Foul Mouthed Nurse

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Mar 21, 2005

First, is this done around the elderly couple, and what is their reaction to it?

LPNer · Mar 21, 2005

I do private duty nursing. I sit with an elderly couple, each one has their own nurse. So there are two of us there at night. I share the night shift for this case with two other nurses. I like both the nurses I work with, however, one has a problem with being a potty mouth. And I don't just mean potty mouth, I mean vulgar. Every other word is the "f" word, and while I like this nurse I find her language downright offensive (especially considering she is big on going to church!) Turns out so does the other nurse, and we were talking about it one evening while we were working on the schedule. I said we should give this potty mouthed nurse every Sunday off so she could go to church and work on her foul mouth. Well...the nurse I told this to told the potty mouthed nurse the next night!
Now potty mouthed nurse is mad as a wet hen at both of us, even though after she confronted me about what I said she admitted what I said was true, and that she realizes I didn't say it to be mean (which I didn't). She even said her potty mouth has been an issue with her boyfriend and the pastor at her church, who told her what came out of her mouth was a reflection of the church. I'm no angel, I even consider myself an agnostic, but I do't understand why people need to use such profanity.
Anyone else ever dealth with this kind of issue? How did you handle it? This is a nice nurse otherwise, just has a bit of a chip on her shoulder.

Vulgar language has become the (what's the word) norm in our society. So many people use words that the rest of us find down right oh YUCK and see nothing wrong with it.

Trying to tell those people that we find their language offensive is like telling them we find them offensive, which often we don't. I have worked with nurses like this and I usually find it better to just let it go, sometimes gently reminding them that most old folks do not want to hear it. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.

Some people say "f it" just the same as I say "well darn". To them, there is no difference between the two statements. Just the way language is going these days. Wish we could find a way to change it.

LadyMadonna · Mar 21, 2005

She doesn't talk like this around the old folks, which proves to me she can do better than she does.

She's a smart woman she just has weird ideas. I wasn't going to mention this but she does have a bad habit of passing gas very loudly in front of whomever has the misfortune of being around at the time. She tells me, "I'm 47 yrs, old I've earned the right." She does do this in front of the old couple, I imagine she assumes they know what it is like to deal with it, I don't know.

LPNer · Mar 21, 2005

She doesn't talk like this around the old folks, which proves to me she can do better than she does.
She's a smart woman she just has weird ideas. I wasn't going to mention this but she does have a bad habit of passing gas very loudly in front of whomever has the misfortune of being around at the time. She tells me, "I'm 47 yrs, old I've earned the right." She does do this in front of the old couple, I imagine she assumes they know what it is like to deal with it, I don't know.

Oh gees, sounds like she is just not professional material. Darn shame she managed to pass the boards!

dbsn00 · Mar 21, 2005

I wasn't going to mention this but she does have a bad habit of passing gas very loudly in front of whomever has the misfortune of being around at the time. She tells me, "I'm 47 yrs, old I've earned the right." She does do this in front of the old couple, I imagine she assumes they know what it is like to deal with it, I don't know.

:eek: Are you kidding? How unprofessional & disgusting! (but I admit I'm laughing right now just thinking about it...:rotfl: )

Celia M, ASN, RN · Mar 21, 2005

This is just the kind of behavior that is unprofessional. As far as the gas passing that's just rude, especially to subject everyone to the smell. (However I have a friend who had terrible gas because of GI problem when we were student nurses and sometimes could not get to the bathroom fast enough and she would blame the patients!!) As far as the potty mouth I don't know why some people do that, I just got off the phone with my PhD sister and she used the "f" word atleast 5 times in a 30 minute conversation with me, but when she lectures or is around her colleagues her language is beautiful!! :uhoh3:

LPNer · Mar 21, 2005

This is just the kind of behavior that is unprofessional. As far as the gas passing that's just rude, especially to subject everyone to the smell. (However I have a friend who had terrible gas because of GI problem when we were student nurses and sometimes could not get to the bathroom fast enough and she would blame the patients!!) As far as the potty mouth I don't know why some people do that, I just got off the phone with my PhD sister and she used the "f" word atleast 5 times in a 30 minute conversation with me, but when she lectures or is around her colleagues her language is beautiful!!

I, and probably everybody else in this world, has passed gas at the most inopportune time, I have never known what to say!

What does one say, other than excuse me? I've said that before only to find myself explaining it because the pt was unaware that I had passed gas to start with! OHhhh, isn't anything easy? LOL

CHATSDALE · Mar 21, 2005

the flatus is probably not intentional...i do the best i can to hold in but sometimes if i get up real quick or cough i have a 'equal and opposite reaction'

dbsn00 · Mar 21, 2005

the flatus is probably not intentional...i do the best i can to hold in but sometimes if i get up real quick or cough i have a 'equal and opposite reaction'

Yeah, but this woman IS doing it intentionally- oh, excuse me, she "earned the right" to gross everyone out!! :chuckle

Stitchie · Mar 22, 2005

My last job before stay-at-home-mom became my life I have to admit that I was one of those with rather 'colorful' language. You just can't help it in the ER. If the patients don't make you want to cuss your head off then the management does!

Well, after my one of my 16 month daughters said what sounded like "oh hell" I thought that I had best be careful about these things. It is, after all, pretty mild, considering, but what if I really slipped?

Reformation takes the strangest course.

As for thr flatulence, well, with twin daughters, we just laugh about it. It makes my day to hear those babies giggle. My DH and I waited so long to have them, and went thru so much trauma trying to get pregnant / miscarrying / trying again, that the adoption process was torture enough. Now every day is a (mostly) a joy!

Some people just don't know any better. And one of my lessons when I used an extremely colorful sentence in the med room was that one of the older nurses looked at me and said "Could you translate that please?" :rotfl:

Lighthearted, but it got the point across!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 22, 2005

It sounds as if this woman is really a rattlesnake mouth. Everytime she curses, I'd gently remind her that the speech is highly offensive.