One thing that is nails on chalkboard to me is when I hear my fellow nurses use double negatives and other blatant grammar mistakes. I'm speaking of English as a first language, domestically born and raised people.
I feel as this detracts from the professional image of nursing. We are supposed to be educated professionals. Poor grammar makes nursing look like a blue collar trade to those who are educated, such as our physicians and many members of the public.
Let me clarify that I don't harshly judge the intelligence or moral character of people with poor grammar. But, I feel strongly that nurses should project an image of being educated professionals in our speech and demeanor. Thanks for reading.
I am bothered by poor grammar from those who should know better. Otherwise, I don't think about others' poor grammar, and I think it is unkind to say anything.
Here's an example. My mother has suboptimal grammar. But I would never say anything because it would hurt her. On the other hand, it irritates me to no end when my instructors' hand outs have so many errors that I have to re-read their sentences several times to decipher what the intended meaning is.
Isn't this thread a hoot? I bet you all re-read your posts five times like I did, afraid of unintended errors!
I had to chuckle when I was reading a handout from one of my professors (who holds a PhD) that stated we would "loose points" if the paper was not in proper APA format (which I'm pretty sure includes proper spelling...).
I had to chuckle when I was reading a handout from one of my professors (who holds a PhD) that stated we would "loose points" if the paper was not in proper APA format (which I'm pretty sure includes proper spelling...).
see???
this is precisely what i mean.
if educators can't even get it right, then how will the students be taught correctly?
over the years, i have seen teachers at all levels, with questionable grammar and spelling.
loose - not bound together.
lose - to cause the loss of.
simplistic, yes.
but sheesh, what is so difficult about this concept?
i understand the challenges with more difficult usage, but lose/loose is 3rd grade level....
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Okay, I've resisted this thread for a long time, but now I've got to jump in.
Speling and grammer has bin a point of pride for me sence I wuz 4 yeerz old. I wuns new a nurse who cudnt spel "cat"---she use to chart about patience who had a "seazur" and Id get all embarased for her wen I red her charitng. How cud she get threw collage without noing how to right coreckly?
funy thing wuz, she wuz a GRATE nurse. She took realy good care of the patience at are nursing home, and she did alot of things none of the other nurses wud do for them. Shed tuck them into bed, give them back messages, put creem on there skin so they smelt good. and she wud stay with them if they were dieing. If I wuz a patint thier, Id want her to take care of me two.......and if she cant spel write, who cares? Shes doing whats most important, taking care of patience.
So I learnt too look the other way and not complane about her speling and grammer she is a wonderufl NURSE and thats all that counts, rite?
Specializes in Infection Preventionist/ Occ Health.
Okay, I've resisted this thread for a long time, but now I've got to jump in.
Speling and grammer has bin a point of pride for me sence I wuz 4 yeerz old. I wuns new a nurse who cudnt spel "cat"---she use to chart about patience who had a "seazur" and Id get all embarased for her wen I red her charitng. How cud she get threw collage without noing how to right coreckly?
funy thing wuz, she wuz a GRATE nurse. She took realy good care of the patience at are nursing home, and she did alot of things none of the other nurses wud do for them. Shed tuck them into bed, give them back messages, put creem on there skin so they smelt good. and she wud stay with them if they were dieing. If I wuz a patint thier, Id want her to take care of me two.......and if she cant spel write, who cares? Shes doing whats most important, taking care of patience.
So I learnt too look the other way and not complane about her speling and grammer she is a wonderufl NURSE and thats all that counts, rite?
I can let most things go except when people use the term orientate rather than oriented. Drives me nutso!!!! hehehe
OMG!!! Too funny! There is a nurse on nights who always used to say that when giving report...."52 y/o pt of Dr. X in with X. She's alert and orientated, etc...". I would cringe every time!
Maybe she caught on or something because I haven't heard her say that in quite a while now.
We get a lot of tib/fib fractures on our floor, and I often heard my preceptor say that the patient fractured his "tibula and fibula". I bit my tongue many times to keep from correcting her...
My other peeve (not nursing related) is when people order an "expresso". This is why I would never, ever succeed as a Starbucks employee! I always want to correct them, tell them that no, it is not fast coffee, it is espresso.
I would rather say that something affected something else. "Impacted" makes it sounds like it caused an impaction -- which may not be the case.
Affect and effect...always seeing those 2 mixed up/used incorrectly. For example, many people would have used "effected" in the sentence of yours above. Of course, one can "effect" change (use as a verb), but things are "affected", not "effected".
Ok, so poor grammar under any circumstance makes me cringe. I don't claim to speak perfectly, but obvious mistakes really annoy me. When I met my BF he had horrible grammar and he decided to fix it to make himself a better person. So, two years later all of the double negatives, "I seen" etc. have disappeared. One thing remains that makes me cringe - ending his sentence with "at". This drives me up a wall. In elementary school we were taught that it is improper, but I am starting to question that because it is used so frequently.
So I am wondering if I could have some insight on this. Is it alright to end a sentence with a preposition?
According to what I've learned, you do not end a sentence with a preposition
My biggest pet peeve is people who misuse your and you're. I guess people don't know the apostrophe is you're is for the letter "a". I can't stand to see a person write "Your a pretty girl." or "This is you're meal." I also can't stand it when people misuse there and their. I once a charge nurse put up signs all over the unit stating, "Nurses must perform all there own dressing changes." So I took an green marker and crossed out all her signs and replaced there with their.
You are too funny! I did something like this a few months ago. The nurse who does our schedule after we put in our requests for the month had some large note stuck on the front of the schedule book. I don't remember what it said, but my bratty lil' self just had to write in the correct word!
Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
You are too funny! I did something like this a few months ago. The nurse who does our schedule after we put in our requests for the month had some large note stuck on the front of the schedule book. I don't remember what it said, but my bratty lil' self just had to write in the correct word!
RN4NICU, LPN, LVN
1,711 Posts
I had to chuckle when I was reading a handout from one of my professors (who holds a PhD) that stated we would "loose points" if the paper was not in proper APA format (which I'm pretty sure includes proper spelling...).