Learn To Say It Correctly!!

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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.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Cath Lab, Cardiology,Neuro.

also my lab instructor grew up in Canada and the respiratory system is the respIratory (note the letter I is being stressed) and a tourniquet is a "tourn-i-que"

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Specializes in Psych, ER, Resp/Med, LTC, Education.
We need to take geographic location into consideration however. If you ever have a chance to travel the country, you should find the differences in annunciation and language articulation interesting. I know language differences exist in most other countries as well.

I was raised up north and know my annunciation of specific words is considered strange by the people I currently live and work around. My articulation of words such as carotid and trauma are considered strange by many people in the southwest.

Yes this is true--however it doesn't excuse the use of the word STAT as short for Saturation. ----

this bugs the heck of of me too!! I hear it from aides, nurses....and that was on a RESPIRATORY floor. I have to laugh though as I always thought I was the only person who picked up on this mis-spoken error and who it makes crazy!!!!!! LOL Makes me wonder what they think O2"stat" means??? STAT has a whole different meaning!!

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A word mispronounced is nothing. A wrong word is something entirely different. I cannot believe anyone would say O2 stat for sat. What do they think it stands for? Staturation?

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A word mispronounced is nothing. A wrong word is something entirely different. I cannot believe anyone would say O2 stat for sat. What do they think it stands for? Staturation?

This actually came up at clinical today. A classmate said 'O2 stat' and our instructor corrected him, "It's SAT, not STAT. SAT is short for saturation, STAT means right away." The classmate then said, "I didn't realize that, I thought it was STAT for statistics."

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Specializes in Operating Room.
A word mispronounced is nothing. A wrong word is something entirely different. I cannot believe anyone would say O2 stat for sat. What do they think it stands for? Staturation?

I agree! I heard someone tell a pt that just returned from surgery who was in pain to not worry because they were getting Patient Controlled ANESTHESIA not Analgesia. :yeah: I'm curious as to how that would work?!

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If someone wanted "patient controlled anesthesia," I guess I'd just say, "Knock yourself out." :D

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I have to resurrect this thread because oh boy, do I have a bunch of mispronunciations by none other than my anatomy and physiology teacher. All semester s/he has been butchering words and giving us wrong information, and I must share the absurdities.

ADH = Aldosterone

Arytenoids = ar-ten-ee-oids

Deglutition = dee-gloo-ten-ay-shun (yes, just like the process of removing gluten)

glomerulus = glom-air-ee-you-luss

Sertoli cells = sir-el-ee

Prostaglandin = pros-tee-oh-glan-din

I'm sure there are many others, but that's all I can think of for now. Is she correct with some of these pronunciations? Are some of these pronunciations common? (Like "do-odd-en-um" and "duo-den-um" for duodenum.) I've never heard some of this stuff before, so I don't know what's what. I've listened to the pronunciations on my Stedman's medical dictionary cd-rom thing and according to that, my teacher pronounces them all wrong.

Also there is no difference between antigens and antibodies. They are the same thing and are synonyms. :banghead:

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Specializes in urology, pediatrics, med-surg.
When patients call a colonoscopy a colostomy. There's a little bit of a difference there, folks.

I have to laugh at this one. Normally I have no problem here....it's pretty clear which is which. But last week, my grandmother was in a critical heart surgery, I was worried about her, major short on sleep, was charging for only the 3rd time in my life, AND had a patient with a colostomy who needed a colonoscopy. :banghead: I couldn't keep the words straight all day!! :chuckle:chuckle

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Specializes in Renal/Cardiac.

Well I am a new soon to be graduate RN and I am very southren also---but I have changed alot as far as how I now pronounce some of my words but because of my southern upbringing some of the words will always come out sounding southern so I am very sensitive about people who make fun of how I say things--but thankfully the people I work with are use to me so I do not have to worry about them saying mean and nasty things about how I say things--I really think people need to considered other people's feeling when they make fun of what they say--how about helping them to pronounce it correctly rather than sitting and making fun at or about them I know I would have more respect for someone who helps me to say it correctly more than I would someone who makes fun of what I say instead---just a suggestion :)

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Specializes in CTICU.
also my lab instructor grew up in Canada and the respiratory system is the respIratory (note the letter I is being stressed) and a tourniquet is a "tourn-i-que"

I am Australian, and I say both those things like that. Just because they aren't pronounced how you'd pronounce them doesn't make them "incorrect". There's also the cer-EE-bral versus CERebral, SKELetal versus skel-EE-tal etc. That's just regional differences, not mistakes.

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Specializes in LTC.
I'm usually pretty good when it comes to proper grammar and many things I see in writing really get to me. Actually in writing it bothers me more than when I hear it cause I have to read the sentence more than once (sometimes) to get the meaning of what is being said.

I used to say amiodarone wrong. Said it wrong for well over a year until my colleagues corrected me. I'm sure I sounded like an idiot even saying it to a doctor. They actually gave me a speech lesson on the correct pronunciation. I had to say it about 10 times until I could finally say it correctly. To this day I still have to slow down when I am saying metoprolol or it will always come out wrong.

I hate saying "metoprolol"; that's why I choose to pronounce it "Toprol" or "Lopressor". :lol2:

Not really a grammatical error, but I worked with a nurse who actually charted that she told a pt. to "Stop fiddling with his Foley cath." That would really make her look educated if it wound up in court. Come to think of it, the guy was also a quad incapable of using his hands to scratch his face, much less mess with his F/C. :rolleyes:

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Yes this is true--however it doesn't excuse the use of the word STAT as short for Saturation. ----

this bugs the heck of of me too!! I hear it from aides, nurses....and that was on a RESPIRATORY floor. I have to laugh though as I always thought I was the only person who picked up on this mis-spoken error and who it makes crazy!!!!!! LOL Makes me wonder what they think O2"stat" means??? STAT has a whole different meaning!!

an-nun-ci-a-tion (-nns-shn)

n.

1. The act of announcing.

2. An announcement; a proclamation.

3. Annunciation Christianity

a. The angel Gabriel's announcement to the Virgin Mary of the Incarnation.

b. The feast celebrating this event.

c. March 25, the day on which this feast is observed.

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