Never say "QUIET"

Specialties Emergency

Published

Hi all,

I was reading "The Real Deal", by the E.R. nurse Roxy Martin (nice book, btw) and she said there is an unspoken rule at the E.R.s all accross that, if anyone says the word "quiet (as in, "oh, look how quiet it is tonight"), you're bound to bring a curse into the shift and that everything will suddenly turn hectic and crazy. She gives several examples in the book.

Is it really true? Any expriences anyone wish to share on the topic?

*p-e*

Hi all,

I was reading "The Real Deal", by the E.R. nurse Roxy Martin (nice book, btw) and she said there is an unspoken rule at the E.R.s all accross that, if anyone says the word "quiet (as in, "oh, look how quiet it is tonight"), you're bound to bring a curse into the shift and that everything will suddenly turn hectic and crazy. She gives several examples in the book.

Is it really true? Any expriences anyone wish to share on the topic?

*p-e*

It happened often when I worked med/surg. Some person who didn't even work on our floor (lab or somebody) would mention how quiet it was, then all hell would break loose. Meanwhile, the person who let loose the curse was in the elevator going back to the actual quiet lab.

I also used to hate when getting report about a patient, the nurse giving it would say, "he/she should be fine for you tonight." That one was like the curse of death.

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Specializes in Almost everywhere.
i agree, ive seen it. same goes for remaking an open bed, saying outloud it should be a good day. dont mention your most frequent flyer by name or they will show up for sure.

the open bed thing....yes! :devil:

the full moon thing...yes! :devil:

frequent-flyer....yes...not even their initials! :devil: :devil:

the "it should be a good shift for you guys"....not good! :devil: :devil: :devil:

and where i'm from...a good storm seems to make the poo-poo hit the fan!total jinx-a-rama!!! :uhoh3: i agree!!! :eek:

beary

ps: definately not the q word!!!

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We had been having some construction on our floor and daily we were treated to the sounds of hammers banging along with some other heavy construction. One day, I came up to the desk, and without thinking about other repercussions, I just said, "It's quiet down here." The clerk looked at me and said, "Don't say that word!!" I then backpedalled and said, "Well, it's quiet in that there's no construction going on... it's quiet in that there isn't a brass band coming through triage! I swear, that's all I meant!!!"

It was kind of funny.

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Specializes in ER (My favorite), NICU, Hospice.

Also if the off going shift says "We had a good day" you know you are doomed. I hate to here that.

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I said "Quiet" in the ER yesterday - 3 whole patients all day. ;)

steph

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Specializes in ED-CEN/PACU/Flight.

Our ED avoids the words Quiet and Slow.

Our full moon nights are particularly heinous - these last 2 nights I have gotten my rear spanked like a bad puppy!

And I do agree with the "kiss of death" - I hate hearing, "It's been a great day!" That's when EVERY frequent flyer has a friggin' reunion in the lobby and you hear all the ambulance reports being called in on Ihern and can identify the patient by the complaint...

:lol2:

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Specializes in 6 years of ER fun, med/surg, blah, blah.

I worked with a Med/Surg nurse several years ago & when she worked in an Indianapolis hospital, she was told NEVER to pull back the bed covers to prepare for a patient coming up to the floor, because everytime that happened a code was called somewhere in the hospital. She thought that was bull, & proceded to get the bed ready for her upcoming patient, & sure enough, "code blue" was heard overhead. Wierd! But she swore by her story.:eek:

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Specializes in 6 years of ER fun, med/surg, blah, blah.
Our ED avoids the words Quiet and Slow.

Our full moon nights are particularly heinous - these last 2 nights I have gotten my rear spanked like a bad puppy!

And I do agree with the "kiss of death" - I hate hearing, "It's been a great day!" That's when EVERY frequent flyer has a friggin' reunion in the lobby and you hear all the ambulance reports being called in on Ihern and can identify the patient by the complaint...

It's like envoking the devil's name to say, "Gee, whatever happened to So & So" & next thing you know, there they are in Triage, signing in for c/o Pancreatits, after a bout of drinking, again & again

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Specializes in ER.

I don't care what anyone says, I avoid the Q and S words like the plague, and never mention FFs, and HATE full moons. Maybe it is all in my head, but I tell ya, last night the ER doc had cleaned out the ED, you could have heard a pin drop, and he said "well, since it's all quiet down here, I'll be in the office napping on the couch." No sooner had the words come out of his mouth (they were still hanging in the air, like a cartoon bubble) than we hear CODE BLUE paged overhead. So we run upstairs, run the code. Come back downstairs, 5 more pts to be seen. Quick orders a couple things on each one (usual middle of the night bull$#!@) and by this time, we had been back from the code for about 15 min. and what do we hear, but another CODE BLUE paged overhead. Come back downstairs after running that one, and here rolls an MVA, a CP and 5 minutes after that, a code comes rolling in our doors this time. So, basically, theres enough proof for me - and the last time we were chatting about our list of most honorable frequent fliers, all 5 of the ones we had mentioned came in at the same time - seems they even shared a cab to the ER since they live in the same housing projects. Go figure. I'm definetly superstitious. New grads laugh at me when I tell them what our no-no words are, but a month or two in, and they're cautioning everyone else!!!

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Specializes in Emergency room, med/surg, UR/CSR.

Oh I definitely believe in the curse of the S word or the Q word, also the full moon curse. I was working with an LPN last winter at the LTAC I work at now and she happened to mention that there had never been a code at this hospital while SHE was working. Sure enough, a few hours later, we had a code! I told her that it was HER fault because of what she said. When I was working the ER, you could almost guarantee a bad shift the minute certain doctors walked in. Or a combination of nurses and doctors. It got to the point of walking in, seeing them and thinking "Oh crud, it's gonna be a baaaaaad night." And it usually was.

Pam

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Specializes in ICU, CCU, Trauma, neuro, Geriatrics.

When I worked ICU we used to fully prepare an empty bed for a patient, even left the lights on in the room to ward off the ultimate crashing patient. Just some silly things we do when our active minds have the time. If you have time to notice it is quiet it probably won't stay that way for long. Those down times did give us the opportunity to restock everything, really clean the IV pumps, scrub the tubefeeding pumps, kill dust bunnies behind the computers, work on committee stuff, suggest quality assurance subjects.

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