm:

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Specializes in Family practice, emergency.

Some of these have been mentioned, but...

Anytime someone shocks systole...

Anytime someone uses paddles to defibrillate...

Anytime an MD passes meds...

Anytime an MD ambulates a patient...

The ET tube at 7 cm at the lip... (like can't you CUT it or something geeeeez!)

In nurse Jackie where she got all those lunch breaks (whaaaat?)

When medical conditions are mispronounced, I remember someone saying "hypokalemic" wrong once and it still bothers me...

There are more I'm forgetting. Now I have to go watch Scrubs to redeem the medical profession.

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