Doctors at your practice are far more likely to advise a diabetic patient on healthy eating and physical exercise. Luckily for them, they will probably never see a case of Ebola at your practice.
But that’s not the view of healthcare that regular viewers of TV shows such as “ER” and “House” have, reports The Motley Fool.
According to experts cited in the article, there are both positives and negatives associated with watching these TV shows. Because of their dramatic nature, these programs distort people’s view of what actually happens in healthcare settings. Still, they’re also a venue for viewers to be educated about a new health condition and then act on that knowledge, reports the news site.
But false perceptions about healthcare procedures can be harmful. There are the false depictions of CPR and seizure care, for example. A study of doctors’ treatment of seizures in “Grey’s Anatomy,” “House,” “Private Practice” and “ER” revealed that 46 percent of the time the treatment was inappropriate, reports The Motley Fool.
When viewers watch a doctor on TV treat a patient having a seizure, they will often witness them trying to hold down a patient or prevent their involuntary movements--or even put something in the patient’s mouth, according to the news site. That’s troubling and even dangerous, since what the doctor should be doing is supporting the patient’s head with a soft pillow or rotating them on their side or making sure the patient isn’t hurt by nearby dangerous objects.
What would be helpful is a disclaimer at the end of these shows that states clearly, “Hey, kids don’t try this at home,” says Kristine Harjes, an editor/analyst who specializes in the healthcare sector for The Motley Fool.
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