Some of my favorite mispronunciations or "shortening" of a diagnosis by patients and/or family members:
The Gouch - Gout
The High Blood/Low Blood - Hypertension/Hypotension
The High Sugar - Diabetes (sometimes they actually mean hyperglycemia...but usually mean Diabetes)
The Bad Lung - COPD
Also included are the times that people completely ignore the ventilator in the room and the ETT in the pt's mouth and ask me why Johnny won't talk to them.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Davey Do said:
. . Histospanola for Histoplasmosis .
??? well that one had me stumped - but that's OK, it stumped Google, too. It thought I must have meant Hispaniola. There's probably a perfectly logical explanation that doesn't involve histamines and crunchy cereals with roasted almonds.
The funniest lay term(s) are those relating to inflammation of the sciatic nerve and/or the low back pain/hip pain/whatever pain is "the sciatic" "my sciatica" etc. I'll even borrow from a nurse blogger who's patient called it "the psychotic nerve".
Oh, and an enema called a fizzik(sp?). I think that must be used around the Pittsburgh, PA region.
I had a pt last year who had a large midsternal scar...I asked when he had had his "cabbage", meaning of course CABG. He looked confused and said "On St. Pat's day with my corned beef."
It's the last time I asked that question phrased that way.
It's been a running joke in my family ever since I had to write a report on "Lord of the Flies" in jr. high to call asthma "ass-mar". My baby sister used to tell her doc from toddlerhood "I can't breafe cuz of the ass-mar". She was completely indignant when she figured out at about six years old that she'd been calling it the wrong name for years and it was all our fault.
Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.
I know this isn't a common one but the other night this lady told me she had "premenapausal angelina" but couldn't tell me anything about what it was, not to mention she's 65yrs old (premenapausal anything might be odd), after a lot of searching through her history I find out its PRINZMETAL ANGINA!
My brother-in-law took his mother into the doctors office to have some fluid taken off her knee. He told me they drew off 6 inches. (Hmmm, I'm thinking it was more like 60 cc....).
Had a very elderly pt. request a "fizzik" when he felt his bowels weren't moving regularly enough. In his case, he was satisfied with MoM. I do think "physic" is an old term for anything purgative of the bowels.
nursel56
7,122 Posts
??? well that one had me stumped - but that's OK, it stumped Google, too. It thought I must have meant Hispaniola. There's probably a perfectly logical explanation that doesn't involve histamines and crunchy cereals with roasted almonds.
The funniest lay term(s) are those relating to inflammation of the sciatic nerve and/or the low back pain/hip pain/whatever pain is "the sciatic" "my sciatica" etc. I'll even borrow from a nurse blogger who's patient called it "the psychotic nerve".
Oh, and an enema called a fizzik(sp?). I think that must be used around the Pittsburgh, PA region.