nurses and spelling

[Bormio]

I believe nurses to be some of the most well educated, bright and savvy professionals across all disciplines. My question is, why can't a large majority spell? I am talking basics here, for example their, there and they're. Is this a general failure of education or specifically science-oriented curriculum? It is embarassing.

[Bormio]

I think that how you speak and write does say something about you, and right or wrong, people do make judgments about it. I don't think it is a reflection of your character or how kind or compassionate you are, obviously. If you are interested in career progression, however, your communications skills can definitely make a difference.

I was just thinking about this issue because it seems like nurses are always striving to be recognized and perceived as professionals and communication skills are important in this regard.

[canigraduate]

I have recently entered the medical field and do not have a lot of experience with the spelling and grammar of medical professionals. I do, however, have a lot of experience with people with learning disabilities who are incredibly smart and talented. They are looked down on because of their errors and are seen as less intelligent. When promotion time comes, they are also given less consideration. I'm NOT saying that it's right, in fact it infuriates me, but it happens. So, if you are capable of learning to spell and use grammar correctly, it is only to your benefit, and it may cause people to think that you are smarter than you are.

:)

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

I think that how you speak and write does say something about you, and right or wrong, people do make judgments about it. I don't think it is a reflection of your character or how kind or compassionate you are, obviously. If you are interested in career progression, however, your communications skills can definitely make a difference.

I was just thinking about this issue because it seems like nurses are always striving to be recognized and perceived as professionals and communication skills are important in this regard.

Most of a nurses communication skills with their patients are going to be in a verbal form, not a written form. I could be wrong, but from what I have seen, majority of a nurses written communication is in the form of charting. My hospital it's electronic with mainly boxes to tick but it's made up primarily of shorthand as well. Dr's seem to be very well respected and have some of the worst written communicating skills I have ever seen.

While I think it's important, I don't think minor mistakes in something will look bad on someone. I have been a patient more times then I can count and I have never judged my nurse on anything written.

Now I have seen some posts here that make me cringe, I can't even make out what is being said. I do agree that is pretty unprofessional and we are talking about more then a few errors.

I just saw a post in another thread here where the poster is ripping someone apart and going on and on about spelling and grammar and it's taking all my might not to point out their error to them. I know I probably make my share of spelling and grammar errors and sometimes I come read a post here I wrote and think HOLY COW was I high or something, when I see all the errors I made. Sure it was a sleep deprived late night I had instead But for the most part, whenever I write, I try to make my posts easy to read, and do the best I can and hope that it's ok enough for people to understand even with minor mistakes.

I can communicate verbally FAR BETTER then I can in writing. As a nurse, it will be my Verbal Communication I count on the most.

When it does come to formal things though, like a paper for school, a letter to a company, what have you, I always have someone proofread my stuff. I can usually see grammar and spelling errors in the writing of others easier. So I make sure I have my stuff proofread so that what I am turning in, does meet higher standards. On this board or Facebook and stuff, I don't put in as much effort, as it's a much less formal setting and I am usually in a hurry to get my point across.

[CFitzRN, ADN]

I think that how you speak and write does say something about you, and right or wrong, people do make judgments about it. I don't think it is a reflection of your character or how kind or compassionate you are, obviously. If you are interested in career progression, however, your communications skills can definitely make a difference.

I was just thinking about this issue because it seems like nurses are always striving to be recognized and perceived as professionals and communication skills are important in this regard.

I am living proof of this. With an ADN and only minimal experience I landed a supervisor position recently and what they cited as their primary criteria: effective and impeccable communication skills.

[csiyaoe]

Most of a nurses communication skills with their patients are going to be in a verbal form, not a written form. I could be wrong, but from what I have seen, majority of a nurses written communication is in the form of charting. My hospital it's electronic with mainly boxes to tick but it's made up primarily of shorthand as well. Dr's seem to be very well respected and have some of the worst written communicating skills I have ever seen.

While I think it's important, I don't think minor mistakes in something will look bad on someone. I have been a patient more times then I can count and I have never judged my nurse on anything written.

Now I have seen some posts here that make me cringe, I can't even make out what is being said. I do agree that is pretty unprofessional and we are talking about more then a few errors.

I just saw a post in another thread here where the poster is ripping someone apart and going on and on about spelling and grammar and it's taking all my might not to point out their error to them. I know I probably make my share of spelling and grammar errors and sometimes I come read a post here I wrote and think HOLY COW was I high or something, when I see all the errors I made. Sure it was a sleep deprived late night I had instead But for the most part, whenever I write, I try to make my posts easy to read, and do the best I can and hope that it's ok enough for people to understand even with minor mistakes.

