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‘Grey’s Anatomy’ May Give People Unrealistic Expectations Of Real-Life Medical Care

Medical dramas on televisions, specifically the long-running “Grey’s Anatomy,” are giving people unrealistically high expectations when it comes to medical care and doctors’ bedside manner, a new study says.

The study found that these doctor dramas “may cultivate false expectations among patients and their families,” New York Daily News reports.

Fans and even casual viewers of the show won’t be surprised by these findings, given “Grey’s Anatomy’s” revolving cast of very attractive medical staff and extremely unusual, dramatic cases over a period of 14 seasons – and counting. Each patient and each case on the show were treated with the kind of dignity, attention, kindness and respect that is not usually present for most real patients walking into real hospitals across the country.

It’s important for patients and doctors to be aware of this “Grey’s” effect, and to approach medical situations with more realistic standards, the study authors said.

Jordan Weinberg, study author, said,

Patient satisfaction is a big deal these days. It’s become a measure of quality. If there’s a real gap between (expectation and reality), it makes it a relatively poor experience for the patient, and it transfers to a poor experience for the nurses and doctors trying to take care of this patient who feels very frustrated.

Two trauma doctors and one nurse watched 269 episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” from seasons one to 12, focusing on the 190 trauma patients the fictitious Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital admitted. They took down notes on demographics, length of hospital stay, admission patterns, severity of injuries and outcomes. The participants then compared their notes with real-life patient information from the National Trauma Databank.

There were many discrepancies. The patients on the show tended to have more serious conditions and symptoms compared to real-life situations, and they got worse quickly from the time they entered the emergency room to the time they were transported to the operating room.

In addition, Grey’s patients had only one of two results: either they died or recovered after only staying in the hospital for a short time. Around 22% of the patients died, compared to 7% in reality. And trauma patients in real life confront long, difficult recovery periods after treatment.

Admittedly, the length of episodes on the show and the need for drama give the writers leeway, although “Grey’s Anatomy” does employ real doctors as consultants. The study concluded that it’s important for viewers to make the distinction between fact and fiction, and take medical dramas with a grain of salt.

Weinberg said, “We don’t watch ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ to be educated. We watch it for entertainment value. Within the constraints of what they’re trying to do, which is entertain people, they actually do a very good job of achieving reality.”

The study was published in the journal Trauma Surgery & Acute Care.

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