Embarrassed myself today

royhanosn · Apr 7, 2010

handle every embarrassing situtation or SCREWUP with humour. MY god NURSES your human...sorry to inform you that!

God is the next rung up on the ladder!

Do-over, ASN, RN · Apr 7, 2010

Personaly, I WOULD beat myself up for cussing in front of a patient or family member. It is not OK and we dont all do it. It is nice that you apologized but that is to be expected of you at a minimum. I think it was gracious of the family member to smile and accept your apology, but that is an indication of their character and not what they really thought inside. Maybe it bothered them and maybe it didn't. I dont consider cussing to be a natural reaction, it is learned like almost everything else we do. (oh boy, i have a feeling i am going to get beat up for this one)

Yes, well, I get all that, hence my post in the first place. I am not going to "beat you up" on it, I feel exactly the same way. However, I am sensing a bit of pot-stirring, no?

Poi Dog · Apr 7, 2010

Poop happens, for sure.

:beer:

It's okay

dbscandy · Apr 7, 2010

The mouse story is hilarious! Believe me, I would have been on the bed AND probably saying worse than s***!

And I hope the mousee :eek: escaped from the research dept!!!!!!

nursenow · Apr 7, 2010

Yes, well, I get all that, hence my post in the first place. I am not going to "beat you up" on it, I feel exactly the same way. However, I am sensing a bit of pot-stirring, no?

No, not really "pot stirring". Honestly, I am one those people that find myself laughing sometimes when a coworker cusses, but inside I am thinking there is no way you would catch me doing that in public.

When I was 17 I was a blue collar kid that went into the Army and was a foul mouthed Seargent in the Infantry by the time I was 20. By the time I retired out twenty years later, I felt I had learned some of the reasons people(most) cuss and had stopped doing it years before.

Now, as a nurse, I still don't think it is OK.(especially as a nurse) Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) a nurse in the process of administering care to a patient is not just another person and most patients/family members don't see you that way. Most of them do hold you to a different standard. (although at times you wouldn't know it by the way some of them treat us)

I apologize if it seems I am beating you up. I guess my post was really directed more towards the people that replied suggesting that it is OK. (yes i know it is a matter of opinion)

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Apr 7, 2010

Personaly, I WOULD beat myself up for cussing in front of a patient or family member. It is not OK and we dont all do it. It is nice that you apologized but that is to be expected of you at a minimum. I think it was gracious of the family member to smile and accept your apology, but that is an indication of their character and not what they really thought inside. Maybe it bothered them and maybe it didn't.(you will never know) I dont consider cussing to be a natural reaction, it is learned like almost everything else we do. (oh boy, i have a feeling i am going to get beat up for this one)

Ahhhh, PEE off!

Some situations in nursing are so FOULED up the only normal response is a cussout party, or tears. Then we all come out of the med room with approved Stepford smiles, just to avoid sending people like you over the edge. Thank GOODNESS I've gone over to the dark side long ago. I'd be stringing beads in the psych ward without a bevy of smart BUMMED colleagues.

nursenow · Apr 7, 2010

Ahhhh, PEE off!
Some situations in nursing are so FOULED up the only normal response is a cussout party, or tears. Then we all come out of the med room with approved Stepford smiles, just to avoid sending people like you over the edge. Thank GOODNESS I've gone over to the dark side long ago. I'd be stringing beads in the psych ward without a bevy of smart BUMMED colleagues.

Umm, OK. :bow: (please don't hurt me)

nursenow · Apr 7, 2010

I swore in front of a patient and a family member today. I lost control of a drain tube I was d/c'ing, and slung some blood onto to the (clean!) linens... and a "s#%t" slipped out.
After the dressings and linens got changed I did apologize to them... I don't think the patient even heard me (either time), but the family member was very gracious... A co-worker helping with the dressing, etc. gave me a good-natured hard time about it.
Just feeling tacky about it and wanted to vent. I don't like it when other people cuss, and I REALLY don't like it when I cuss!

Hey Do-over, Sorry, I just re-read your original post and realize I should have paid more attention to the last two lines.

Do-over, ASN, RN · Apr 7, 2010

Hey Do-over, Sorry, I just re-read your original post and realize I should have paid more attention to the last two lines.

Thanks, its all good.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 8, 2010

personaly, i would beat myself up for cussing in front of a patient or family member. it is not ok and we dont all do it. it is nice that you apologized but that is to be expected of you at a minimum. i think it was gracious of the family member to smile and accept your apology, but that is an indication of their character and not what they really thought inside. maybe it bothered them and maybe it didn't.(you will never know) i dont consider cussing to be a natural reaction, it is learned like almost everything else we do. (oh boy, i have a feeling i am going to get beat up for this one)

you're right -- cussing is a learned response. most of us, however, learn it when we're about 7. in my case, "$hit" was my very first word. my grandfather and great uncles worked very hard to get me to say it, and when that mission was accomplished, they worked on teaching me other and more colorful profanity. but don't you think you came down pretty hard on the op?

jalyc RN · Apr 8, 2010

i grew up in the dark ages when even 'puke' (which i recently found in the bible even! jeremiah 25:27) and 'fart' were never said. i was told "cussing (or cursing) is for people who are too stupid to think of something better. use your brain, not your mouth."

i have 5 children, 17-40, who were raised with basically the same principles. i told them "all society accepts those who do not cuss, only part of society accepts those who do. cussing is a habit that if you don't develop it, you don't have to worry about doing it."

just like smoking, drugs, and eating chocolate, just say no. lol :twocents:

allnurses Guide · Apr 8, 2010

Most people seem to manage how they talk in the workplace vs how they talk to friends or family in their own homes quite well. If someone is startled, as the OP was- I really don't think it's the same as someone who uses cusswords as part of normal conversation.

I probably have an unconventional view of profanity, though. In my view, if you drop an anvil on your toe and exclaim "Sh*t!!" vs "shoot!" it releases negative energy faster thus allowing the body's natural healing energies to kick in faster. Profanity is universal and a very stable form of language. It's kind of a linguistic pressure release valve. You don't even have to take the Lord's name in vain to utter an effective curseword.

But seriously- the OP uttering the word reflexively is something completely different from a too familiar relationship with George Carlin's seven dirty words, a verbally abusive person, a moral inferior, or a dullard.