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!

Status Dramaticus

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.
Propofol-Michael Jackson Milk!

This is awful but people say it privately.

Sedate to a jackson 4. Jackson 5 is dead.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

Chop shop. An icu run by family doctors and others with no critical care background at night.

Cosby **** to describe sexually inappropriate / predator behavior.

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From my ED days:

LOL in NAD - little old lady in no apparent distress

WHOML - worst headache of my life

SOB - shortness of breath

Gun and Knife Club - an unusually busy night taking care of GSW (gun shot wounds) and stabbing victims, aka, Trauma Bay

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

ECU -- Eternal Care Unit

Triple P Syndrome -- Piss Poor Protoplasm

Triple H Enema -- High, hot and Helluva lot

VI -- Vulture Index -- liklihood of patient dying in the next shift

PBAB -- Pine Box At Bedside

Fixin' to die -- a patient who has entered the active dying process

DRT -- Dead Right There

MBI -- Usually DRT despite MBI (Man's best interventions)

Thumb spasms -- someone whose digit is overworked by using the call bell to frequently

SI -- "Smith" (not the real name) Index -- someone who is on multiple pressors, nearly dead and likely to get ECMO because our surgeon doesn't believe in death as a part of life

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I have heard of people saying" that patient needs a little pillow therapy" which means a pillow to the face cause he is being difficult and or rude...or when a patient passes or on the way they are waiting for / or meeting the Jesus bus. I have also heard we got a "JUMPER" referring to a patient who will jump out of the bed.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

Shrek - operates or intubates like an elephant-as in wait until Shrek leaves

Dr Hodad - hands of death & destruction

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Long time lurker (2+yrs) first time poster. NOT a nurse, but too many family members to count who are/were RNs, RNAs, LPNs, head of RT, techs of various sorts. This post about acronyms made me laugh at the last time I ended up in the ER (cracked elbow, fell gardening, don't ask) and seen my hospital file (which the nurse "forgot" on the end of my bed) Page 1(sticky note, so not in official file), in BOLD letters was a statement from one of the ER docs (from the previous time I was in, had not kept anything down/in system for 3 days, hubby forced me to go to the ER and SURPRISE, the electrolyte drink they gave me stayed put - although I was kept for another 3 hrs while they ran 2 banana bags into me) that said "Patient will describe self as GOMER - DO NOT BELIEVE! also pain scale is out of whack - she rates a broken bone as 8.5 - childbirth of butt first breech, no meds, is her 10"

When I asked my nurse about it, she stuttered and then said "You are the ONLY person I've heard of in my10 yrs say they were a GOMER and REFUSE Oxy and Percs for what is obviously a painful situation."

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Specializes in Cardiac/Telemetry.

One I'm sure ya'll are familiar with (and rightfully so) is "CYA" -- cover your ***, in relation to charting your butt off when it comes to protecting your license. Besides that one, we use LOL, walkie/talkie, DRT, circling, etc. Some of these though are awesome. Good laugh!

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

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.

Long time lurker (2+yrs) first time poster. NOT a nurse, but too many family members to count who are/were RNs, RNAs, LPNs, head of RT, techs of various sorts. This post about acronyms made me laugh at the last time I ended up in the ER (cracked elbow, fell gardening, don't ask) and seen my hospital file (which the nurse "forgot" on the end of my bed) Page 1(sticky note, so not in official file), in BOLD letters was a statement from one of the ER docs (from the previous time I was in, had not kept anything down/in system for 3 days, hubby forced me to go to the ER and SURPRISE, the electrolyte drink they gave me stayed put - although I was kept for another 3 hrs while they ran 2 banana bags into me) that said "Patient will describe self as GOMER - DO NOT BELIEVE! also pain scale is out of whack - she rates a broken bone as 8.5 - childbirth of butt first breech, no meds, is her 10"

When I asked my nurse about it, she stuttered and then said "You are the ONLY person I've heard of in my10 yrs say they were a GOMER and REFUSE Oxy and Percs for what is obviously a painful situation."

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We like to use

breathing treatment: smoke break

Vitamin D: dilaudid

Repeat offenders: someone who frequently visits the hospital ER (we are not allowed to say frequent flyer)

candy man: doctors who regularly prescribe narcotics

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Going to Montana, waiting for the Montana train=dying (Big Sky Country).

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