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| Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 41 | 
Oct 25, 2009, 04:26 PM
 Re: Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar? Originally Posted by MissBrittanyRN  Not to be biased but forget it, this comment is for the 28 and below group. How much do we actually write out on pen and paper? We email, we text, we myspace, we facebook - all informal so who cares?
Communication in any form matters. Sloppiness in private life should not cross over into your professional life. Yes, we are moving to computer charting, but there are still spaces for individualized notes to be written (or typed).
I took my children (all still under 28) out of public school years ago and homeschooled them, after a comment by a teacher that it wasn't her job to correct the 3rd grade grammar, she "just had them read it out loud and they usually found their own mistakes". That was not the only reason, but it sums up much of our frustration. When my son took his required freshman English at University, the format was to write a paper and spend the semester learning to edit and correct until it was at college level writing. His teacher asked where he had learned to write, as there wasn't anything to correct with his first draft! He replied his mother had made all of them write from an early age.
 | | No. 42 |
Oct 25, 2009, 04:26 PM
Updated
Oct 25, 2009 at 04:36 PM by CASTLEGATES
Re: Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar? Originally Posted by JulieSandlin You notice it in the younger generation, but I notice it much more in the older generation of nurses. I almost cringe when I hear "I seen it" or "These ones"... and much more from some of the older nurses I work with, but I'm sure it's seen across the board. Spelling errors happen, even with the best of us. But sometimes I wonder how we have all of these great educated nurses who don't act like they are educated at all!
Everyone makes errors; it's the lack of knowledge of how to spell or write that's the point aside from an occasional mistake.
Regarding the older generations; I'm familiar with that; such a phenomenon seems to be more regional as a testament to the education available in that region at the time (I won't stereotype and guess the region). Here you had best speak the language of the land or some oldster would correct you or point it out in the chart. Then again, heavy accents are even frowned upon in some facilities (reasonable since patients can't decipher someone with a thick anything accent.
hey, i forgot to close my parentheses!
There are plenty of jobs out there still that use pen and paper charting or at least large parts are done this way. I can't imagine how one tests on SAT's GRE's, LSAT's without being able to write.
Most of our 8th grade class tested 12th grade English but we stank in math (I don't care if stank is a word...it's fun)! I think after initial education, it's up to the student and a matter of pure motivation. Math and stats were my worst so I worked extra hard and was determined (and got) perfect scores...only because I chose to, not because I had any decent education. It's all about how lazy I am...or not.
| | No. 43 |
Oct 25, 2009, 04:30 PM
Re: Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar?
Honestly....this is my pet peeve! It grates on me to see posts where the individual states "Their" when it should be "There"....this is NOT a spelling error or a slip since it was in their post multiple times!
I DO believe it started after the DOE was taken over by liberals, but that is my political opinion.
| | No. 44 |
Oct 25, 2009, 04:32 PM
Re: Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar?
I am a terrible speller. I admit it. I try to use Spell check, but not so much during posts. I do have a problem when people use words like "cuz" for because and things like that.
| | No. 45 |
Oct 25, 2009, 04:35 PM
Re: Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar?
I know that many use spellcheck, but I found out through a computer tech friend that works at Microsoft that if you spell a word correctly, whether or not it is the correct spelling for the particular use that is currently needed, then spellcheck will not pick it up. Kind of like affect/effect, too/to, your/you're, and so on. So don't depend on spellcheck to pick up the mistakes all of the time. For schoolwork and legal documentation, you are ultimately responsible for anything that you put on paper, the spellcheck isn't!
| | No. 46 |
Oct 25, 2009, 05:38 PM
Re: Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar? I am always conflicted about how to grade them. I am not teaching physical bedside care-giving skills. Their bedside clinical skills are irrelevant in assessing their academic skills. I am teaching them in their academic classes -- and that level of reading comprehension and writing is simply not at the college (BSN) level.
I think you answered your own question there.
In other news, I'm an avid text messager, and I never understood "texting" language. I can't stand to read it. With few exceptions, I write out entire words in my text messages. "You" is two letters longer than "u" and it makes it a million times more readable to me.
| | No. 48 |
Oct 25, 2009, 06:10 PM
Re: Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar? Originally Posted by KAR38 Just to get this off my chest...
I too hate the "could of," "would of," "supposed to of" stuff. Also the common mix-up of "your" and "you're." And most perplexing of all, what is with the random apostrophes with various words than end in "s"? They'll put 's on the end of verbs, plural nouns, whatever, and yet not consistently, as if they can't figure out whether or not it belongs there so they'll just put it there sometimes and get it 50% right either way. 
BTW, I get that everybody makes errors and I'm not immune. It's not so much typos that bother me, but you can usually tell when someone just doesn't know how to spell it or hasn't taken the time to think about whether or not it's a plural or a contraction or whether "of" in "could of" makes any sense. The "could of" and "would of" business annoys the heck out of me, too! | | No. 49 |
Oct 25, 2009, 06:14 PM
Re: Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar? Originally Posted by llg
As a part-time faculty member in an RN-BSN program, I grade student term papers. These are formal papers written in APA style, etc. I am appalled by the poor grammar, awkward or incorrect word usage, wrong punctuation, etc. that I see in approximately 33% of my students. Not only is it "not college level writing," it is "not 8th grade level" writing. The same people seem to also have a lot of time understanding the textbook and the nursing articles that we read in class. These students were obviously "passed along" in their earlier schooling without ever having to master the English language. they haven't forgotten it: they never learned it.
While such students may be adequate direct patient care providers, I am always conflicted about how to grade them. I am not teaching physical bedside care-giving skills. Their bedside clinical skills are irrelevant in assessing their academic skills. I am teaching them in their academic classes -- and that level of reading comprehension and writing is simply not at the college (BSN) level. I struggle with that. My husband is professor of Humanities at a major university, and one of the main things he tries to impress on his English students is the idea that how we are perceived by others depends, in great part, on our reading, writing, grammar, usage skills. The impression we make on a person or a committee of people is dependent upon how we express ourselves. We must not assume spellcheck programs are 100% accurate, because they aren't and we must have the knowledge to realize when they are incorrect. He has received many many thank you notes through the years from former students thanking him for being "the grammar and usage police" because it often meant they got the job and not someone (who perhaps had better grades in college) who didn't express themselves as clearly. Correct spelling, grammar, usage and pronunciation were drummed into my head from the time I was little because I come from families heavy with physicians and attorneys and my parents assumed I might take one of those paths as well. Bottom line? Good speaking and writing skills are important no matter who you are or what you end up doing. Kathy sharpeimom |
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