Grey's Anatomy: the bad and the good and the reality

I watch Grey's Anatomy pretty faithfully. I have since the first season. Before that I used to watch ER. Generally, it's the interpersonal relationships on the shows that keep me watching. The soap opera of it all. This last week's episode made me mad and happy all at the same time so I thought I would write down a few thoughts.

The bad mostly consists of absolutely ridiculous medical practices. As someone who works in a critical care environment this almost makes me want to throw my television across the room. For example, this past week there was a young woman who had her heart removed (never heard of this, but it's probably been done somewhere) and was on bypass, meaning all of her blood was, theoretically, exiting her body and being oxygenated through a machine then circulating back in. There was no machine in the room. There were barely any IV pumps. Then to top it all off they had her awake, looking quite perky I might add, with oxygen going into her nose!!! AAHHHHH! this makes me want to scream. In reality, I took care of a girl who still had her heart inside of her this last week, but she was on bypass for various reasons. GIGANTIC machines in her room not to mention the 9 IV infusions to keep her comatose and to maintain her blood pressure and multiple other things. The lack of medical integrity on the show drives me crazy. Oh yeah and the lack of nurses. Seriously, how is this even possible? sheesh.

The good, however, is very, very good. It's not the interpersonal stuff actually. It's the reminder for someone like me that what we do within the walls of a hospital is very, very important. The lack of sleep, the emotional strain, the hours without peeing, sometimes the days without eating are all worth it. It really is incredible to be part of a team of people who work together to save a stranger's life. I'm not sure how it happens but a person completely unknown to us comes through the doors of the hospital and somehow crossing that threshold makes them important to us. And it doesn't matter if they are a gangster, a person who lives on the street or a wealthy politician. We will honestly work and work until there really is nothing else to do. Sometimes it turns out very well, sometimes it doesn't. I think Grey's Anatomy does a good job of portraying this. The emotional part. The "we will do anything to try to save your life part". I find myself reminded with each episode that what I do is important and that's not a small thing.

So, the bottom line is, if you find yourself with someone you love in a critical medical situation (I hope you never do) please know we will try our hardest to save them and give them back to you. But please also realize that the reality is nothing like TV. Patients are usually unconscious on purpose. They are on ventilators. They have a ton of IV's and other tubes and they can't talk to you. But we will use all of those things to get them better. Slowly but surely. And if we can't get them better we will try very hard to help you and them to have the best end possible. Because you are important, they are important and what we do is very, very important.