Mispronouncing a word makes you less of a nurse

Nurses General Nursing

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I was in open lab practicing things from my lab the day before. I was talking to a classmate and I mentioned the word larynx but I pronounced it wrong. It's a new word for me so I'm not going to be perfect at pronouncing it. The professor there noticed I pronounced it wrong and corrected me. Then he went on to give me an example of if I were a nurse and he brought his kid to me and I mispronounced a word to him I would be little less of a nurse. In the sense that I was not as competent as a nurse who could pronounced words correctly. He understood that it shouldn't make you less of a nurse but to him it does. I know it's just his opinion and opinions are like mouths everyone has one. I just didn't like the comment nor did I expect this from him. What do you guys think?

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Specializes in School Nursing.

i guess i am guilty of that too. i pronounce it : lare-nix.

how are you supposed to say it. lare-inks ? whatever !!!!

praiser :heartbeat

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Ok, I am not a nurse yet. And while I do think your instructor's comments are uncalled for, this reminds me of a friend of my who is a LPN in LTC. She constantly refers to Alzheimer's as "Alltimers". Drives me crazy. I think how can this lady be a nurse (especially one in LTC) and call it that???

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I think that he is an ass, but he also has a point. I'd question a medical professional who had poor grammar, who mispronouced words etc. because I'd wonder just how much experience they had with whatever they were talking about. A nurse who mispronounces the name of a procedure I would wonder whether she were new to performing said procedure. If it were a med, I'd wonder how much she knew about the med. NOT that that makes her less of a nurse- it's just something that would make one question the nurse's experience level (at least in whatever was being discussed). No one knows everything- but I think that trying to use proper pronounciation, spelling, grammar etc. IS important and that it *does*, to an extent, reflect on ones experience/knowledge level etc. But... yeah he was an ass about it.

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She constantly refers to Alzheimer's as "Alltimers". Drives me crazy. I think how can this lady be a nurse (especially one in LTC) and call it that???

I love the ones who pronounce it "Old Timers"... especially around the older patients/residents... :banghead:

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I mispronounce medical words ALL time time,it takes time to get those terms right...:D

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Golly, I've been an RN for 35 years. Does this mean I might not be because I like to say E-mee'-sis rather than the traditional "em'-eh-sus." Oh for heaven's sake. No, it does not make you less of a nurse. There are a bazillion words in English and no one pronounces everything properly. If we did dictionaries would go out of style.

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I think that he is an ass, but he also has a point. I'd question a medical professional who had poor grammar, who mispronouced words etc. because I'd wonder just how much experience they had with whatever they were talking about. A nurse who mispronounces the name of a procedure I would wonder whether she were new to performing said procedure. If it were a med, I'd wonder how much she knew about the med. NOT that that makes her less of a nurse- it's just something that would make one question the nurse's experience level (at least in whatever was being discussed). No one knows everything- but I think that trying to use proper pronounciation, spelling, grammar etc. IS important and that it *does*, to an extent, reflect on ones experience/knowledge level etc. But... yeah he was an ass about it.

Hmm really? I'm a senior nursing student graduating in a few months and I have been to MANY hospitals/clinical sites.I had opportunity to work with many nurses who were more foreign than NOT,and if the accent would make them less competent nurse I guess I would have no nurse to work with at all!!!

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Specializes in DOU.

I had a clinical instructor who mispronounced "adventitious" lungs sounds as "advantageous" lung sounds. Several of us in class were confused until we completed the reading assignment, but some of my clasmates graduated nursing school calling crackles and rhonchi "advantageous". :D

Another word that made us crazy was centimeter, pronounced "SOHNtimeter". I went and looked up pronunciation in a couple of different dictionarys to see if it was an appropriate way to say the word, but I couldn't find this alternative pronunciation listed. (I still hear it all the time.)

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Hmm really? I'm a senior nursing student graduating in a few months and I have been to MANY hospitals/clinical sites.I had opportunity to work with many nurses who were more foreign than NOT,and if the accent would make them less competent nurse I guess I would have no nurse to work with at all!!!

If you re-read my post you will see that I am NOT saying that it makes anyone less of a nurse- I am saying that such things can cause others to question ones education/knowledge. In the case of foreign nurses, most people understand that it's a language hurdle. Domestic nurses don't get that same "free pass" there. (However, the foreign nurse/accent issue is another issue alltogether and there is a huge debated thread already in existance so I won't address the accent issue here.)

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I remember mispronouncing words on occassions with a certain instructor... she would always correct me and then give me a weird look.... maybe because she also happened to be a high nursing administrator apart from being a nursing instructor.

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In my opinion it's a credibility issue. If your doctor or lawyer mispronounced professional terminology you have to admit it would make you think "hmmmmm?" The person might be great at what they do but unfortunately the word(s) would get in the way of perception.

The same applies to nurses. Our individual accents play a part in how we say words and there are also alternative pronunciations for some words but both of these are different than mispronunciation. Mispronouncing gives the impression that you don't know the correct word. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes but I think we expect professionals to be fluent in the basics.

OP is not a nurse yet, and mistakes while learning are expected and excusable.

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