Should spelling count?

the electronic notes at my facility are full of words misspelled words. The embarrasing thing for me is these are degree nurses, BSN and MSN.

Does this effect the image of nursing as a profession?

looking for comments,opinions and/or references.

"words misspelled words" "embarrasing"

Pot meet kettle

Seriously, those degree nurses, BSN and MSN, may not have realized just how closely some may examine the notes.

I think that spelling definitely counts! Not only does it look terrible to fax records to another office with several typo's but it can effect the pt's level of care. Something as simple as a few misplaced letters can change the meaning of a scentence. I work in OB/GYN and we have a procedure called a colposcopy, pt's always call it a colonoscopy. If a nurse made this mistake it could really effect a pt's care if she had another abn pap with a different practice. Correct documentation is paramount, there are just too many similar words in the medical world, even simple things can cause confusion.

I'm just glad we have digital medical records because nothing is worse than a handwritten spelling error that you really can't make sense of. I do wish our records system had spell check!!!

Spell check is invaluable for people like me.

We do not have spell check at my facility---and my new computer at home does not allow spell check on allnurses.com (so excuse any mispellings I may have!!) I am a fast typer and do tend to make spelling errors...just last week I documented "called Dr wiht labs' and the oncoming nurse said "hey who is Dr.Wiht?" she really thought we got a new doc!!

I try to remember to use spell check.

But as you made a few errors in your post about people making errors, you can see how easy it is to do. One shouldn't judge the entire profession of nurses on a few misspelled words.

I try to remember to use spell check.

But as you made a few errors in your post about people making errors, you can see how easy it is to do. One shouldn't judge the entire profession of nurses on a few misspelled words.

i couldn't judge an entire profession based on an individual's errors.

and it is certainly not limited to nursing.

i've encountered teachers who misspelled, as well as college professors.

but still, i cringe.:)

leslie

My pet peeves are the words that people often mistype/misuse in place of the ones that are really correct. They are not caught by the spell checker, but still look terrible. For example:

its -- it's

your -- you're

than -- then

accept -- except

affect -- effect

And please don't get me started on ect. and 's used for plurals.

The meaning comes through, but the writing doesn't shine. It's like a nice table with a big scratch on it. It works, but would you want to pay top dollar for it? We should always read what we write before we send it.

And another thing, misspellings in electronic records can make searching very difficult. Try finding Dr. Barnes if it's spelled Branes.

My pet peeves are the words that people often mistype/misuse in place of the ones that are really correct. They are not caught by the spell checker, but still look terrible. For example:

its -- it's

your -- you're

than -- then

accept -- except

affect -- effect

And please don't get me started on ect. and 's used for plurals.

The meaning comes through, but the writing doesn't shine. It's like a nice table with a big scratch on it. It works, but would you want to pay top dollar for it? We should always read what we write before we send it.

the its/it's, your/you're, etc....no problems.

but i do struggle with the proper placement of the apostrophe when it comes to pluralization.

leslie

OOOOH I love this topic! As a usually excellent speller, not always so great typist and an educator this is near and dear to me! I have had students say "the spelling doesn't matter. I gave very good care." Ok. Defend that in a court of law. I think if those of you who still document with old pen/paper, spelling AND penmanship are completely important. Have gone to computers at our hospital this past summer- and I am embarrassed at some of the spelling and grammer and punctuation. Sheesh. For those who have trouble spelling and don't have spellcheck, www.dictionary.com is a quick easy reference. The grammar and punctuation? I guess we're on our own for that.

I will never forget as a relatively new nurse being petitioned by our hospital legal advisor to go over a pt's chart whom I had cared for a year before. A year. I had to look at my writing and reconstruct the care I gave her. I have never in over 20 years forgotten that. The case never made it to court- just try to sue UCSF, San Francisco's largest employer... not happening.

If you were reading your own chart, would you want to see typos, misspelled words, awkward grammar and poor use of punctuation? Not paying attention to detail, or worse, not knowing correct English would lead to wonder if my nurse/doc wasn't paying attention to what was going on with me...

OK. Jumping off soap box now. That Dr Wiht was hilarious!

I am a horrible speller. and I aint too good on grammer neither!

I hope whomever does the chart audits takes into account that most nurses are rushing to get charting done at all.

and if they look at the Dr progress notes... it makes the nurses notes look wonderful!

A word to the wise...don't put your faith in spellcheck! Learn to proofread because spellcheck will only catch things that aren't actually words and sometimes will change things that are correct to something wrong, i.e.: CNA to CAN. I learned a long time ago if it is really important, read it backwards or you won't see your mistakes.

I am a horrible speller. and I aint too good on grammer neither!

I hope whomever does the chart audits takes into account that most nurses are rushing to get charting done at all.

and if they look at the Dr progress notes... it makes the nurses notes look wonderful!

but even when rushing, you either know how to spell a word or you don't.

unless you're talking about computerized charting...

then typos can easily occur.

and, agree w/you about md notes....when legible.:)

leslie