Photo Credit: ABC Studios

I myself am guilty of loving medical shows, despite knowing how entirely inaccurate most of them are. From the constant love triangles to the abundance of rare cases and the endless drama. How do you not get sucked in? Most medical shows fall under the category “Drama” for this reason. While some of the information presented on the show is, in fact, accurate, like when a doctor is explaining symptoms and treatment for a medical condition. The deep conversations between surgeons in the hallways are far from realistic. Most surgeons don’t have time to discuss the siding on their house in between surgeries, or their date from last night. 

But in shows like ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, they sure do. While I plan on pointing out the many ways that medical shows do not represent the reality of most nurses and doctors, I still love watching them. And plan to continue. 

The Portrayal of Nurses

One of the first shows I thought of besides Grey’s Anatomy is Nurse Jackie. A show that has since ended from the network Showtime. When the show was airing, there were many complaints about its inaccurate portrayal of the nursing profession. The character Jackie, according to the NYSNA, has no qualms about repeatedly violating the nursing Code of Ethics. This is why critics of the show disliked many of the storylines. Nursing is one of the most trusted professions in the country, and shows like this can tarnish the reputation of nurses as disobedient and breaking rules while at work. 

Doctors Doing Nurses Work

In several of the medical shows, including House M.D., doctors are shown drawing blood from a patient. In reality, doctors are not responsible for drawing blood. That is collected by a nurse in a hospital or clinical setting. Nurses do the actual caretaking of patients which includes checking blood pressure, giving injections to patients, and monitoring other vitals. About 90% of the medical care performed by surgeons on TV, is actually the work of a nurse. Everyone knows or should know, that nurses keep the hospital running.

Medical Interns Don’t Operate

In the first season of Grey’s Anatomy, an intern is chosen to perform an appendectomy. However, an intern in an actual hospital is caring for patients and learning the ropes. They would never be allowed to perform surgery. This would put the patient and the hospital at risk if there were to be a mishap. A plot like this makes for interesting TV as the intern is unable to successfully perform the appendectomy because of nerves. Thus, the attending physician takes over the surgery, creating even more drama. 

Patients Going From The ER to OR

A common theme in medical shows and what makes for compelling television, is showing patients being rushed straight from the emergency room to the operating room. Without even having an examination performed by the surgeon first. Seeing this more practical measure would take up too much air time in the episode. Not to mention, it makes the viewer’s heart race in anticipation. With so much speculation on the realism of these medical shows, Dr. Jordan Weinburg, a researcher from St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix began a study.

According to Dr. Weinburg, 71 percent of TV patients went straight from the emergency room to the operating room. This only happens 25 percent of the time with real cases. This goes to show that medical shows are more dramatized versions of real-life. 

Hospitals Are Always High Stress

There certainly are stressful moments, but many doctors and nurses say that the hospital is not nearly as fast-paced as TV shows make it appear. For the most part, a day in the hospital is relatively calm and doctors and nurses are simply doing their jobs. There is no intense drama as depicted on TV shows. If people are pursuing medicine because they think their workday will always be that dramatic, they are wrong. With certain accidents and emergencies, the hospital can be more hectic than normal, but the administrators try to keep it streamlined and organized as much as possible. The shows definitely dramatize their everyday lives, surgeons are not always running to see patients. 

Doctors Can Practice Despite Having Addictions

In the TV show House M.D., Dr. House is able to treat patients despite having an opioid addiction. An addiction that most of the other characters seem to be aware of. In reality, a doctor would not be able to practice medicine and would probably lose his/her license. Any type of malpractice would result in a massive lawsuit, especially if the doctor was taking opiates before seeing patients. Also, the other shenanigans that Dr. House and his team get into are definitely not representative of the typical day of a doctor. Other than that, House M.D. is rated as slightly more accurate than Grey’s Anatomy and Nurse Jackie. 

After listing all the medical shows that are continually rated as inaccurate, I will say, there are some medical shows that are accurate. The show Scrubs, which stopped airing in 2010, was rated the most accurate medical drama. Surprisingly, I have not watched that show prior to writing this. I will still tune in every week along with many others to watch our favorite medical dramas (while not so secretly analyzing them).