Ridiculous medical mistakes on TV

[adventure_rn]

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!! ?

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[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

And you gotta love it when the babies come out of the womb clean and shiny and obviously a couple of months old...

[Floor_Nurse]

Hollywood newborns weigh 16 pounds.

[brownbook]

I never even knew this. I've taught crutch walking, but I've never taught cane walking.

It was suggested my husband try a cane. The doctor said be sure to use it correctly, not like TV's Dr. Gregory House! You hold it next to your good, strong, leg. Since then I've seen another TV show with the cane used on the incorrect side.

Honestly it somehow seems logical you'd hold it next to your weak leg?

[CamMc]

I've just started watching the Resident and in one of the episodes a young (pre-teen/early teen) girl is stealing insulin because her family can't afford it (although the not being able to afford insulin is most likely very accurate) I doubt that it would be so easily accessible and then they show her giving herself her insulin using what had to be like a 16g needle that was at least 1.5" long.

[brownbook]

I've seen so many stupid IDDM scenarios.

A murder mystery where an IDDM woman was killed by not having access to her insulin for maybe 5 hours! Whaaaaat?

A book had an IDDM man who was always needing to eat candy bars because of his diabetes???

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 8:14 AM, CamMc said:

I've just started watching the Resident and in one of the episodes a young (pre-teen/early teen) girl is stealing insulin because her family can't afford it (although the not being able to afford insulin is most likely very accurate) I doubt that it would be so easily accessible and then they show her giving herself her insulin using what had to be like a 16g needle that was at least 1.5" long.

Maybe it works faster if you give it IM. ?

[LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP]

On 4/30/2019 at 11:57 AM, brownbook said:

I've seen so many stupid IDDM scenarios.

A murder mystery where an IDDM woman was killed by not having access to her insulin for maybe 5 hours! Whaaaaat?

A book had an IDDM man who was always needing to eat candy bars because of his diabetes???

Or the person who has diabetes and if they don't get their insulin before they eat, they'll get hypoglycemic and die (because hypoglycemic is apparently easier to understand and way more dramatic)

[brownbook]

26 minutes ago, LilPeanut said:

Or the person who has diabetes and if they don't get their insulin before they eat, they'll get hypoglycemic and die (because hypoglycemic is apparently easier to understand and way more dramatic)

Yeah, I can just see the general public trying to understand DKA. Which doesn't kill you very dramatically or easily.

[osceteacher]

I smell pear drops doesn't work the same as the dramatic unconsciousness of a hypo I guess.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

On 8/6/2017 at 12:17 AM, amoLucia said:

Didja' ever notice that in lots of TV hosp rooms/doctor offices/mini clinics there always seems to be an IV pole standing nearby with 2 (it always seems 2) IVs 'ready to go'? Like the bags are already spiked and assumedly primed. Just waiting for some EMERGENCY.

To be honest, I've even seen hanging IVs in my real MD/DDS offices.

Like what's the deal? Once a bag is spiked, the clock starts ticking ... I can't believe that the bags would be discarded every day. I mean the 24 hour clock has winds down. Is that fiscally sound?

But I notice those bags each time.

Medical TV shows make me either laugh or roll my eyes, depending on what it is and the mood I’m in at the time.

As for the doctor’s office IV bag, I’ve seen one in my own doctors office. I can tell by the type of tubing, coloring, etc that it’s old and simply a tacky decor choice. It’s not getting infused on anyone. I remember the tubing type from pumps outdated by about 20 years, attachments also outdated to that era, IV bag doesn’t look anything like what we use now, but I do remember it from long ago, and the tubing has that ‘aged’ look to it (kind of like old paper that gets yellow).

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

On 3/24/2019 at 2:24 PM, sevensonnets said:

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!"

Sadly in real life I think I may have followed behind a couple coworkers years ago that may have had this thought process. This was back in the day when we did report at the chart rack in front of the room, or an actual report room. It came to the point that when I followed someone who had left me a stiff in the past I would peak in to see if the patient’s chest was rising and falling appropriately before I accepted report. Yeah, my early nursing years left me terrified of ever getting hospitalized but at least I knew who I could or couldn’t trust in the case it was to occur.

Thankfully, in more recent years I have not had this kind of experience during change of shift report. I’m sure our practices have also improved a lot in 20 years but as much of a pain that bedside reporting can be with some patients, it does help clear up discrepancies in care before the previous shift is no longer present to clarify an issue.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

I think I probably posted this back when the thread was young, but I’m way too lazy to look.

From the ID show “Web of Lies,” a prominent case of a child dying from MBP/“Munchausen By Internet.” The attached screenshot shows the child “brain dead on life support.”

A facemask that not only serves as “life support” for a brain dead child, but holds itself to the pt’s face without elastic??? That is one magic piece of plastic!!