By: Fatamah Esa
Grey’s Anatomy may be a popular show but it is filled with inaccurate representations of the medical field. The show pays more attention to the romantic and personal lives of the characters rather than the work of the hospital, which makes sense since it is a medical drama. However, often times the show will, in the process, exaggerate or oversimplify a medical situation.
The most prominent misrepresentation in Grey’s Anatomy is “glamorizing the role of physicians while downplaying the nursing profession and the important work that nurses do” (Andersson). The series tends to show the doctors doing the nurses work. For example, the doctors are shown distributing the medications, monitoring the patients, drawing blood, and transporting the patients (Andersson). In reality, this is all the works of a nurse and not a doctor. Also, the physicians are seen spending a lot of time at the patient's bedside, which is also incorrect. The nurses care for the patient needs and spend most of their time with patients while physicians figure out a way to get them healthy again.
Another misrepresentation in the show is how the interns are allowed to be in the OR during their first year in residency. This is usually during their third year in residency. Typically first year interns “draw stat labs, put in orders for nurses, talk to patients’ families, round with social workers to discuss patient placement upon discharge and obtain patients’ signatures on consent-to-surgery forms” (Kirzner). The interns in Grey’s Anatomy are sometimes even allowed to operate on a patient which is completely unrealistic. In addition, the interns, who are in the general surgery program, are also seen rotating from general surgery to orthopedics to neurosurgery when they are only supposed to be dealing with general surgery (Kirzner). Despite the misrepresentations of the medical field, Grey's anatomy is still entertaining and widely popular show with twelve seasons to prove it.
Sources:
Andersson, Camilla. "The Nursing Profession: 3 Ways Grey's Anatomy Misrepresents It." Fortis
Blog.Fortis, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
Kirzner, Amanda. "'Grey's Anatomy' vs. Real-life Residency: You Already Know How This Turns out - The
DO." The DO. American Osteopathic Association, 05 Sept. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.
I had no clue Greys Anatomy was this inaccurate. I just thought the outrageous surgery conditions, made up diseases, and amount of drama was the wrongs for the show. I didn't realize how much involvement the doctors have when it's suppose to be the nurses job. Your post exposed many parts of my favorite show and it makes more sense now. Life would be easier if being a doctor was like that on the show, but it's no where close to that.
ReplyDeleteI was once a huge fan of Grey's anatomy, and you are right; Grey's Anatomy does oversimplify the work and life of a doctor (especially surgeons) as well as nurses. It's amazing how much medical inaccuracies are on the show.
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