Nurses who can't spell

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Feb 23, 2010

I work with a lot of excellent nurses who can't spell worth a damn.

plaza · Feb 23, 2010

alex - it may not even be a matter of folks not being able to spell. instead, it may be a matter of the amount of time and care some posters put into their responses.

in this era of instant communication, IM, text messaging, iphones, blackberries, email, etc., the use of (and resulting) incomplete sentences, improper grammar, etc.) are all too common.

when I post something and afterwards notice a typo or other error, I try to correct said problem. but that's only because I'm a picky @$^%$ and like things to be right.

you asked for thoughts...

Mommaof3 · Feb 23, 2010

I completely agree...sometimes I wonder how people who say things like "but she dont no me so she dont suppost to juge me" and "well what i learnt my ferst semestar was basik care stuff an stuff like that".....how do they pass the tests to get INTO college let alone nursing school? I don't understand...I can understand typos, I make my fair share, but sometimes I think people completely lack basic 5th grade abilities. So sometimes I agree with OP...it is sometimes scary!

Im not saying you have to be a perfect speller or grammatically correct at all times to be a good nurse but you have to admit that some of the mistakes you see on this board make you shake your head and go....WHAAAAAT? What are they even TRYING to say?! JMO :)

computer101 · Feb 23, 2010

Sometimes ppl dont feel like righting out all the words or putting punctuation in there sentences because they are to lazy to type properly and they just want to get there point across :idea:

Like that ;D

Mommaof3 · Feb 23, 2010

I really hope you were just having fun computer101!! LOL. Because it takes the same amount of time to type righting and writing...or there and their!! haha, just saying!!

redbeans · Feb 23, 2010

Sometimes I type too fast and miss spell, but I try to correct it. We aren't perfect all the time. I hate the 'U' instead of 'you', etc.

Brian, ASN, RN · Feb 23, 2010

I also know many good nurses who are bad spellers, I'm one of them

I also agree, with the era of Instant communication that plaza brought up. Although we like to see properly spelled words, as this is a professional forum, we know that people come here casually and we usually do not nit pick at misspellings. allnurses.com is also an international forum, where nurses are from all over the world, we get traffic from over 215 countries, but 85% of the traffic comes from the US. However, while English is the language we speak in these forums, it is not the first language of many of our visitors. So we just ask a little tolerance for the spelling typos.

I hope this helps give some insight on why there maybe more spelling errors than you are comfortable with.

allnurses Guide · Feb 23, 2010

I'm sure my grammar is a mess because I tend to type how I think. I don't bother worrying about it anymore. I also enjoy putting punctuation anywhere I damn well please. For some reason, I can't bring myself to guess at a spelling, so I start to type it in the little Google box above, to make sure.

Misspelled word in the text of the post isn't that huge a deal to me. If it's in the title of the thread, a bit more puzzling, but maybe they were in a big hurry?

I don't think that you can link it positively to a nurse's competence, though. First, lots of flow sheet charting, check check check. Second, reliance on spell-check. Third, English as second lanquage. Could I really go to Russia, or China where not only are the words different but also the alphabet/characters? I agree 100% English competency is crucial to work in healthcare, but I am not going to fuss over a misspelled word here and there that doesn't alter the intent or clarity of the message. JM .002 : )

sharpeimom · Feb 23, 2010

sometimes ppl dont feel like righting out all the words or putting punctuation in there sentences because they are to lazy to type properly and they just want to get there point across
like that ;d

was this written by a thirteen year old, by any chance?

kathy

shar pei mom:paw::paw:

thatsthekeyRNC · Feb 23, 2010

Spelling is one thing, but the grammar people use on here is frustrating. I like how comfortable this site is, but it's also professional and I wish more people would treat it that way. I don't even use IM-language while IMing! An old english teacher of mine always recommended typing and writing properly all the time, so that when you NEED to write properly, it's not a problem.

As frustrating as it is, I do understand international users having trouble. They may still be learning the language or they may be using a translating program that doesn't catch grammar mistakes.

I don't know how all of this really affects people in real life, but it sure is sad to see on here. :-/

sharpeimom · Feb 23, 2010

often when people come here they are tired, just up, just have come after a long shift, upset by/about whatever they are writing about. when i'm upset, i'm not quite as spelling conscious as i might be and i know others are the same way.

as brian mentioned above, many members are not from this country, and what english they do speak or write is stilted and more formal and the verb tenses and forms don't always match up, or a word that is very similar but totally unrelated is used. (when i was a sixth grade french student, i washed my horse

instead of my hair on one test question.)

we are many different generations and we use different slang and usage.

we need to be more tolerant and you younger members might remember that "texting abbreviations"

often set out teeth on edge.

kathy

shar pei mom:paw::paw: