MD's professional handwriting skills

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Have you ever wondered if physicians took a special course in handwriting skills???? I have. Many times I would get orders to copy onto the mars that were grossly illegible. My co-workers and I would pass the orders around trying to figure them out. Sometimes just tilting the paper to the left would reveal the answers. Sometimes turning it completely upside down would make the whole sentence clear. Am I the only nurse with this problem? or are there others? It is fun at times to make your own coclusions:trout:

Touching on a pet peeve of mine. Also can't figure why drs think some shorthand symbol for their name suffices. If another doc asks me who wrote a particular order, unless a secretary who is familiar with the doc knows the signature, I don't have a clue. I think the medical staff people should issue doctors a stamp of their typed name which would have to be used under their signature on all written orders etc.

Specializes in OB L&D Mother/Baby.

We had one dr for a while that wrote so well it was rediculous (but a nice change) he printed and it looked like it was typed on a computer but in some fancy print. Anyway we wanted him to teach the other dr's to write and often joked with him about that. On the other hand we had a relatively new internist when I was working on the floor and he wrote so small and illegibly that we actually had our director purchase us a magnifying glass!! Hello if he writes that crappy then he should fix it...

Some of our dr's write the same crap all the time so they get very sloppy. But sometimes with meds I think they are too lazy to look up doses so they just scribble something down and expect pharmacy to put the most likely dose or call them and say "hey did you meen 200 mg" or whatever. I had a dr one night say to terb a pt. Mind you she's been a dr for 25 yrs and I said "what dose do you want" and she said "whatever you normally give" I was like hmm okay. Same with methergine, hemabate, pit gtt. They have no clue they just say give it and we're expected to write those orders.

I've also had one dr write a big list of orders and one was for a foley and I held off thinking it just didn't make sense and when I called him to clarify he denied writing it. Well it looked like it could have been something else so the next day I had him look at it and sure enough it said "foley to dependant drainage" He actually apologized!!

There is one doc that has horrific handwriting. I'm guessing his office staff have gotten tired of us calling to translate, so now, all his faxes come with a printed translation. Helps tremendously. (now that I know what is says, it does maybe kinda look like that)

Specializes in ER/Trauma.
I think the medical staff people should issue doctors a stamp of their typed name which would have to be used under their signature on all written orders etc.
Our ER docs do this - but I think it's standard practice in the ER ?

Some of my fellow nurses joke that MDs go to school for all those years just so they could learn to write like pre schoolers :p

In effect, the nurse or unit secretary composes the orders to be things they consider to be within the range of normal, because they are in fact illegible.

You must stop this practice at once. Why would you want to risk your license?

Just call the doctor and tell him you can't read what he wrote and ask for the interpretation.

Some of our dr's write the same crap all the time so they get very sloppy. But sometimes with meds I think they are too lazy to look up doses so they just scribble something down and expect pharmacy to put the most likely dose or call them and say "hey did you meen 200 mg" or whatever. I had a dr one night say to terb a pt. Mind you she's been a dr for 25 yrs and I said "what dose do you want" and she said "whatever you normally give" I was like hmm okay. Same with methergine, hemabate, pit gtt. They have no clue they just say give it and we're expected to write those orders. QUOTE

You must stop doing this. Why do you let them get away with this? If you accept illegible orders or incomplete orders or write the dosages for these doctors, you are the one who will get burned for practicing medicine without a license and/or if anything goes wrong. I can just hear the doctor's testimony - "I never told her to give that dose." And it will be in YOUR writing and guess what will happen to you. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, STOP DOING IT.

Get your manager and whatever bosses you can win to your side to come down on these doctors. Have pharmacy close ranks with you and your fellow nurses and let these lazy, rich doctors know that you will not take it any more. They must order a dose. They must do their own work and do it right. Period, amen.

Our hospital has a policy that RNs don't have to pick up orders they can't read. We are allowed to write on the order, "needs clarification..MD notified" Dated and timed of course. Needles to say, we have very little problems with MDs illegible handwriting. Most of the time they show it to you after it is written to make sure that you understand it.

It's almost always the male doctor handwriting that I have a hard time reading. The hospital I work at also has quite a few female doctors, but their handwriting are usually very neat and readable.

Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.
To derail a little, I think the docs must also take classes called "The Phone: Ignoring It When It Rings". They sit at the station, right in front of the phones, and completely ignore the ringing. Never mind the fact that I have to climb over them to answer it.

I cannot ignore a ringing phone, no matter how hard I try.

Heck, our unit sec. ignores the phone. If there's a nurse at the desk charting she will let the phone ring until the nurse answers.

There's a generalisation if I ever saw one. :)

What's next? "Girls are smarter than boys" ?

cheers,

I believe there is a study that proves boys have a harder time with handwriting skills than girls.

Boys tend to have higher math skills - girls higher reading skills.

There is a male nurse I work with who has terrible handwriting - we have to rewrite his d/c instructions.

;) steph

Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.

Uhm, about that math business...a simple Google search will show you that that is pure bunk. Sexual stereotypes are harmful.

Specializes in ER/Trauma.
I believe there is a study that proves boys have a harder time with handwriting skills than girls.

Boys tend to have higher math skills - girls higher reading skills.

Sorry Steph - but I honestly think such "studies" are hogwash.

They do little but perpetuate gender stereotypes. I could extrapolate your "study results" and claim that "since boys have better math skills, girls have no business being pilots."

In my line of thinking they are no better than those who claim "female orientals are the worst drivers".... based on observing the driving habits of all female oriental drivers in Chicago.

Handwriting is not "gender specific". IMO - Handwriting is "upbringing", "schooling" and "personal investment" specific.

Being a boy doesn't predispose you to bad handwriting in as much as being a girl predisposes you with great reading skills. There are a thousand other things that affect these behaviors - which are far more responsible for the eventual outcome than something like gender, race, etc.

Not everything is genetic or gender linked. It isn't all nature.

cheers,

+ Add a Comment