Nurse with potty mouth.

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We have an excellent nurse but she curses like a sailor. Anyone else work with a foul-mouthed nurse?

My last DON called me a "conversational cusser". I can have a pretty foul mouth but I always maintained at work. One evening, two aides were sitting on their behinds with call lights going off (not on their assignment, right?). One actually got up to see where it was coming from, then went back to her seat. I was setting up an IV atb so I couldn't answer it...I then announced pretty loudly, "Answer the damned thing instead of sitting on your ass!" As I said this I noticed family members sitting cross from me. I apologized to them, I really did feel horrible, I then went and told the supervisor about what I had done.

I did get a verbal warning about it, I deserved it, I guess. The upside was the family got a kick out of it, they thought it was pretty funny I was so embarrassed.

Good for you! It showed the family that someone there cares about the care being given (or not given)!

Specializes in ICU.

Someone previously mentioned that swearing only really mattered in peds units or where children were present; where as adult units it's acceptable since they can handle it, it's expected, ect.

Well I can say with certainty that this should not be assumed. In the area I live in, there is a predominate culture where swearing is not appreciated and is down right disturbing to a good portion of the population. Yes, these are full grown, well adjusted adults who are uncomfortable with foul language and would not appreciate their heatlhcare providers talking that way in front of them.

Myself, I'm pretty comfortable with others' swearing, even partake in it myself every now and again, though I'm not proud of it. I have friends and family members who have a certain talent for cussing and it's almost poetic :) But I always understood that being professional meant avoiding foul language, regardless of the setting, and that's how I choose to conduct myself.

nothing more disgusting than someone you work with (or anyone for that matter) who constantly throws the "f-bomb" around all the time. totally uncalled for and not appropriate anytime ! :eek:

praiser :heartbeat

i love dropping f-bombs... it's not disgusting whatsoever.

but...

it is inappropriate in some settings.

Oh man . . . I have to follow you MarvinMartian . . . . . :rolleyes: ;) ;)

There have been many threads on AN about this issue over the years - and this thread seems to be following the usual road. No big deal . . ... to very big deal.

I agree with those who think it is unprofessional, especially using the "F-Bomb" as a verb, noun, and adjective. THAT just sounds unintelligent.

Over the door of our local Frosty - "PROFANITY IS IGNORANCE MADE AUDIBLE". :D

The op's co-worker should not be allowed to cuss in front of the patients - period. Behind closed doors in the break room . . well, that's another story.

steph

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care, Cardiac, EMS.
I love dropping F-Bombs... It's not disgusting whatsoever.

BUT...

It is inappropriate in SOME settings.

And therein lies the point - to you it's fun and amusing.

To Praiser it's disgusting and inappropriate always.

To others it's not necessarily disgusting, but it is inappropriate ...

To me, listening to people drop F-bombs like punctuation is like watching monkeys fling feces at the zoo - it's their nature to do it, it's slightly amusing at first, then it loses it's shock value and quickly becomes tiresome and sad, and the last thing I'm willing to do is squat in the cage and fling dung with 'em.

So to me, the point is to always conduct ourselves to do the smallest amount of harm to the largest number of people - which means we have to be on our best behavior, and put our best faces forward, not our worst. And you never know who's listening.

'Cause I don't know about you, but the nurse I want taking care of my sick little girl isn't the one I hear telling the risque jokes and dropping the f-bombs. You may be a fantastic nurse, and an incredible person - but that isn't what I hear.

I'm just sayin'.

Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

I occasionally swear-if I'm in pain or really mad. But I wouldn't swear in front of a patient because I believe it's unprofessional. I've had to tell a nurse of recently for using the f word when talking to a patient. Her excuse was to make the patient feel at ease because the patient was a young female who swore but I told her that it's completely inappropriate, there are other ways to make a patient feel less anxious without resorting to swearing.

And a few weeks ago a junior surgeon was speaking with a pre op patient in the holding bay. In the middle of explaining the procedure he answered his cell phone which was rude in itself but he then started using the f word to the person on the phone. I had a go at him about it but his excuse was that he was stressed out. I told him to find better ways of dealing with it.

Oh man . . . I have to follow you MarvinMartian . . . . . :rolleyes: ;) ;)

.

steph

HAHAHAHAHAH

Who exactly decided that the F-Bomb was profane??? I think we need to have a revote! :D

But I have never and would never swear at work... I feel like my mom would magically appear around the corner and smack the #%$^ out of me. ;)

Specializes in Operating Room.

Since when did it become O.K. for a "professional" nurse to curse in the work environment?! Why is this tolerated? There is no excuse for any staff member to curse in front of patients and family members. Clearly it shows that the person is incompetent in choosing their words wisely in a situation, which clearly says that they are not professionals. I have never seen a Doctor, lawyer, banker, etc. drop a F-bomb in front of their clients...just saying.

Now behind closed doors...that's a different story.

But in order for nursing to be viewed as a well regarded, capable, and competent profession, the attitudes, behaviors, and idiosyncrasies of nurses are going to have to change dramatically.

HAHAHAHAHAH

Who exactly decided that the F-Bomb was profane??? I think we need to have a revote! :D

But I have never and would never swear at work... I feel like my mom would magically appear around the corner and smack the #%$^ out of me. ;)

Glad you laughed - I was hoping so. :D

My kids feel the same way . .. . they are always expecting a bop on the head . . .IN FACT coincidentally on my oldest son's FB page today, I figuratively "bopped" him for making a crude joke on his girlfriend's FB . . and they are both almost 27. :devil:

steph

Specializes in Haematolgoy.

i'd say i can generally agree that swearing at work around patient's should be a no go : it looks bad on you and your institution. HOWEVER, i would say that there are definately situations where is is acceptable. many patietns use profanities in there general vocabulary and as long as you're in a SSR, i feel that you can connect and communicate more effectively with them if you use their language. i can appreciate why many folk wouldn't agree with that, but i speak like that with lots of my patients and i think it lets them appreciate you as more of a human as opposed to "the nurse".

i did read an article recently (sorry, but cant find it for reference) that supported the view that my generation communicate more effectively when using "socially unnaceptable language", so i'd say there is an argument to say that maybe things are, or will be shifting along... :twocents:

Specializes in Interventional Cardiology, MICU.

95% of the nurses in my unit would be gone...

Specializes in LTAC, OR.

Swearing is pretty much par for the course in the OR (after the patient's asleep of course). I personally don't swear that much, so I have to put up with everybody thinking I'm so innocent--my anesthesiologist today was making jokes about my mom dropping me off at work and telling me to be good. Ugh!

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