Job Interview: Check Writing Legibility?

[Music in My Heart]

I'm a nursing student coming from another profession where I've several times interviewed folks for professional and non-professional jobs. For certain positions I have asked for a simple writing sample in front of me in order to ascertain the legibility of their writing.

I've several times found nursing notes in the charts at my clinical site to be difficult to read (usually better than the docs, though). I began to wonder if its ever assessed. It seems a valid concern.

Have you ever been asked to write a quick note as part of an interview? As an interviewer, do you ever seek to assess writing legibility?

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Over the past three years handwriting AND typing skills now reviewed as part of job interview...doesn't look good when one can not read referral from Central Intake and iis the only info to go on to locate patient post hospitalization...

[donsterRN, ASN, BSN]

I thought the post was about writing checks legibly, too!

I'm a lefty, which always gets the blame for any illegibility in my handwriting. Note taking, or rather, note deciphering, in school can be a challenge for me. But truthfully, I think I "generally" have a neat hand, especially in my charting. I'm a gud speler, and I don't got no problems with no stinkin' grammar. It's interesting, though, that some facilities are including proficency evaluations in those fields.

[rph3664]

:sofahider

I've had a couple of medical people (mds and rns) tell me they write so no one can read what they put down on purpose. Once saw a PT who just made scribbly lines in the pt chart. scarey

We once had a doctor whose time there was just about up as he was leaving for other reasons, and he was pulling this crap and then refusing to answer pages and slamming the phone down on us when we (pharmacy and nursing) confronted him about this. This nearly cost him admitting privileges, and it turned out I was not the only person who told the nurse in charge that particular weekend, "What if someone dies because of this?"

That said, it seems that nurses have more illegible handwriting than doctors. We can rarely read their signatures and must ask for "the nurse who's taking care of Patient X."

:sofahider

[MikeyJ, RN]

That said, it seems that nurses have more illegible handwriting than doctors. We can rarely read their signatures and must ask for "the nurse who's taking care of Patient X."

I was on an IMC floor last semester my nurse and I were trying to figure out who was managing one of our patients. The patient had changed services so much and we could not read the doctors name who was assigned to the patient the previous evening and the RN did not give it to us in report. My nurse literally spent over an hour paging different physicians whose name resembled the one signed.

[fancypants]

Oh, tell me about it on people having poor grammar and spelling. My first degree is in journalism and it drives me nuts sometimes. My biggest pet peeve is "alot".....it's two words, not one. Also, let's not forget about misusing the work "ironic". I know, it's nerdy, but if you spend years editing other people's work it will get to you.

[bethin]

Never been asked for a sample and I would have a problem with any interviewer who asked me for one. Should we have good handwriting? Yes. Is it realistic to expect all people in medicine to have good handwriting? No.

:yeahthat: And I have very good handwriting too.

[bagladyrn, RN]

I believe that part of the problem is that handwriting is no longer taught in schools. In spite of being a "lefty" I have very legible handwriting, having spent most of the 3rd grade rewriting assignments in pencil as I was not allowed to use a pen until I learned to do so left handed without smearing the ink (anyone else remember the cartridge pens?). I loved seeing the handwriting of some of my elderly relatives - beautiful script - I believe it was called "spencerian" script.

As a side note I cured one doctor of illegible orders by calling him several times while doing my midnight chart checks to ask him what he had written (after checking with everyone on the unit and the house supervisor to see if anyone could interpret his scrawl). When he came in one morning and was unable to read his own order that I had questioned he admitted to the problem and began printing!

[Music in My Heart]

I don't know if its necessarily that I've worked for banks for close to ten years, but I interpreted the title of this thread as if someone can write a check legibly....I'm a big dork.

I thought the post was about writing checks legibly, too!

Funny stuff.

It does, however, demonstrate the critical importance played by the lowly hyphen.

"Check-writing legibility" addresses what you guys were thinking as opposed to "check writing legibility".

Anyway, thanks for the input everybody.

[Music in My Heart]

Tazzi, bethin, et. al. -- Why is it not realistic to expect that everybody is able to write legibly?

[donsterRN, ASN, BSN]

Funny stuff.

It does, however, demonstrate the critical importance played by the lowly hyphen.

"Check-writing legibility" addresses what you guys were thinking as opposed to "check writing legibility".

Anyway, thanks for the input everybody.

Touche.

[leslie :-D]

my 15yo's english teacher asked me a couple of wks ago, if my son had 'dysgraphia'...aka horrible handwriting.

and my son attended catholic school.

horrible, illegible handwriting.

slowing down doesn't help.

i got the gold seal in 3rd grade, for best penmanship.:)

leslie