One of my favorite shows is Grey's Anatomy. I'm not sure if I watch it because of the medical stuff or because of the relational turmoil. Either way, I'm hooked. I tune in to see if Izzie and George are going to end up together or if he's gonna stick it out with his new wife, Callie. I want to know if Derek and Meredith will make it in spite of her inability to commit. Okay, even as I write this, I realize I only watch the show because of the emotional drama. It has very little to do with the medical backdrop.
Shows like Grey's Anatomy, and older ones like ER, often portray the tension (sexual and otherwise) of medical colleagues in the hospital environment. If only my Peds-ICU stint had been so exciting!
The shows do raise some good questions, though:
Does dating co-workers (a nurse dating a resident, for example) ever really pan out, given the pressures of hospital environment? Should new and younger nurses fraternize with young residents? Or does it create a lack of boundaries and the necessary professionalism needed for patient care?
I look forward to reading your posts.
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September 8th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Im a fairly new grad, and the night of my first real paycheck, my friends from nursing school decided to go out to this really nice restaurant…on the way in someone noticed a table of residents from another local hospital. We sent them a really nice bottle of wine, and some really bad lines like “We were so excited to see you we all threw a PVC” the boys loved it. It turned in to a very interesting night and now I work per diem at the hospital where he is fulfilling his residency. Awkward, occassionally, but it’s amazing how when you work, you work. The funny business isn’t exaggerated like Grey’s Anatomy. Even though there is the occasional “meet me at the car in 20mins” moments, the moments are rare and you’d be surprised how easy it is to keep play time seperated from your professional time. When it comes down to it, at the end of the night it’s nice to vent that your patient’s potassium is 2.1 and you hung two K riders and a Bag of Mag and they know exactly what that means and how scary it can be.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:13 am
I too am hooked to medical dramas, well not ER but yeah the other ones I am. Its defintely wrong to start a relationship with a patient, in fact its against our nursing council’s rules and professional conduct etc etc. Plus its awkard. if you want to start a relationship outside the hospital, then do so. We got told a story during our mental health routine about a girl who got a crush on this patient who seemed fine. She asked her peers about going out with him, they said it was a no go area, and that he was dangerous. She ignored their advice and I think ended up getting raped, or the guy was released and killed someone or something really bad like that. That was a big wake up call for the girl. Hm now that I think about it, the nurses actually told her what was the story, that he had raped women etc etc, and then she just avoided him for the rest of her time on that ward.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I never really watched ER and most medical shows once I started in the field just annoyed me. Mostly because they lack reality. I remember a show from my childhood that centered around a nurse. I cant recall the name but I remember enjoying it. I use to enjoy Grey’s but now it just so retarded I want to scream. When was the last time a doc, surgeon, or resident for that manner waited at the bedside for a pt to wake up. I think a recent episode had George wiping or doing oral care on a pt. These completely unreal representations of physicians is making a headache for the nurse at the bedside. I have spent untold amounts of time explaining why the physician is not available to come speak face to face with a pt/family multiple times a day or at the beck and call of a pt/family. What is the best way to explain to my complaining pt/family that wants to see the intensivist NOW? That its not gonna happen, and the reason is the THREE cardiac arrest that have occured that day sorta pull rank? I had this occur and the pt still stated ‘I still dont see why he couldnt just stop by to see me anyway’.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Lizzybeth, I can totally agree. I think the comedy show Scrubs said it best when one of the characters said that the doctor only spends roughly 30 seconds or so at the bedside. It’s true! If I had time to sit and time the docs I would just to prove my point.
January 29th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Enjoy Scrubs, nothing but comedy. The other stuff is pretty much bullshit. Watching ER, Grey’s etc creates ambiguous feelings. First, is that I know enough to know they still can’t get the factual medical stuff quite right, and second is when I think to myself, “Are all American nurses that good. I don’t know shit.”
July 15th, 2008 at 1:29 am
I personally can’t stand watching those medical sitcoms because it does no justice to nursing. The main MD in the show House emptied a foley catheter once and I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes. Some of my fellow nursing coworkers told me that I should just loosen up and enjoy the storylines and comedy. Not to say that they have any less of a respect than I, but I guess I have a different type of respect for nursing in the way that I can’t bear to see it portrayed as some super submissive person quietly holding a clipboard in the shadows of MDs or how MDs are the only person the show seems to focus on. The reality is that the RNs are at the bedsides, not so much the MDs. I’m just the type of person that values accuracy.
But, to finally answer the question of dating coworkers, I can see two valid arguments as to why they are not recommended and allowed. If two adults are mature enough to balance both aspects of the personal and professional lives, then I vote to proceed with the relationship. This is only under the basis of maturity and professional responsibility. I just hope the two realizes the circumstances before they get involved.
Lizzybeth mentioned a movie that centered around a nurse. Was it perhaps, Wit? We had to watch that in nursing school.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I completely agree with the arguments above. I can’t stand hospital based shows, they are all so fake! I’ll never forget when one of the main doctors on Grey’s was shown making a bed!!! The only time there is a nurse on camera, is when she is pouring a glass of water or flirting with a doctor! In addition, my friends can’t stand watching these shows with me because every two minutes I would yell, “Nope, a nurse does that!” or “Oh please, I doctor would never do that!” I guess what irritates me the most is that there is no depiction of team work.
Yet I must add . . .Has anyone watched “Hopkins”?
That show is very realistic and get this . . .they even have nurses on camera . . . TALKING! shocker, I know.