Nurse with potty mouth.

Nurses Relations

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We have an excellent nurse but she curses like a sailor. Anyone else work with a foul-mouthed nurse?

95% of the nurses in my unit would be gone...

They swear in front of the patients or the families?

I know we have all said swear words - but that usually happens behind the door of the break room.

steph

Swearing is pretty much par for the course in the OR (after the patient's asleep of course). I personally don't swear that much, so I have to put up with everybody thinking I'm so innocent--my anesthesiologist today was making jokes about my mom dropping me off at work and telling me to be good. Ugh!

Actually I think that is kinda cool!

steph

Specializes in LTAC, OR.

Thanks Steph. :) I'm learning to just be who I am...I think it's lame to start cursing like a sailor just to fit in at work. We're not in middle school anymore-lol!

Seriously? you mean ppl actually sit around and notice the occasional word that comes out?

I work in a busy ICU, and yeah, there are a lot of moments where cursing fits the bill. sometimes nothing says it like "well f*#@" when you're looking at that monitor.

And I personally have soooo many more important things to worry about than this trivial issue. As someone just posted, we're not in grade school anymore. I'm an adult. My language is on me, not you, so kindly get over it and move on.

Seriously? you mean ppl actually sit around and notice the occasional word that comes out?

I work in a busy ICU, and yeah, there are a lot of moments where cursing fits the bill. sometimes nothing says it like "well f*#@" when you're looking at that monitor.

i won't even comment on the various problems with our professional image, but can't help wonder what your pt thinks when they hear you.

i'm certain it can't be comforting.

leslie

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

I'm a swearer, and one of my goals when I entered nursing school was to eliminate it from my vocabulary (which is quite extensive, btw, so this idea that swearing is a sign of reduced intelligence is nonsense). My very first lab, I let slip an "Oh s**t!", and my lab instructor looked at me with a smirk and said, "No swearing."

I have 15 more months to accomplish my goal! :D Maybe then, if I work in an environment of swearers, I will be able to resist the temptation. :jester:

Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

i cuss like a sailor....dirtiest mouth around..but would never do it in the work place. my patients are expecting a professional nurse not the sailor that i can be after i clock out....

Specializes in Operating Room.
Seriously? you mean ppl actually sit around and notice the occasional word that comes out

It's hard not to notice an unprofessional "professional."

i used to have a "potty mouth", but got sick of selling myself short.:twocents:

leslie

Yes Yes and YES!!

Thank you for saying that. It's exactly how I feel. I know all the words, I've said all the words. Not anymore.

Actually, many of my co-workers do notice I don't swear, stop in their tracks if I do (recently at a party, not at work), and sometimes try not to when I'm around. I've never said I was offended, never asked them to stop. But they do notice.

I know we have all said swear words - but that usually happens behind the door of the break room.

steph

Just out of curiosity... What about at your nurses station? That's where our tele monitors are, where the unit secretary sits, where EVERY one congregates. No doors, no walls. And not always a lot of inhibition with the conversation.

Know this is an old thread but was specifically looking for how the average RN views cussing. There ARE therapeutic relationships that call for token cuss words...as has been said, the drug/alcohol detoxer, the "elopepment risk" who feels that everyone is out to treat them like a criminal just because they want to go outside for a cigarette (which is banned on the campus anyway), certain patients who's vocabulary includes lots of cussing! I have truly found that some patients form a bond of trust more easily when you speak their language! Of course that doesn't mean cussing AT them...I personally think my work as a Med-Surg-Tele RN is SUPER stressful! And I didn't think it was a big deal to go into the med room or break room and use cuss words...yes...almost like Tourettes.....like I am holding a bunch of vomit in my mouth running to the john so I can throw it up in the proper receptecle......well....I was not SCREAMING the words....but whispering them....and yes....my manager found out and I was counseled. No swearing even in private areas i was told. I think this is ridiclulous because we should all be human adults understanding that we work in a stressfull environmet and as nurses ought to understand that we deal with stress in our own individual ways. Most people watch TV...right? How many cuss words are these lily white virginal nurses hearing on TV? But I do not/have not/will not cuss AT anyone. Of course there are so many RNs who love to point the finger at others so no one will notice how poor THEIR performance is. I am ongoing surprised at the lateral psychogical violence that exists in nursing. I think this is ridiculous but am saying "Rats" all the time now instead of the words which really reduce stress. Just so that everyone will feel comfortable. I wish I could get a Tourettes card too. There are so many more things to be concerned about that hearing a few cusses in the break room.

Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.

Where is the set list of cuss words anyhow? I've never understood why one shouldn't use a word that's considered a curse word if it's true. Calling me the b word would probably hurt my feelings less than if you called me fat and lazy.

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