10 more ways Hollywood goofs up medicine!

Image: www.greysgabble.com

For decades Hollywood has taken some serious liberties with the medical profession, from messing up basic human anatomy to putting nurses in heels (hilarious!).

Maybe the unwitting public will happily devour these medical shows without batting an eye, but we nurses just shake our heads.

We’ve made some keen observations after regretfully flipping on the tube to catch the nonsense!

1. The patient who is lying in a hospital bed with a nasal cannula in, and in the background you can hear a ventilator. Really???
—Submitted by Juli, RN, BSN

2. They’re doing surgery on a GSW and the bleeding gets out of control, the monitors are alarming and all they show is them suctioning the bullet wound!! They never opened up the patient!!! ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!
—Submitted by Maxx

3. On House, Dr. House was sick with a BAD cold, sneezing and everything, and walked into a room to talk with a neutropenic child with cancer!
—Submitted by Nancy

4. On House, Dr. House had a team of doctors making phone calls to locate the patient’s family. Most of our doctors do not know how to dial a phone! I told one of our doctors, “If that happened at our hospital, you would tell me to do it.” He said, “And then you would palm it off on the Unit Secretary and tell me that you aren’t my private secretary!”
—Submitted by Sharon

5. On Grey’s Anatomy, while scrubbing in, the surgeons did not don caps, wear masks or clean their fingernails before scrubbing. I did not watch the entire show…I’m sure there were even more faux pas to write about. Perhaps this is why the show is called Grey’s Anatomy—a more healthy color derives using aseptic practices.
—Submitted by Coupleofchances

6. ONE doctor doesn’t do brain surgery, heart surgery, CT scans, blood draws, catheter emptying, angiograms and liver biopsies, etc. I always wonder why these shows don’t hire a medical consultant.
—Submitted by Bettymerchen

7. They don’t deliver babies in the ER in real life unless the mother comes in with it actually falling out!!! Everywhere I have ever worked, if she’s pregnant and comes in for heartburn she comes to OB in a wheelchair!
—Submitted by Kathy

8. Surgeons don’t usually shave or do surgical prep (it once made me laugh out loud to see Dr. Derek Shepherd on Grey’s shaving a patient’s head before surgery).
—Submitted by Katrina

9. No wonder patients on TV are in such bad shape…they don’t have the bag inflated when on a non-rebreather mask! Saw this a couple of times on a soap opera.
—Submitted by Katrina

10. When the surgeon is scrubbing at the sink with his mask dangling around his neck…who in the heck is going to tie that up for him? In every OR I’ve ever worked in, if you’re dumb enough to forget to tie your mask before scrubbing, YOU fix it and then re-scrub. Duh!!!
—Submitted by Stacy M, RN, BSN, soon-to-be MSN APNP