The Worst Medical Mistakes On Grey's Anatomy

Doctor with Patient — *[Image via Richard Cartwright/ABC]*

Doctors Literally Doing Everything

Have you ever found it odd that medical shows love to have doctors doing pretty much everything? They’ll give shots/injections, take blood/then test said blood, counsel the patient, etc. You name it, these doctors are all over it. In some cases, you wonder if there is literally any nurse in the hospital to assist them. This is something so many people do not seem to understand. When you go to a hospital, if you’re in the Emergency Room or if you’re needing to stay for any reason, nurses are going to be the ones taking care of you. They will be the ones taking blood and sometimes running tests (depending on the situation). Sometimes there will be a room filled with doctors, even when it’s not necessary.

Patient With Room Full Of Doctors — *[Image via the American Broadcasting Company]*

They are also going to be the first people on the spot to give you any medications, injections, and help in times of crisis. Doctors, in these cases, pretty much do nothing compared to your average nurse. There is a reason hospitals have so many nurses while they have only a select number of doctors. On top of this, if a nurse is not running blood tests, they are sending it off to labs where specialists are handling that. While some doctors do perform surgeries, it is not at the rate we see in medical shows. More than that, Grey’s Anatomy is about surgeons and they are treating them like regular doctors most of the time. On top of the fact that they give them cases that have nothing to do with their specialties.

Grey's Anatomy Surgery — *[Image via the American Broadcasting Company]*

The Surgical Errors On Grey’s Anatomy Are Insane

On the show, we’re told that the hospital holds a very high rating as one of the top surgical and teaching hospitals. However, if this were a real-life hospital and everyone on the show were real… this hospital might have closed its doors by now. The number of lawsuits and medical licenses being revoked would be too much for them. We already highlighted Callie’s sponge drama. However, they have made many more errors too. For example, Preston Burke left a dang towel inside someone. They have also shown that they can make errors that most medical students wouldn’t make. Much less, would any surgeon make some of the blunders they have.

Surgeons Not Wearing Eye Protection — *[Image via the American Broadcasting Company]*

We referenced scrub-in issues, but they have also had doctors and often nurses work without gloves on even in times when this sort of thing would make sense. Sure, doctors should not be taking blood or injecting patients, but they’ve often done this without gloves on. Surgeons have even operated on the show without eye protection gear on quite often. Eyewear is not the most fashionable thing, but if blood starts to spurt out, you will be glad you have them on. Even something as simple as not understanding the protected airway for patients under anesthesia is mistaken repeatedly. This would never be a teaching school, if it was, people would die!

Where Do We Find This Stuff? Here Are Our Sources:

United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA)

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

UK National Health System (NHS)

Johns Hopkins University Hospital

St. George’s University School of Medicine

University of Twente

Association of Surgical Technologists

Children’s Hospital Association

Mayo Clinic

Red Cross