5 Grey's Anatomy Mistakes That Medical Professionals Find Hard To Swallow
Have you ever noticed these errors in other medical dramas?
Throughout its long 20-season journey, Grey's Anatomy has tackled a huge number of medical cases, shocking, curious and ordinary, as well as plenty of medical mistakes.
While casual viewers usually get caught up in the drama of the doctors and patients and take all the background stuff happening at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital at face value, for real-life doctors and nurses, this medical layer can be even more entertaining than the main storyline of an episode.
From Meredith's trial tampering to Izzie's LVAD mishap, Grey's Anatomy doesn't shy away from ethical breaches. But today, we're not talking about those headline-grabbing moments. Here are five practices that may seem perfectly normal to casual viewers, but never fail to make medical professionals wince.
Seizure Scenes
At Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, residents often restrain or reposition seizing patients, a practice that's not only unrealistic, but risky. Unlike on TV, doctors typically avoid touching a seizing person unless absolutely necessary to prevent harm. A patient's chaotic movements during a seizure pose a danger to both the patient and the medical staff, so real-life protocols prioritize safety over the dramatic interventions that look so good on screen.
Defibrillation
On Grey's Anatomy, doctors routinely shock flatlined hearts back to life, but that's a far cry from reality. Believe it or not, no one ever does this in real hospitals. Defibrillators just don't work on flatlined hearts. The machine is used to correct irregular rhythms, not to restart stopped hearts. This could only lead to a lifeless body coursing with electricity.
Workload
In the early episodes of Grey's Anatomy, surgeons handle it all, from patient transport to lab work, even answering phones. They're like superheroes, really. And they still find time to bond with patients, which is always a source of laughs for viewers with a medical background. While it makes for entertaining television, real-life doctors rely on specialized teams to handle the workload, allowing them to focus on patient care.
Research
At Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, surgeons dive into research on top of their regular duties, sparking plenty of drama (think Derek's Alzheimer's trials). But in reality, research is the province of trained professionals, not just any doctor with some spare time on their hands. Cutting-edge science requires specialized training and an ongoing commitment that extends far beyond a few free hours a week outside the operating room.
Cancer Care
We often see general surgeons like Meredith and Bailey handling cancer cases from diagnosis to surgery. While this may happen in real life in smaller rural hospitals, it is simply not possible in larger centers like the one on Grey's Anatomy. Cancer patients receive specialized care from oncologists, which ensures the best possible outcome for them.