I can communicate verbally FAR BETTER then I can in writing. As a nurse, it will be my Verbal Communication I count on the most.

When it does come to formal things though, like a paper for school, a letter to a company, what have you, I always have someone proofread my stuff. I can usually see grammar and spelling errors in the writing of others easier. So I make sure I have my stuff proofread so that what I am turning in, does meet higher standards. On this board or Facebook and stuff, I don't put in as much effort, as it's a much less formal setting and I am usually in a hurry to get my point across.

I agree some doctors do have the worst handwriting skills ever. It's bad when you have to go through 4 other people just to make out that he wrote "ace bandage to L ankle". LOL, but I love the doctors I work with.

[sj73201, BSN, RN]

yes, it is something we should ALL know and remember from high school because I can say that it annoys me when people say "your" in place of "you're"...OMG it's soooo annoying! haha, but there's no excuse, if you know the correct usage, Nurses don't need a secretary to correct them. It's basic language anyone with an 8th grade education should have.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Look, this is a secret, but I'm letting y'all in on it.

Doctors SUCK at spelling, so they conspired to just be illegible throughout the profession to cover it up.

[trae55]

My mil has her masters in education. She has terrible grammar and can't spell to save her life. Sadly, this trait passed down to my dh. I think there are just a lot of people out there that can't spell.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

This has been discussed before, for sure.

I do not believe there is a larger percentage of nurses that are bad spellers/use poor grammar than in any other group of people.

I am a stickler for grammar and spelling, that's just how I am. Good thing I surpassed my low level of education (ADN) in that regard, eh?

I do admit that I judge people based on these things. Can these judgements ultimately prove false? Of course...but it makes an impression, just like EVERYTHING else. Anyone who says they HAVEN'T judged others, on things like clothing, hairstyle, tone of voice, etc, is lying. You do it without being concious of it, even.

I briefly had a profile on match.com...and let me tell you, if an email I got was full of uncapitalized words, bad spelling, incomplete thoughts presented as sentences...it was an automatic no for me. If that's me being uptight, so be it, but it's something I notice.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

This has been discussed before, for sure.

I do not believe there is a larger percentage of nurses that are bad spellers/use poor grammar than in any other group of people.

I am a stickler for grammar and spelling, that's just how I am. Good thing I surpassed my low level of education (ADN) in that regard, eh?

I do admit that I judge people based on these things. Can these judgements ultimately prove false? Of course...but it makes an impression, just like EVERYTHING else. Anyone who says they HAVEN'T judged others, on things like clothing, hairstyle, tone of voice, etc, is lying. You do it without being concious of it, even.

I briefly had a profile on match.com...and let me tell you, if an email I got was full of uncapitalized words, bad spelling, incomplete thoughts presented as sentences...it was an automatic no for me. If that's me being uptight, so be it, but it's something I notice.

See here is another post that talks about being a stickler for grammar and spelling while having misspelled words. I saw the same thing in another post (not of yours). I would think that if anyone is going to come down on someone about their spelling and grammar, they would make dang sure their post is perfect.

I have judged people before on many things, it is human nature to judge. I have NEVER judged one of my nurses on a few spelling or grammar errors. Even those I have pre-judged, I try to not let that get in the way.

Having a whole sentence or paragraph of text lingo, completely changing the spelling of a word (boi instead of boy, cuz or cos, prolly, dem, etc. etc.) are things I am less forgiving of. If I see a nurse write this same post I just quoted, with a couple of errors like I just found. I would not look at them as uneducated or judge them for it. If a nurse put the wrong usage of their or they're, again on something, I wouldn't look down upon them. You can tell the difference between a complete lack of professionalism and laziness, compared to a few errors. In my opinion.

I know I am not perfect, I don't expect others to be, but hey, that's just me.

[nursel56]

I'm very busy right now trying to convince people who say, "I could care less", that the correct wording and original form is , "I couldn't care less". I'm not making much progress on that unfortunately.

If you say, "irregardless" you and I are going to have a chat. :)

The war between the words "ravel" and "unravel" still rages, but the incorrect "unravel" appears to be gaining the upper hand through sheer numbers.

The war between "dilation" and "dilatation" and their first cousins "orient" and "orientate" are both over. I'm not sure who won.

Generally, it's not a great idea to post things critical of other's spelling/grammar/word usage. There's an almost karmic guarantee that you will make at least one mistake, and ten people will gleefully pounce on you. Really not worth it.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

As usual I agree with nurse56 (which horrifies her to no end, I am sure)