What is the difference between an oral and rectal thermometer?

[Brian]

Taste!LOL!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Which reminds of a joke........

A very tired nurse walks into a bank, totally

exhausted after an 18-hour shift. Preparing to write a check,

she pulls a rectal thermometer out of her purse and tries to

write with it. When she realizes her mistake, she looks at the

flabbergasted teller, and without missing a beat,

she says: 'Well, that's great.... just great......

....some a$$hole's got my pen!'

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

One of our surgeons tells this joke all.the.time.

[annister]

Where you put it.

[DixieRedHead, ASN, RN]

One is the instrument you use to take the temperature of a normal person.

The other is the instrument that you use to take the temperature of someone who suffers from crainorectal inversion.

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

yucko

[SarahB84]

in answer to the actual question...i find that axillary or rectal is way more true, pt's forget to tell u they just drank some cool water, or their mouth just registers a reg temp but you can FEEL how hot they are. I way more prefer axillary or rectal. plus if someone is "out of it", rectal is easier if they are on their side. I hope that helps:)

[RH-CC2011]

...I way more prefer axillary or rectal. plus if someone is "out of it", rectal is easier if they are on their side. I hope that helps:)

...Sarah, Please wake me up when I'm your patient and you come in to check my temp!

:icon_roll

[CheesePotato, BSN, RN]

Dear Brian--

Thanks to your post I now have a perfectly good mouthful of Muscato wriggling its way into my frontal sinuses while the rest of it, the part that forcefully flew from my mouth in a fit of coughing, is oozing its way among the channels of my laptop keys to gum up my enter key.

Nicely done, sir.

Nicely done.

And so.

Very.

Wrong.

[Ldial1]

Which reminds of a joke........A very tired nurse walks into a bank, totallyexhausted after an 18-hour shift. Preparing to write a check,she pulls a rectal thermometer out of her purse and tries towrite with it. When she realizes her mistake, she looks at theflabbergasted teller, and without missing a beat,she says: 'Well, that's great.... just great..........some a$$hole's got my pen!'

Haha!

[RobinScottRN]

What's the difference between an oral and rectal thermometer?

The patient!

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

lmao....

[Aeterna, BSN, RN]

This reminds me of being in my first year as a nursing student. Our first semester clinical exam covered basic assessments, such as taking vital signs. We went in two at a time in alphabetical order (in different rooms, of course). The way it worked out, the girl I went with was a friend of mine. When we were done, we walked out together and talked about how our exams went.

Friend: Wait...the red thermometer is the oral one and the blue is the rectal, right?

Me: No, it's the other way around. Blue is oral, red is rectal.

Friend: ...*gasp* CRAP. That means I used the rectal thermometer for an oral temp...Do you think they'll fail me for that? Why didn't someone say something?!

LOL I couldn't stop laughing. Fortunately, the thermometers we used were practice ones owned by the school so I highly doubt the rectal one was ever used....I hope xD