I became a RN because of Grey’s Anatomy

Last night I read this article, and it reminded me that it was time to do my annual rewatch of Grey’s Anatomy. I have watched the whole series at least five times through, if not more. (See article below!)

My daughter's middle name is Grey in honor of this magnificent show! However, the most significant thing this show did for me was create a world I wanted to be a part of. I aspired to save lives and make a difference by becoming a registered nurse.

Sad to say that, unfortunately, the hospital is nothing like the show. The doctors aren't young and super charismatic, well, not all. The nurses do much more than what is typically portrayed in shows. Luckily Greys Anatomy did an excellent job in the first couple of seasons of giving the nurses active roles; as the series progresses, I'm sad to say they don't really stick to that narrative; however, they happen to get more medically correct over time as well. It's a big joke for healthcare workers to watch medical shows and highlight flaws. I'm happy when they do it correctly, but here are a couple of take-ups always I would like to get straight.

1) The flat line, asystole, does not get shocked. That flat line means no electric current is going through the heart; therefore, shocking the heart or stunning it will not help the heart. One of the only things that will help is going to be epinephrine. When you see that shocking the heart brought the person back, it's old science. I have been in a few code blue situations where we tried shocking anyways (because we exhausted the amount of safe epinephrine). The doctor is the one who gets to call the shots in that situation.

2) Shows that depict nurses as mean and uncaring, with little on their minds but fucking someone, is not an accurate character of nurses. Nurses are not these promiscuous creatures lurking in hospitals waiting for a man. Mostly, we are self-sufficient and badass, and we know more about the patients than we do ourselves. If you notice, one of the Residents' rules to the interns is to "Listen to the Nurses." This is repeated often in the series. Nurses spend anywhere from 6-12 hours a day with some patients and therefore have a better idea of when something is going wrong.

3) I had a lucky cap during the COVID pandemic. Many people in healthcare are superstitious simply because they want excellent outcomes for our patients and are willing to do whatever they can to make that happen. Think Dr. Burke and his lucky cap or even Dr. McDreamy and his ferry boat scrub cap.

4) Nurses have feelings just as much as the ordinary person. The things we go through and see, we have to turn it off to do our jobs sometimes. I know sometimes people see us with our stone faces, wondering how we can walk away from a code that we just pronounced dead and not cry; we don't have that privilege. We have other patients that need us even when someone dies. The compassion you see in the show is genuine and authentic.

The show is one of the oldest running shows. I love every minute of it. Unfortunately, the COVID season was too real. I can't watch that season without crying and having PTSD. So I have to skip it. Medical shows thought they were writing good television but were reporting what happened. Sons were dying that were rooms down from their fathers. There were husbands and wives unable to see each other before they passed. Children weren't allowed to see their mothers. Babies were born and never met their mothers, rushed from one room to another floor. That time broke me, and I had to take a break. As the article I read said, "Being a hero has a price."

Grey's Anatomy improved my life, and I am forever changed.