Learn To Say It Correctly!!

[SheriLynnRN]

Doesn't it just drive you insane when someone tells you that Mr. Smith's O2 STAT is 96%?

It's O2 SAT people! Sat, short for saturation. I even hear respiratory therapists saying this. I am sooooo tempted to say something next time, but I know it's just petty, so I needed to vent here. Thank you.

[Cheryl Seneca]

i for one wouldn't mind if you told me hay your saying it wrong its post to be.... try and remember back when you first started didn't you get anything wrong? and how did you learn?

Well, Mamagoofy, if you really don't mind, I'll say, "Hey, you're saying it wrong, it's supposed to be (not post to be).......

With all due respect, of course.

[PreOpNurse]

I've looked through most of the pages and I haven't seen the one that drives me absolutely BATTY! I never say anything to anyone, but I'm almost distracted after they say it for a little while. I've heard anesthesiologists say it (though far fewer than nurses).

m-e-t-o-p-r-o-l-o-l

Notice no "r" after the "t". It is, therefore, meh-TOE-pro-LOL (capitals for emphasis), NOT meh-troh-po-LOL like I hear it nearly every day. Also it is not meadow-PRO-LOL.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!

[miko014]

francesca22 said:

I was visiting a friend in hospital recently.

Passed the nurses' station where I spotted a sign that exhorted RNs not to use QID, or PRN, other time honored Latin based acronyms in their charting.

'Write it all out,' the policy read.

I asked why??? Was told that many of the new RNs are not Latin, Math, hard science collegiate prepared, are recruited from foreign countries, or are trained in two year fast-track AA programs where such nuances are not covered.

Is this the new face of nursing? Down-skilled?

In my experience as an inpatient in hospital two years ago, had mostly foreign RNs, many from the Philippines, several from Zimbabwe.

As I am hearing impaired and cannot discern accented speech well, I was essentially lost in verbal exchanges with these nurses, even though I made it clear I was not understanding and why.

There are a lot of "no no" abbreviations where I work. We can't use MSO4, MgSO4, QD, QID, and many others. Oh and also, no trailing zero (2.0), and there must be a leading zero (0.2). The reason is simple - too many mistakes when stuff is misread. Like if the order is for QID but someone mistakes it for QD (or vice versa) that could be quite bad. If, however, we are typing it, it's okay to use those abbreviations. The ban is on handwritten stuff only.

I've never heard of PRN being banned anywhere. That's odd - write it out! Haha I guess you could write out "as needed", but I don't know of anything else that PRN could stand for. As far as the argument that nurses being educated in other countries, that makes no sense to me. "Oh, hey, don't chart your notes in English! That nurse on nights is from Germany! We chart in German now so she can understand it!" Ummmmmmm...no. Learn how to do it the way we do it here!

[jallen5]

I am currently a medical transcriptionist while I go to nursing school, and you would not BELIEVE the words doctors cannot pronounce correctly. I hear some really messed up dictations almost every day. My peers and I are often dismayed that they are the ones making the big bucks.

[mamagoofy]

well I guess it wouldn't be to good to tell a doctor its supposed to be.... and thank you Cheryl I get in a hurry sometimes

[aasirscott]

There are so many other things to worry about. OK so nobody is perfect, lighten up.

We are all much less than perfect. We should all quit trying to find fault in others and fix our own. 

[mamagoofy]

aasirscott said:

There are so many other things to worry about. OK so nobody is perfect, lighten up.

We are all much less than perfect. We should all quit trying to find fault in others and fix our own.

I like the way you think. 

[skinnyNurse]

what about that famous disease called "all-timers" or "old-timers"! Some people are serious!

[skinnyNurse]

Bust/Busted are non-standard English (Read: Slang)

Burst is the proper word to use. Adding slang to a dictionary doesn't really make it correct.

As for their/thier, that is solely a typing error. Many of my posts have letters switched and I am usually way to lazy to edit it.

Another common misuse of non-standard English is dinner and supper. They are NOT interchangeable and are not the same thing.

Dinner is the chief meal of the day usually eaten midday or in the evening.

Supper is a light meal taken in the evening IF dinner has already been eaten.

Where did you find that? It makes complete sense! I have lived all of my life in the south and the two (dinner and supper) are used interchangeably! I always thought dinner meant the meal at noon and supper meant the evening meal.

[TripRN]

As a long-time writer and grammarian I would like to add my two cents. I cringe when people use the wrong word, or mispronounce a word that is commonly used in our business. I hate to read other nurses' notes because I find myself groaning at the mistakes, the poor spelling, and the lack of proper grammar. It adds to the possibility of error which is already high in nursing.

So, I have to point out that in GilaRN's post the word annunciation is completely out of place. I agree that there are a lot of regional differences in the way we say things; but the way we say things is to pronounce them or it is our pronunciation that is different. Annunciation refers to an announcement (check the dictionary for the Latin root) as in the Annunciation (or announcement) to Mary of the Incarnation by the Angel Gabriel. See Luke 1 :26-38

I'm sorry, but when you join a thread aimed at improving our use of the language, PLEASE use a dictionary and don't use a word that causes you embarassment.

Thanks!

The Grammar Police . . . I'm sorry it's a pet peeve!!!!!!

[northshore08]

Okay, y'all. I finally read this whole thread to see what was up with all the pages; very funny stuff! 

I feel if you can understand what others are trying to tell you, the battle is won. English will always change, in spite of the hopes and prayers of academia. The vernacular is "the language of the people" and the most cool thing I can do is understand how others use the language. I was a military brat with teen years in Ohio, then South Carolina for a while, then New Jersey for a while, then back to the South; now in Hawaii of all places! No matter where I live, I am always questioned by patients and co-workers..."Where are you from?"

So now I am trying to unlearn lowcountry SC and learn multicultural/pidgin English here. Newest phrase: "Chicken Nut Bread!"

According to my co-workers, this phrase translates as "she cannot breathe!" And I am still remembering "done fell out" and "all my chirrens" from SC! Last week a caregiver here told me I had to "teakken" some liquids, and it took me a couple of seconds and her repeating it to realize she meant "thicken."

And why in the world are they calling me Sandy????

(my name is Cindy )

And regional dialects can be so different as to require translation....With nods to the religion portion of this thread, look at the work that Wycliffe Bible Translators has done in the USA. I have a New Testament that is written in Hawaiian Pidgin, and one in Gullah (African-American dialect from south of Charleston.) These books are not in "proper English," but sometimes a heart language (and words from that language) can comfort and teach like no other. (Aks is one of those words.) I am saying that local idioms/dialects and terminology are comfortable and understood. And if I can use a specific word my friends or patients might understand better, I will use it. 

[northshore08]

Apricots...it is spelled embarrassment.