Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I've noticed some new professionals with an apparent lack of basic grade-school grammar and spelling skills; have you? This trend is concerning given the respect and perception of intelligence any particular profession retains. :redbeathe Permanent records with misspells, resumes with misspells and grammar errors seem to be on the rise (not to mention our spoken language). :imbar Please disregard our last president, though...maybe it all started then? :jester:

I'm not sure if it's a lack of education at the grade school level but my 9 year old son was pointing out spelling errors on this site (my 9 year old)! :specs:

Has anyone else seen this trend?

I'm not meaning to offend anyone; with such a tight market, these errors would get a resume discarded/a letter of intent for a nursing school rejected for an Eng 099 class.

What do you think?

I have to say it is not spelling and grammar use (or misuse) that i find irritating, it is poor, unlegible handwriting. It drives me batty especially when i have to chase that person down to get a translation of their scrawl.

As my grandmother would say, looks like a spider fell in the inkwell, then crawled across the page.

Ceilingcat- There are some girls on my course who cant write a simple sentance and sitting through their presentations is awful for me as i want to open their save files and fill in the missing words. Yes english is their second language, but some of them have lived and worked in england for over 3 decades yet their skills are appauling. ok, i cant even imagine being fluent in two or more languages but some of these women struggle to string a sentance together, how are they going to cope when faced with an irrate relative or a confused patient?

djaychris-i caught a doctor writting up something and she actually wrote '4' bless her she was embarressed when i pointed it out to her.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

wat r u talkin about we have g8 grrmer

;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I think one of the problems with the younger generation is spell check on computers. Seriously, I used to be a great speller. I used to win spelling bee's all the time. Now that I've been using a computer for the last 10 years I don't pay attention to stuff like that. When I'm hand writing something I find myself having trouble spelling words I know I could have spelled when I was 12. So I think that could be one of the reasons for that problem. :heartbeat

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am appalled at the lack of spelling skills that I have come across--from my children's teachers--both with masters degress to my professors-all with masters & other graduate degrees at nursing school. The unfortunate thing is during exams, I have to spell check & ask for clarification on the questions as some of the questions are nonsensical...grrrrr

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hello..

I must agree. I think we have gotten lazy because of emailing and texting where so many abbreviations are used. My grandson says that he doesn't type homework the same way he texts but I think that those texting habits are hard to break and they do carry over to more formal communication.

I will admit that I may be a bit shallow and/or judgmental but when I see correspondence with misspelled words and poor sentence structure, I make a quick assessment that perhaps this person isn't highly educated. I work in Human Resources and I'm often amazed at how poorly professionals express themselves. (i.e. I work well with my piers or I have great rapore with my team) Really??

I don't even want to get into the interpersonal issues that occur because people aren't savvy in face to face communication. Maybe we can find away to communicate with patients through texting. :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

How about the nurse that can't make an assignment for 22 patients with 3 PCAS without getting out a calculator?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
how about the nurse that can't make an assignment for 22 patients with 3 pcas without getting out a calculator?

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :omy::omy::omy::omy: :omy::grn::grn::grn:

aarrrrruuuugggghhhhhhhh!

kathy

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
How about the nurse that can't make an assignment for 22 patients with 3 PCAS without getting out a calculator?

omg thats terrifying...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Recent generations have "forgotten" spelling and grammar because the prior generation didn't insist on it.

cheers,

Roy (awaiting everyone to jump up now and post "but I always insisted with my kids!" etc.)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

Fifteen years in the profession, with a good comprehension on the importance of accurate charting, I still lack the skill to spell. Simply, for important work I use the spell check before I print out assignments or letters. For things like this, an internet site, I could care less what "impression" others form of me from my lack of ability to spell. What strangers on a blog site think is not a monkey I would ever cary on my back.:smackingf:smackingf

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Back to my spelling issues...son who is a most dreadful speller, brings home vocab. test with the teacher misspelling words...got to love it...or the quiz I took in Med-Surg yesterday with incorrect spellings & manifestations mixed up for open & closed angle glaucoma...or the quiz that had two grammatically incorrect questions put together and the professor saying that the students should have been able to figure it out...grrrr

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I blame flow sheets. I only have to know how to make a "check" mark. :chuckle Oh, yeah, and sign my name. I also blame the appalling practice of allowing nurses to use cursive writing in their notes!! We learned to p-r-i-n-t very meticulously !!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment