I cant spell and school

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Jul 7, 2012

Your spelling will improve as you get older and more experienced. When I was 22, I was a horrible speller too. In the meantime, spell check is your friend.

NICUmiiki, DNP, NP · Jul 7, 2012

it also says cna which i have been for the last five years

I respect your CNA experience, but that doesnt count as nursing experience. If you click on your stars it doesn't show 'CNA', just nursing. It leads to the wrong impression.

The more you read and write, the better you'll get at it. Before I took the CLEP exam for college ccmposition, it was recommended to me to read at least twenty minutes a day of non-textbook material. The New Yorker is an example of a publication that is very well edited.

merlee · Jul 7, 2012

Not trying to be too harsh, but you seem to be lazy. Despite some one already pointing out that you write as though you are texting, you persist. Do you know how to use the 'shift' key??? Why are there no capital letters in your posts? Surely you know that every sentence starts with a capital, and of course 'I' is always upper-case, as well as words like English. Start small, and more will follow.

Get some tutoring.

Best wishes.

morte, LPN, LVN · Jul 7, 2012

LOL, I am not big on the shift key, either. But it does make the reading easier. As I have stated in other posts, the inability to spell can be a learning disability. Get tested for that, and learn to compensate, which you appear to be doing anyway. Grammar is another subject, and you can learn that as well. Verb and noun need to agree. You say English is not a second language, but did you grow up in a home where it was for the adults? good luck, at least you have the sense to ask this question!

chyna016 · Jul 7, 2012

I don't think it is that big of a deal. I have never been able to spell very well. I don't think there are many people who can come up with the correct spelling for many meds, diseases ect, without looking them up first. Use spell check, get someone to proof read for you, and you should be fine. Most schools have a writing lab that can help you out with proof reading.

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 7, 2012

Don't let people here get you too discouraged. Yes, you may run into a few challenges in nursing school, but based on your posts in this thread, your grammar and spelling are no worse that 50% of the practicing nurses I know. I know many nurses with graduate degrees who have atrocious grammar habits and spelling issues.

I've always been a poor speller -- and I have a PhD in nursing. I went to highly-ranked schools and am respected as a writer. Other people come to me for help. You can overcome poor spelling with a little extra effort -- and if your problem is particularly serious, maybe a little tutoring. Check out what your diagnostic and assistance services your school offers.

Good luck to you. I wish you well.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 7, 2012

i disagree with chyna...spelling is important in nursing especially with drugs as there are many look alike sound alike drugs that are completely different entities. i can spell disease names and drugs without looking and it is an important factor in being a good nurse.

confusing drug names, or "look-alike/sound-alike names" (lasas), are among the most common reasons for medication errors worldwide. in 2007, the joint commission and the world health organization (who) made this problem the subject of their first aide memoir on patient safety solutions. and for several years the united states pharmacopoeia (usp) center for the advancement of patient safety (caps) repeatedly addressed the subject in its capslink newsletter.
lasa errors can lead to both morbidity and mortality. a retrospective study published in the american journal of health-system pharmacy assessed deaths related to medication errors, including those resulting from confusing drug names. of 5,366 medication errors identified between 1993 and 1998, 16% resulted from administration of the wrong drug and 10% from employment of the wrong administration route. many of these errors were connected with lasa drug names.

http://formularyjournal.modernmedicine.com/formulary/article/articledetail.jsp?id=579387

the institute for safe medication practices, institute for safe medication practices, is a not for profit healthcare organization educating the healthcare community and the consumer about safe medication practices has a list that is supported by the joint commission (accrediting body of hospitals/facilities)

a list of these common drugs.....http://www.ismp.org/tools/confuseddrugnames.pdf

i agree with morte as this can be a learning disability and you should be evaluated so you can get the help/tutoring that you need. you will have to be careful and study maybe a little harder than the next guy.....remember spell check in your friend.

good luck with your nursing journey!

rubato, ASN, RN · Jul 7, 2012

I usually don't respond to any posts that don't use punctuation and capitalization, but you asked about language specifically, so I'll answer. I think not being able to spell or use punctuation will definitely affect you. However, you may have time to work on it. Using spell check isn't the answer. You need to learn how to spell. Try to get tutoring and get better.

Stephalump · Jul 7, 2012

I know some successful bad spellers. We can't all be great at everything. However, you're going to have to compensate when it matters. Spellcheck is not going to recognize a misspelling of "procainamide," but you'll still be held responsible. I suppose it could be done if you put forth the extra effort.

However, there is no excuse for not using capitals and proper punctuation and spacing in your writing - at least not in your case. If you survived English with good grades, you have to have at least mastered that, unless you've been relying solely on spell check, which is borderline scary.

Control what you can. That means trying. Regardless of tutoring, you'll probably never win a spelling bee, but you can work your butt off to meet the minimum requirements of readability.

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 7, 2012

as i stated on your similar post....

i agree with all previous posters on this subject. having said that, one can't deny that spelling is a very important when dealing with patients medications or other medical staff. however, is like everything in life once you get the hang of it, it will become an easy task, this is coming from a native spaniard, if i excelled so can you :cool: wishing you the very best in all of your endeavors...aloha~

chyna016 · Jul 7, 2012

My point was that everyone needs to look up the spelling of drugs NOT that it was not important.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 7, 2012

i don't think there's a spellchecker built into the pen you will use to write on forms, charting, etc. if there's electronic charting, there's no spellchecker there either.

i review medical records for a living and i can tell you that you will be in deep trouble if your writing makes it look that your care is as sloppy as your spelling. get the help you need (it is available, and it will be hard work), or you will not make it in any profession.