Opinions ? RN who reads at grade 5 level ?

Nurses General Nursing

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I was just curious what others' opinion is on this. Do you think that somone who reads at a grade 5 level can function as a nurse at the bedside ? (Of course there are a variety of roles nurses function in that might be more suitable for a nurse with literacy problems, however, one of the articles explains she is going to be on nursing resource team (bedside nursing on an as needed basis, moving from department to department).

I am not trying to be mean and actually have an LD myself. But I also have a chronic illness and have required admission to hospital and am questioning how I would feel about my nurse having problems with literacy.

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/549576--the-sky-is-the-limit-for-mac-grad

http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/nursing/home_story47.shtml

I had heard in the past that the college of nurses of ontario allowed a person disability accomodation to write their liscensing exam and then denied them registration based on the nature of the accomodations required. (I don't know the specifics.) This young lady is likley awaiting writing her exam.

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Specializes in Phlebotomist, nursing student.

So is she off the hook if she makes a med error due to a reading problem? Will the hospital protect her? - they did hire her knowing it was an issue. Will her co-workers resent having to read her charts to her if she can't get through charts for all 5-6 patients? Or will she just depend on verbal report? As her patient, will I need to check my own meds to see if they are correct? Will they tell patients that their nurse is barely literate at an adult level? I see all kinds of problems here.

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Yes, the Americans with Disabilities Act protects workers.... BUT. An employer is only required to make reasonable accomodations. Having a nurse that can not read a pass down or a doctors instructions is a danger to patients and to other nurses. There are jobs that people with learning disabilities will never be able to get if that disability makes doing their job dangerous for themselves or other people. It sounds like this person would be well advised to enter into a program to help him/her with reading or find another line of work.

I'm not trying to sound harsh. There are times in the medical field that there are no do-overs. One mistake can mean death for a patient. This is just the hard truth.

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Specializes in LTC, Disease Management, smoking Cessati.
Yes, the Americans with Disabilities Act protects workers.... BUT. An employer is only required to make reasonable accomodations. Having a nurse that can not read a pass down or a doctors instructions is a danger to patients and to other nurses. There are jobs that people with learning disabilities will never be able to get if that disability makes doing their job dangerous for themselves or other people. It sounds like this person would be well advised to enter into a program to help him/her with reading or find another line of work.

I'm not trying to sound harsh. There are times in the medical field that there are no do-overs. One mistake can mean death for a patient. This is just the hard truth.

Where did it say she couldn't read... ?????? She can read.... just not as well as others.... do they say what they have in place to help her? Not sure what to think....

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Isn't most popular media written at a 5th grade level? Newspapers, brochures, magazines, etc? I'm not saying that someone with that reading level won't struggle and potentially be unsafe as a nurse, but reading at that level isn't as illiterate as it is being made out to be.

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Ok, I'm sure there'll be people who flame me for my opinion, but it's whatever.

I'm happy for the lady for graduating and all. Kudos. Whoop dee doo.

However, generally speaking, this would be a hot mess. I wouldn't call myself the grammar police, but I am legitimately appalled by the grammar and spelling errors I constantly find in Nursing notes, assessments and other forms of documentation at work. It seriously makes me cringe. And, these aren't minor errors--I'm talking about blatant, obvious grammatical errors. These errors are made by grown a$$ women, too. But, it's not considered a big deal. You know, this is one reason people look down on Nursing--because people think anyone can do it and Nurses are partially to blame. We want to be regarded as a legitimate profession, but we don't communicate like legitimate professionals. You don't see many lawyers, MDs, pharmacists, etc, reading at the 5th grade level, do you? But, it'll probably pass in Nursing. I'll stop here for now.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

http://www.health.gov/communication/ehealth/ehealthtools/appendix3_part6.htm

Reading level of average U.S. adult is 8th grade.
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We want to be regarded as a legitimate profession, but we don't communicate like legitimate professionals. You don't see many lawyers, MDs, pharmacists, etc, reading at the 5th grade level, do you? But, it'll probably pass in Nursing. I'll stop here for now.

Umm, uhhh, yeah. Lawyers, MDs, Pharmacist; I know quite a few, that I went to elementary and high school with. I would have to say, I don't know how some of them got into college with their grammar. And, besides the addition of specific knowledge and medical terminology, their grammar is no better professionally, and worse still in informally. It is not just Nursing.

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I'm sure we all had no problems reading in the 5th grade. Some of you are making it sound like 5th graders can't read!

I would be more concerned with the nurse's ability to comprehend.

Reading is one thing-- comprehension is another.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

I couldn't believe the number of classmates who said, "I don't got no idea," or something similar last semester.

Sorry, but as a patient, "I don't want no nurse" who talks like that, because if they couldn't be bothered to learn the most basic English grammar in their previous 25+ years on this planet, how on earth can I trust that they bothered to learn complicated nursing / pharmacology subjects in the past two years?

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Umm, uhhh, yeah. Lawyers, MDs, Pharmacist; I know quite a few, that I went to elementary and high school with. I would have to say, I don't know how some of them got into college with their grammar. And, besides the addition of specific knowledge and medical terminology, their grammar is no better professionally, and worse still in informally. It is not just Nursing.

I do realize it's not just Nursing.

I'm really irritated by many things about this "profession." I know I'm ranting, but I don't care. If you want to be seen as a professional, look, speak and act like one. Those millions ads we see on TV don't help the cause either. There are so many commercials advertising nursing schools and the people in these commercials...whew, let me stop myself. But, yeah, being illiterate is not frowned upon in Nursing--I'll put it that way. If you're bad at math or failed out of your pre-med or pre-pharm track or you name it, what do you do? Go to Nursing school.

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Specializes in LTC.

Many professionals read at a 5th grade level. Sad. But true. If she got through nursing school and Boards then obviously she can read. Am I wrong ?

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