Different Lingo Depending where you practice nursing

[RNKPCE]

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.

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

Where I work, any transparent dressing is a Tegaderm no matter what the brand.

[BacktotheBeach, ADN, BSN, RN]

prn adapter=hep lock or saline well. Recently heard the adapter term for the first time and was puzzled.

[LynM75]

prn adapter=hep lock or saline well. Recently heard the adapter term for the first time and was puzzled.

They call those I-3's in my facility...III, intermittent intravenous infusion.

[amoLucia]

hey canned_ bread - I'm from central NJ. I say dwad-num. I only hear duo de num on TV. Viva la difference!

[rn/writer, RN]

I had never heard a hospital gown called a johnny until I came to this board. I'm in the midwest, and every place I've ever worked or visited refers to that lovely, exposure-prone garment as a gown. Maybe some of the male patients rebelled against wearing something that sounds feminine in nature and came up with johnny to give it a masculine edge.

[RNKPCE]

cefazolin have heard it pronounced two ways sef-foz-o-lin and sef-ah-zoe-lin

[Aeterna, BSN, RN]

In one of my nursing school placements, the nurses called dexamethasone by its generic name only, or "dex" for short (i.e. "Could you please get me 4mg of PO dex?") In my current workplace, 99% of the time, they seem to call it by its brand name, Decadron. Threw me for a bit of a loop when I started my job, haha!

[Keane68]

Hi

I wrote out this long letter back to you from your nice letter you sent to me about my daughter taking a breather or keep pushing through. I loved your letter about your daughter and I wanted to let you know. This site would not let me send it through private mail because I have not been on here long enough. I hope you receive this. Jim

[klone, MSN, RN]

In OB, calling a woman "fully" instead of calling her "complete" (i.e. 10 cm dilated)

In Colorado, a saline lock is called a "buff cap". The first time someone was orienting when I moved out here, the nurse said something about "buff capping" her IV and I was all "Whaaa?" She had only lived and worked and studied in Denver, so she wasn't aware it wasn't called that everywhere. Apparently a particular cap for saline locking an IV was invented at UCDenver Medical school, and their mascot is the Buffaloes (Buffs, for short). So that's that.

[toomuchbaloney]

How about the "cabbage" crashing in room 12?

or the "prime ip" stalled in 14?

does anyone call nervous mom's of pedies hover rounds? hover crafts? "helicopters" or "hummingbirds?

have you ever heard the term "crackempractor" for a chiropractor?

is "circling the drain" an old school phrase?

we all have "walkie talkies", right?

surely we all "turf" patients to other departments.

[klone, MSN, RN]

or the "prime ip" stalled in 14?

Are you talking about OB? I'm pretty sure primip is used everywhere, it's shorthand for primiparous (although that's a misnomer, because she's actually a primigravida, not a primip, as she hasn't actually had the baby yet). I guess "primip" sounds better than "primig"

[RNKPCE]

Yes Jim I did receive it. Wish your daughter luck in her career!