A&O - orientated or oriented?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in FNP.

How do you say / write your level of orientation? This is one of those things that's been on my mind... and the dictionaries appear to be OK with either.

Oriented or orientated?

Reoriented or reorientated?

I'm just curious - not sure if it's a regional thing or a personal preference.

Thanks!

i know the dictionary says either is okay, but i think that "orientated" sounds completely stupid and uneducated, like someone is making up a word in order to sound smart. i want to cringe any time i hear someone say it. my husband teaches languages and has an english degree, and he says orientated may be technically correct, but he would count it as incorrect in an essay.

use what you want, or what it appears everyone around you uses. either is okay, apparently, but how often do you hear the physicians use the word "orientated"? how often do you hear "orientated" used vs "oriented" in edited or educated language, either written or spoken?

edited to add:

this is what wikipedia's dictionary has to say about orientate:

etymology

orient +‎ -ate

[edit] verb

infinitive

to orientate

third person singular

orientates

simple past

orientated

past participle

orientated

present participle

orientating

to orientate (third-person singular simple present orientates, present participle orientating, simple past and past participle orientated)

  1. (british) (transitive) to determine one's position relative to the surroundings; to orient
    • he…stood for a moment, orientating himself exactly in the light of his knowledge.

—john le carré

  • he came out of the station and took some time to orientate himself.

[*](british) (intransitive) to turn to face the east

[edit] usage notes

the term is in wide colloquial use in the uk, although the oxford english dictionary does not define it, simply stating that it is another form of orient.[1] it is widely considered an error in american english.[2] prescriptivists criticize it as a backformation from orientation (compare interpretate from interpretation);[3][4] it is attested since the mid-19th century.

[edit] synonyms

Specializes in NICU,ICU,ER,MS,CHG.SUP,PSYCH,GERI.

There is no such word as "orientated". There never has been. It has always sounded so odd to me to hear nurses say a patient is "orientated" or a nurse is being "Orientated". There is "orientation", which is a state of being "oriented",or a program designed to familiarize people to an organization's way of doing things. The pronounciation is "orey-in-ted". I have never figured out why everyone says "orientated".

Specializes in Behavioral Health, Show Biz.

:up: according to webster,

the verbs orient and orientate are synonymous. :D

Yup, drives me nuts, too. So does "disrespected" " as in "I was disrespected" versus "disrespectful" as in "she is disrespectful to her elders". Don't know why, it just bugs me...

mc3:D

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

Orientate was not an actual word until it became so widely (mis)used that it was adopted by the various powers-that-be.

To me, it's in the same category of butchering the English language as irregardless.

Specializes in PCU, cardiology, oncology.

I agree, "orientated" sounds stupid, please don't use it! :rolleyes:

Specializes in A myriad of specialties.
i agree, "orientated" sounds stupid, please don't use it! :rolleyes:

i, too, agree that it is stupid. thankfully, i hear it less now than in the past.

oriented

it used to bother me when people said "orientated"

Also, orientate's description is "to orientate" as in orientating a new nurse NOT for alert and oriented patient.....

There is no such word as "orientated". There never has been. It has always sounded so odd to me to hear nurses say a patient is "orientated" or a nurse is being "Orientated". There is "orientation", which is a state of being "oriented",or a program designed to familiarize people to an organization's way of doing things. The pronounciation is "orey-in-ted". I have never figured out why everyone says "orientated".

orientate

orientated

indeed ARE words

but are commonly used incorrectly

check out dictionary.com

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

"Also, orientate's description is "to orientate" as in orientating a new nurse NOT for alert and oriented patient..... "

Please, no. Just use the word "orient." It is the technically correct verb.

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