Different Lingo Depending where you practice nursing

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Just got off the phone with a friend who is a nurse and she was telling me of her last shift. She was talking about K riders, where I work we call it potassium replacement. I hadn't heard about "endorsing" to the next shift until reading it on this forum. Is that something used in other countries or also in different parts of the US? We just "give report to the oncoming shift" We have "casual nurses" to mean those without benefits, some places have "PRN" or "per diem". Some units still have " head" nurses other have managers and/or charge nurses. Post other differences you have noticed in our field.

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Specializes in Cath lab, acute, community.

There are a lot of differences between here in Australia and the nursing lingo I see on here from American nurses! EKG and ECG is one that just popped into my head. I hadn't heard of EKG prior to coming on here!

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Specializes in Thoracic Cardiovasc ICU Med-Surg.

When I worked in NYC I gave K Riders. Here in Va I give Potassium Boluses. :) That's the main difference in lingo I've come across. I've always had charge nurses and given report.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

We call K riders here K jumps. I still call it pot just for fun.

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At my facility the charge nurse is officially called the "nurse on duty". Only place I ever heard that term.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

FSBS = fingerstick bloood sugar or BGM = blood glucose monitoring

pOX vs spO2 for oxygen oximetry

infus-a-port or port-a-cath (both of these remind me of porta potty, johnny on the spot , porta johns :rotfl:

Just 3 little differences from my earlier and more recent employment. Funny because we're only talking about 50 miles between the 2 regions. My coworkers and I freq have to question each other in conversation just to clarify but no big problem. I use the first ones.

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Specializes in ICU.

Never heard of "Accuchecks" until I moved here, I say "per diem," we don't have a "DON" (although I'm not sure what our equivalent would be- the CNO?), "k-rider" was new to me when I moved here, I say "johnny," "down-sized" rather than "cancelled," ohhh I could go on forever...

By the way, what is the deal with nurses pronouncing the word "centimeter" as "sahnt-uh-meter"?? That has always driven me crazy, since the first time I heard it in nursing school and we had to ask the professor what it was!

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I never knew that your belly button area was your um-buh-LIKE-us - I thought it was the umb-ili-cus (3 syllables and not 4)

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Specializes in retired LTC.

du-o-de-num vs dwad-num (phonetical) Another one.

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Specializes in Sleep medicine,Floor nursing, OR, Trauma.
I never knew that your belly button area was your um-buh-LIKE-us - I thought it was the umb-ili-cus (3 syllables and not 4)

Toh-may-toe, Toh-mah-toe.

Ad-ver-TIZE-ment, Ad-VER-tizz-ment

A-seat-toe-bell-um, Ass-it-tab-lum.

Fem-ur-all, Fem-or-all

Hay-lux, Hal-lux

(Please note all above spellings are fo-net-ik in nature._

::snirk::

It's all about putting emPHASis on the wrong sylLABle.

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Specializes in Cath lab, acute, community.
du-o-de-num vs dwad-num (phonetical) Another one.

That is one of my pet hates!! It's the first way you pronounced it, not the second!!!

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
That is one of my pet hates!! It's the first way you pronounced it, not the second!!!

Our surgeons just call it "Dewy". They also call the umbilicus "Umbo".

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