So this morning, after my alarm clock rudely woke me up (so ruuuuude ) , I engaged in my terrible terrible habit of getting on facebook immediately after shutting my alarm off on my phone. I am friends with a few nursing students and they are always posting funny little nursey articles. Well this morning, one of my nursing student friends left a link to a pretty funny article that discussed the different slang used by nurses at work.They had it set up in a dictionary format, where they would use the words in a sentence as an example. As a dorky, overly excited pre-nursing student, I found them hilarious!
My fave was "PITA" which stood for Pain in the orifice.
Such as There is a PITA in room 9, just to let you know.
So I wanted everyone to share some of their "Nurse Slang" they may use daily or have heard before.
Surprise plot twist: our birth mom was killed with pillow therapy and we were adopted out to separate families. Our saga could be entitled, "The Cold Side of the Pillow."
Surprise plot twist: our birth mom was killed with pillow therapy and we were adopted out to separate families. Our saga could be entitled, "The Cold Side of the Pillow."
I like this idea.
She probably would have survived her birth if she wasn't texting through her "10/10" pain and sitting on her call bell all day long. So sad.
We used "WOWs" not "COWs". That would be work on wheels instead of computer on wheels. Apparently a patient heard "COW" and thought a nurse was calling ppl offensive names! So we had to change that quickly! Lol
And def yes to the vampires, the frequent flyers, the walkie talkies (all mentioned by others)
And then there are a few of my favorite terms for certain types of behaviors often seen in patients suffering from dementia:
"sun-downers" (which is a real term- describing patients with dementia who do pretty well during the day, but really start losing it when the "sun goes down"),
"ninjas" (my personal term for little old patients with dementia who are confused, agitated and abusive if you come anywhere near them...some really pull out some crazy impressive moves and are incredibly strong!!!!)
Ohhh and "houdinis" (again, old patients with dementia...those that you thought could barely even move, but now the sun is going down...it's of course almost the end of your day shift...and somehow this patient figures out how to get out of their gown with a personal alarm still attached to it WITHOUT making it go off! And you enter their room with them completely naked, their IV pulled out- blood everywhere, the patient almost completely out of bed with their leg caught in the bed rail in some crazy twisted way like a pretzel, and their foley about to rip out of them bc the bag is hanging on the other side of the bed!!!!) THATS MY FAVORITE!!! Lmao!!! Seriously!!! I've seen this scenario more than I ever should! And when it happens, it's frustrating, and it's definitely a little frightening...and you are hoping the patient isn't injured...or that they aren't going to injure YOU when you try to intervene or the other nurses you call in to help...but it's a memory that will stay with you forever, and will always make you laugh!!!
Okay, a few others:
"dead in the bed" (self explanatory.)
"DOA"- dead on arrival (more for paramedics and ER staff.)
One of my personal faves I know my unit used- giving a patient "vitamin A" (when your patient has gone bonkers and you have to start with chemical restraints such as ativan ("Vitamin A")
FOS- full of stool
"holds" (admitted patients in ER waiting for a bed in a unit)
And, although I am not gonna list them here, I was always amazed at how many crazy little nicknames we came up with and used on a regular basis for lady partss and memberes!!! Actually it's amazing how much you have to discuss these parts of the body in general!!! Lol
Same here! I'm a medical scribe and I push a "WOW" around. We had to change the name because a nurse made a really big stink when she thought someone was calling her a cow.
"LOL Squared" = Little old lady lying on lineolium. "Patient was found at home, after falling in the bathroom"
"Our Lady of Perpetual" _____________ (pain, complaints, etc) "So, in room 327 is Our Lady of Perpetual Anxiety who is back with us once again because...."
"Fluff and Buff" Doing ADL's on a patient
"Treat em and Street em" Getting someone in and out of the ER
And my favorite, when there's all kinds of drama happening in the ED someone is bound to say "Previously, on ER" to break the ice--a reference to the old "ER" show with George Clooney--and the tension. Works every time.
With all that being said "Garden Party" is my new favorite.....and spit one's coffee out funny.
) , I engaged in my terrible terrible habit of getting on facebook immediately after shutting my alarm off on my phone. I am friends with a few nursing students and they are always posting funny little nursey articles. Well this morning, one of my nursing student friends left a link to a pretty funny article that discussed the different slang used by nurses at work.They had it set up in a dictionary format, where they would use the words in a sentence as an example. As a dorky, overly excited pre-nursing student, I found them hilarious!
ixchel
4,547 Posts
We were separated at birth, you and me.
Eta: probably violently.