Mispronouncing a word makes you less of a nurse

allnurses Guide · Mar 27, 2009

The comment was totally out of line,I seen instructors telling students that they know know how to speak English (they do!) because they couldnt pronounce allmighty medical words,I seen instructors telling students they they should be CNAs instead of nurses (very constructive,heh?),and telling students they should work with the nurses who are just like them!(meaning to work in the same cultural group/how incredible racist!)
Intructors like this should be either ignored or reported in my personal opnion.

Since we weren't there . . tone of voice and the look on the prof's face are unknowable here on a bulletin board.

He could have said it in a rude way.

Or he could have said it the way I took it from the post:

The professor there noticed I pronounced it wrong and corrected me. Then he went on to give me an example of if I were a nurse and he brought his kid to me and I mispronounced a word to him I would be little less of a nurse. In the sense that I was not as competent as a nurse who could pronounced words correctly. He understood that it shouldn't make you less of a nurse but to him it does.

Also, "larynx" is not an "almighty medical word" . . . .it is just a part of the throat and needs to be pronounced correctly.

A prof SHOULD correct a student. Politely of course.

steph

lovehospital · Mar 27, 2009

actually, what you have is the student's version of what the instructor said.
take it with a grain of salt!

you cant win with the beast (instructor that is !)

allnurses Guide · Mar 27, 2009

SOHNTimeter bugs the heck out me. I took five years of French in high school and college, and one of my sons is adopted from Haiti, has a very French name, and came into my family at age 4 1/2 years old speaking only French. The word centimeter is "centimetre" in French. I think if you are going to pronounce the first half of the word from the French pronunciation, you should also speak the SECOND half of the word with the French pronunciation. Otherwise, pronounce the whole word in English. Here in the US, a penny is a cent, not a SOHNT. I think SOHNT-i-meeter sounds silly and contrived. Although we have many words and phrases borrowed from other languages (i.e. faux pas) in English, I think at least each individual word you speak should follow the rules of one language, not two.
That being said, sometimes if you haven't heard the name of a medication spoken, it sure is hard to figure out how to pronounce it correctly when it is super long. I am sure I have been guilty of putting the stresses on the wrong syllables and a making a mess out of some words, ESPECIALLY unfamiliar meds!

You picked out one of the most irritating words in those threads I linked!

And that bugs the heck out of me too!! It does sound pretentious.

steph

lovehospital · Mar 27, 2009

Since we weren't there . . tone of voice and the look on the prof's face are unknowable here on a bulletin board.
He could have said it in a rude way.
Or he could have said it the way I took it from the post:
The professor there noticed I pronounced it wrong and corrected me. Then he went on to give me an example of if I were a nurse and he brought his kid to me and I mispronounced a word to him I would be little less of a nurse. In the sense that I was not as competent as a nurse who could pronounced words correctly. He understood that it shouldn't make you less of a nurse but to him it does.
Also, "larynx" is not an "almighty medical word" . . . .it is just a part of the throat and needs to be pronounced correctly.
A prof SHOULD correct a student. Politely of course.
steph

Above it all I hope for the students ego sake he didnt reprimanded her at front the other students.

Butterfliesnroses · Mar 27, 2009

I do think that when a professional of any profession mispronounces a word that is relevant to their profession it does make then appear incompetent. It makes them see like they don't know the subject. I mean honestly impressions are SO important especially when dealing with others. Because chances are I don't know that, the nurse taking care of me was top of her class, is one of the best nurses of her facility. All I know at that moment is that she can't correctly pronounce a word that she in my eyes should know about.

RN1982 · Mar 27, 2009

You cant win with the beast (instructor that is !)

Be nice. You have to remember that there are some really great instructors out there. I had some good instructors as well as bad. Bad as in, bringing her kid to clinical or disappearing from the unit or not showing up for two hours and when my group called the school, they told us we could leave since they hadn't heard from her. And when she did finally get in contact with a student, she threatened to fail all of us for her tardiness. I went to the dean who agreed with my group that it was expected of the instructor to show up on time and to give proper notice to the group and the school if she were to be late. She had our numbers but none of us had her's so we couldn't get in contact with her. We waited two hours, called the school then went to breakfast down the street.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2009

Above it all I hope for the students ego sake he didnt reprimanded her at front the other students.

I hope you don't mean what it appears; that the student's ego should be the instructor's top priority?

lovehospital · Mar 27, 2009

I do think that when a professional of any profession mispronounces a word that is relevant to their profession it does make then appear incompetent. It makes them see like they don't know the subject. I mean honestly impressions are SO important especially when dealing with others. Because chances are I don't know that, the nurse taking care of me was top of her class, is one of the best nurses of her facility. All I know at that moment is that she can't correctly pronounce a word that she in my eyes should know about.

But I also think that grammatically constructed sentences are important as well.

RN1982 · Mar 27, 2009

Yeah, this isn't really about protecting someone's ego so I have to agree with Virgo.

lovehospital · Mar 27, 2009

I hope you don't mean what it appears; that the student's ego should be the instructor's top priority?

The patients safety is most important that is true,but just because a practicing nurse makes a mistake in pronunciation that doesnt make her an unsafe nurse.However,the teachers in a way suppose to mentors right,build up our self esteem,encourage.

allnurses Guide · Mar 27, 2009

Be nice. You have to remember that there are some really great instructors out there. I had some good instructors as well as bad. Bad as in, bringing her kid to clinical or disappearing from the unit or not showing up for two hours and when my group called the school, they told us we could leave since they hadn't heard from her. And when she did finally get in contact with a student, she threatened to fail all of us for her tardiness. I went to the dean who agreed with my group that it was expected of the instructor to show up on time and to give proper notice to the group and the school if she were to be late. She had our numbers but none of us had her's so we couldn't get in contact with her. We waited two hours, called the school then went to breakfast down the street.

That story sounds familiar . . . .you did share it with us, right?

steph

RN1982 · Mar 27, 2009

No, never told anyone that story. I think that prof had some issues. She was kind of strange but nice.