Why are we still using the R word?

[Selfie]

Why are we still using the R word?

I just read a post on the importance of spelling and grammar when posting as nursing professionals, and it bothers me that as nursing professionals we are still using/posting socially unacceptable terms such as retardation or mental retardation.

Every week I see a new post about someone "having a mentally retarded patient," or " I don't know if he was retarded, but he might have been." I've even seen a recent nursing resume that listed "worked with mentally retarded patients" under job experience.

Why, as a nursing profession, would we still be using outdated and offensive words?

Due to repeated societal abuse and mockery associated with usage of the word, there is now a negative connotation to this word. Nursing professionals should be at the forefront of correct usage.

Just as one wouldn't say " bring the pitcher of water to the guy who looks Chinese" in reference to an Asian American patient, we should not be using "retarded" or "mentally retarded" any longer.

The correct term is now, and has been for some time, "intellectually disabled," or "intellectual disability."The diagnostic term "mental retardation" is being eliminated in upcoming classifications of diseases and disorders.

Please, as medical professionals, consider this, and consider the offensiveness of the r word. Thank you.

[Emergent, RN]

When I was was a girl Mentally Retarded was the new, proper term to use. Previously, Moron, Idiot, and Imbecile were medical terms for the different levels of intellectual disability. Those terms ended being absorbed into the general language, and are now used only as insults.

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

"Retarded" has no clinical significance. "Intellectually disabled" really isn't any more helpful.

Terms like Traumatic or Anoxic Brain Injury, Developmental Disability, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Asperger's/Autism, Encephalopathy, Delirium, and other descriptive terms that help explain a person's neuro and psych state are much more helpful and in no way insulting.

[lindseylpn]

All of my clients have the diagnosis of profound mental retardation but, the "terms" we use have seemed to change every couple of years... mentally retarded, special needs, mentally challenged, developmentally disabled and now intellectually disabled. I personally don't care for the term intellectually disabled but, I'm sure they'll change it again in a year or two. When someone asks what I do no one understands when when I say an id group home so, I still say mr/dd.

[SpEdtacular, MSN, RN, EMT-P]

As others mentioned it is still a legit diagnosis and is used for insurance purposes like facility designation (e.g. I worked in an facility designated ICF-MR = intermediate care facility for mentally retarded). I think another reason you hear it used is because years ago retarded was a blanket term for what are now a number of distinct conditions like autism, brain damage, and/or certain mental illnesses and most of these people don't go get re-evaluated for a more up-to-date PC diagnosis. In any event, cognitive and intellectual disabilities is my go to term if I feel political correctness is warranted.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

Texas has (Heart of Texas Region MHMR Center) the department of mental health and mental retardation.

[mlj8955]

I'm not sure what you find offensive about the term. Maybe you should take a look at what the definition is. It is still used in public education, it's on teacher's licenses in many states, it is on my license, it is also still used as the test name on the Praxis test given by ETS (Praxis: North Carolina: Test Requirements). FYI, I have taught special education for 9 years and I was a school administrator for 9 years. We also use the term emotionally disturbed, is that too politically incorrect also? What I find offensive is people who look for offense and want to twist words to somehow be offensive because it is in vogue to do so.

[DebblesRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

I have a beloved niece who is mentally retarded. It is a crappy way to describe her. I prefer developmentally and cognitively delayed.

I guess I dislike it so much because I grew up (a kid in the 80's) using that word as a hurled insult if I thought something was stupid, annoying, or inconvenient. I did not have anyone in my life who had that as a clinical diagnoses, so I was blissfully ignorant to how hurtful it can be to families, friends, and in some cases the person it medically describes. It is not a word I keep in my vocabulary anymore.

I understand now how it feels to have that word thrown around to describe something stupid. So I get why people have a problem with the word. Just like I wouldn't call my niece an imbecile, a mongoloid, a moron, or an idiot, I wouldn't call her retarded either.

I don't consider myself politically correct. I just try to learn from my mistakes and do better. :)

[CountyRat]

I do not use the word “retarded” because it is offensive, however, I cannot get too worked up when others use it in a medical context (as opposed to an intentional pejorative, which is indefensible). I am not optimistic that using a different terminology will change people’s feelings or thoughts. I did some exploring, and here is what I found:

The 1915 edition of Appleton’s Medical Dictionary does not include retardation or mental retardation in its definitions. Instead, it offers the formal medical term for the condition at that time: “imbecile.” In the 1968 edition of Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, the word imbecile is also included, but noted to be the “former term for severe mental deficiency.”

In nursing school, I was taught not to use the term “mental deficiency” any more because it was insulting. Instead, we were taught to use the term “mental retardation” because it did not carry the stigma associated with the previously endorsed terminology.

Now, “mental retardation” is being phased out in favor of “intellectually disabled.” O.K. I do not like to offend people, so I will use that term, but I do not think that doing so will change anyone’s perception of people with disorders of this type. The word does not perpetuate the stigma, and changing the word will not reduce the stigma. I wish that it would, but the truth is people are imperfect creatures, and pressing them to use new words does not change old misconceptions.

I thank the O.P. for her original post, because, as I wrote, I do not want to be offensive, and certainly will not use any of the former medical terms shown above. However, the old stigma will eventually attach to the new term, motivating us to pick a different term, after which the cycle will continue.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I worked in a school with special ed students. In my area, The Powers That Be push "people first". A client isn't a "mentally retarded high school student", he's a "student with profound intellectual disabilities" or "a student with developmental delays."

I don't think "retarded" is offensive as much as it's outdated. The latest revision of the DSM doesn't use it. Language changes over time.

[CountyRat]

I agree with Not-a-Hat-Person, with one reservation, the use of the phrase "developmental delay." If someone has average intelligence but is advancing more slowly than expected, that terminology is useful and appropriate. However, if they suffer from a medical condition that is imparting cognitive function significantly an permanently, "delayed" is inaccurate. We should always be sensitive to how our words affect the feelings of others, but it is also important that we use words that are accurate, especially when sharing medical information. We should be respectful and kind, but we also have to be honest, even when the truth is painful, as it often is in our profession.