Nurse Slang Yo!

Nurses General Nursing

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So this morning, after my alarm clock rudely woke me up (so ruuuuude :sniff:) , 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!

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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.

Thanks!

Specializes in Hospice.
My immediate thought reading this is .... It's a little sad the nurse asked if you're a nurse just because you wanted to know what med your kid was getting. Do parents not regularly ask?

I think it was more the fact that she asked about the dose. Most civilian parents would just say "What's that for?"

I blew my cover when my mom was in ICU and declining rapidly. She developed a Kennedy Terminal wound, and none of the ICU staff had ever seen one. So they were a bit flaily, and couldn't figure out how a wound that bad had literally developed in a few hours. So I held an impromptu inservice at the Nurses station and reassured them that they hadn't done anything wrong. The doc ordered a Hospice eval when I was done talking.

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Specializes in critical care.
I think it was more the fact that she asked about the dose. Most civilian parents would just say "What's that for?"

I blew my cover when my mom was in ICU and declining rapidly. She developed a Kennedy Terminal wound, and none of the ICU staff had ever seen one. So they were a bit flaily, and couldn't figure out how a wound that bad had literally developed in a few hours. So I held an impromptu inservice at the Nurses station and reassured them that they hadn't done anything wrong. The doc ordered a Hospice eval when I was done talking.

Go, you! I've never even heard of a Kennedy Terminal wound before.

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Specializes in Hospice.
Go, you! I've never even heard of a Kennedy Terminal wound before.

They show up at the lower back/sacral area, start out purple/blue/black and have kind of a shiny, leathery appearance. If a declining patient develops one, death usually occurs within 24-36 hours. First described by a Hospice Nurse.

Treatment is supportive; cover with a foam dressing for protection, and offload, just as you would a pressure wound.

It's thought that they develop as multi organ/system failure progresses. Remember, skin is an organ.

Even turning q2 hours won't prevent one. It's called "7-3" syndrome; nothing there at the beginning of the shift, last position change of the shift...bam. (It was first described back in the Stone Age, hence the 8 hour shift reference lol).

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

Thanks, Jensmom!

I have seen one, but did not know what it was or how rapidly it developed. Interesting/helpful post!

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Pain is subjective. If YOU don't think it's painful, it's not for an ER nurse to insist that it is. Irresponsible of him/her to say that to you.

I viewed it differently. I looked at it like, the doctor was trying to make sure that she was not under treated for pain.

Similar to certain cultures that do not admit to being in true pain. We have to be mindful of that. Written poorly on the doctor's part, but I think he was just trying to make sure that a good pain assessment was done and that her pain was treated appropriately.

Yeah, I completely misread that post doh!

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Why are you offended by her comment? I wasn't! In fact, I found it humourous! #1 - I had to explain to her that, yes, I knew what a GOMER was, and why/how I knew the acronym #2 I AGREED with Dr "starts with S, ends with ski(cause, although I have seen him myself 3 times, twice with my boys in the past 20 yrs, I cannot for the life of me remember his full name), my pain scale IS OFF! 10 was a breech birth, no meds, rush to the OR, too late, emergency episiotomy to assist ; 9.5 was en-caul, posterior, pressing on sciatic nerve, cord wrapped and calcified, no meds, NO DOCTOR! THANK THE LORD FOR LD NURSES!!!!! (according to my hubby, took 4 surgical packs to stitch me back up once DR "I was at a dinner party, I didn't think I needed to rush" bothered to show)

I REFUSED both Oxy and Perc because I DO NOT like the "helium filled frontal lobe", augmented hearing/sight/every vibration in the house feeling. She was most likely used to "T3s do nothing for me" type patient.

So, here is a question for you.

Ever had a patient apologize for being at the hospital because they felt it was a waste of your/hospitals time and/or resources? CAUSE THAT WAS MY REASONING FOR CALLING MYSELF A GOMER!!! I think the nurse was just SHOCKED that a non-medical person used the phrase!!

AND refused powerful pain meds!

Exactly. This ^^^

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Specializes in CNS Pediatric Surgery, now retired.

WIMP = without inherent medical problem

For the FLKs (funny looking kids), where an abnormal appearance may be an undiagnosed syndrome, you have to make certain it is not UPS. Ugly parent syndrome.

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Flk...funny looking kid

COW..commode on wheels

Stop n drop...a pt who comes in and have a baby with the hour

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Specializes in Hospital medicine; NP precepting; staff education.
I think it was more the fact that she asked about the dose. Most civilian parents would just say "What's that for?"

I blew my cover when my mom was in ICU and declining rapidly. She developed a Kennedy Terminal wound, and none of the ICU staff had ever seen one. So they were a bit flaily, and couldn't figure out how a wound that bad had literally developed in a few hours. So I held an impromptu inservice at the Nurses station and reassured them that they hadn't done anything wrong. The doc ordered a Hospice eval when I was done talking.

I wanted to let you know that I "liked" it for your knowledge and ability to inservice the staff amid your own grief.

I'm extremely sorry for your loss. We're part of a club I hate to be in.

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Specializes in kids.
If you're over 45 honey those ain't "tears"!!!

Truth be spoken right there!!!!

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Specializes in kids.
They show up at the lower back/sacral area, start out purple/blue/black and have kind of a shiny, leathery appearance. If a declining patient develops one, death usually occurs within 24-36 hours. First described by a Hospice Nurse.

Treatment is supportive; cover with a foam dressing for protection, and offload, just as you would a pressure wound.

It's thought that they develop as multi organ/system failure progresses. Remember, skin is an organ.

Even turning q2 hours won't prevent one. It's called "7-3" syndrome; nothing there at the beginning of the shift, last position change of the shift...bam. (It was first described back in the Stone Age, hence the 8 hour shift reference lol).

Learn something new everyday

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Work a psych unit - BSC - Bat S Crazy; Circle with a Dot = Borderline/attention seeking; Special = Diva; M.R.ish - high functioning or not! Active family = Calls screaming & demanding this & that for the pt. I am sometimes heard whispering "Lord have mercy, Christ have Mercy, Lord have Mercy" on particularly bad days usually followed with quietly asking the nurse next to me to please stab me in the eye (to take my mind off of how crazy it is today!) We also have a few hand signs --- the OK sign (always with a smile) = A. Hole. Crossing self = Psychotic like in the movies. We all shake it off during report - but it can get pretty intense at times!!!

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