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!! ?

The show “The Resident” it’s its entirety drives me absolutely bonkers. The entire premise of the show is based on the fact that a resident is calling the shots.....

2 Votes
Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

I am re-watching ER for funsies. The first season was a little better on medical accuracy. They actually had a code and someone called "should I get the paddles?" and another person said "No, it's asystole, get epi". I was unreasonably happy to hear that LOL

But then in the same season, they had the ER inducing a pre-e mother. *rolls eyes* I know the only thing an ER hates more than a pregnant woman is a newborn baby LOL so definitely not accurate there. Oh, and an episode where the L&D floor was flooded or something and they moved the laboring patients to the ER to be managed by those docs and the OBs stayed upstairs to "manage the antepartum patients". Uh, the antes shouldn't require so much active management, one would hope. And the ER is definitely not the place for laboring mothers.

Some day they will hire me as a medical consultant and I will boop their snoots for the terrible medical information they put out there.

2 Votes
Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

Oh, I will say, I am also rewatching criminal minds - the episode with the bleach - he said the milk will coat the esophagus, not the lungs. So that was right. But the one with the paralysis really annoyed me. How in the hell do you paralyze without removing ability to breathe? Diaphragmatic pacing?

0 Votes

All these shows, show the "doctors" always doing everything for the patient. When is the last time any one of you guys saw a doctor doing anything for a patient, like giving them a medication, lab draw, or starting an IV. With that said, it doesn't stop me from watching, I have watched Grey's Anatomy since it started.

4 Votes
Specializes in OR/PACU/med surg/LTC.

We occasionally have a doctor start an IV but we are a small hospital with no IV team and the two docs who start IVs are also anesthesiologists.

Have never seen a doctor ambulate a pt, sleep in a pts room to keep.an eye on them (I wish), give medications (besides pushing certain meds that we can't push on our floor).

The biggest thing that frustrates me is when the keep using the debrilator ever 10 seconds. "Shock, Shock again, shock again" No you need to wait two minutes and you can't shock asysyole.

4 Votes

There was one episode of Chicago Hope where a patient was found stone-cold rigor mortis dead and the doctor had a come apart at the nurse. "Why did nobody check on this patient for hours?" The nurse says, "Doctor, this patient was a DNR. There was no order to check on the patient!"

1 Votes

I'm not sure about this?

A healthy young female driving her car hits a telephone pole. Is dazed, minor head wound, gets out of the car and a live electrical wire arching, twitching, on the ground hits her in the chest. She drops down, no pulse.

A police officer starts compressions, she wakes up is taken to the ER. Three to four hours later she is released and walks into the police station to thank the officer.

I assume???? something like that would necessitate a longer evaluation?

5 Votes
Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.
3 hours ago, brownbook said:

I'm not sure about this?

A healthy young female driving her car hits a telephone pole. Is dazed, minor head wound, gets out of the car and a live electrical wire arching, twitching, on the ground hits her in the chest. She drops down, no pulse.

A police officer starts compressions, she wakes up is taken to the ER. Three to four hours later she is released and walks into the police station to thank the officer.

I assume???? something like that would necessitate a longer evaluation?

Possibly I guess, maybe? Depends on if she was burned and how bad the shock was I bet. I don't know, interesting thought. I would think if you had a known reason for asystole, they got the heart restarted quickly, then there would be little risk for it recurring. Like if you got hit with a baseball in the sternum at just the right time in your cardiac cycle and it caused an arrhythmia or asystole, if you go it back to normal, there's little chance of it reverting, short of getting hit again. Or if someone codes because they were choking, but then you cleared their airway and circulation and breathing resumed, if it was a really short duration, it's not like they need to be watched in the hospital to make sure they don't choke again LOL

2 Votes
Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.
On 3/22/2019 at 11:43 PM, Nickc58 said:

The show “The Resident” it’s its entirety drives me absolutely bonkers. The entire premise of the show is based on the fact that a resident is calling the shots.....

I like how on Nurse Nic's jacket it says her NAME, BSN, NP.

Uh, no. So wrong.

4 Votes
Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

Missing a couple letters there ;)

1 Votes
Specializes in Med Surg, PCU, Travel.

I seen on this one low budget Christian movie, the patient was connected to an IV...but when I looked at it closer it was a dang tube feed bag hanging full of water and the purple port was taped to their forearm...lol ?

4 Votes
Specializes in NICU.

I watch foreign channels and I love the scene with the intubated person speaking clearly.

In a sick newborn baby scene , Using real Large old babies in incubators moving ,looking around.

Doctors looking so handsome it is unfair.

1 Votes
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