Well, as my screen name says, I lurk-- a lot! Anyway, I am preparing to write my final paper for nursing school, it is a wrap-up of our final preceptorship and our impressions of the nursing workforce we are about to enter. We are supposed to share our thoughts about furthering our education, how we have witnessed nurses being treated in the workplace, how we felt our school experience was, etc. My paper has kinda veered off on a little tangent (which I am probably going to remove) because one thing that has stuck out in my mind is the way I have seen my fellow nursing students communicate on our class web program, and I see it here on a daily basis as well. I am talking about basic communication skills as far as the written word is concerned.
Is it a trend today, or are my classmates really so deficient in language skills that they can not write a professional, comprehendable sentence? I am not talking about spelling errors, gosh knows we all make those-- I am talking about stuff like this:
"i dont know what u all r talkinabout, but there crazy the way they grade us in nursing school!"
Some of my classmates actually respond to discussion questions from our instructor in this manner. Whatever, to each his own--but my question is, how can a person be taken seriously as a professional if they can not write in basic comprehensible language? And in reading the message board here, I am kinda stunned how many times I just can't understand what the heck someone is trying to say because it just doesn't make any sense!
The more important question to me is this: Do people write like this in real life? Are nurses out there writing notes like this, and communicating with other professionals in this manner? Or is it just something people do on message boards? Do any of you run into this in the workplace?
I'm not talking about simple spelling and/or grammar errors(Tweety, I love your sig about spelling!:)). In fact, in 1st semester my instructor gave me a 98% instead of a 100% on a paper, and she made a note to me that my "grammer was incorrect in one sentence.":uhoh3: Yes, she made a spelling error while correcting me, but I got her point. But if she had written this instead: "ur grammer wuz not write," I probably would have not understood what she was referring to.
So, do nurses communicate this way in the workplace, or is it just confined to the internet?
*** I'm not looking to make fun of spelling or grammar errors, we all make them, I really am just curious if this is the way nurses communicate in real life!***
The abbreviations of which you speak are akin to slang; I doubt their use indicates a lack of basic language skills in your classmates. I am surprised that they'd use these shortcuts in an educational venue, though. I don't think it has a thing to do with failure to proofread, and I'd be surprised if they're not able to produce a well written document when they feel it is needed. It seems the difference of opinion is when it is needed.
Apparently you've never read too many papers produced at the college level. Recently in my Micro class we had to post a mini-paper on Blackboard about a self-selected infectious disease. Many of the people in my class already hold BS and AS/AA degrees.
The papers bordered on frightening. So yes, many are NOT able to produce a well-written document when it's needed.
(There's another one that really burns me up - "it's" and "its". "It's" is a contraction of "it is" and "its" is a possessive. Drives me mad when people use them interchangeably.)
ETA - when I was living in Saudi Arabia, I used to work as an assistant to the General. I used to proofread and edit articles for the base newspaper, as well as all correspondence and paperwork that left the command office. Officers in the military must have a four year college degree. Trust me when I say that a large majority of them cannot write worth a hoot. Captains and majors with ten or more years in the military have grammar and punctuation just as bad as some SEVENTH GRADERS my mother taught. And it is DISGRACEFUL.
If I find myself rewriting a post more than once or twice I know it's time to delete! To keep reworking and polishing a paragraph just for online consumption is a waste of time. My online writing is definitely no reflection on my real life writing skills. Honestly, though, there aren't that many awful writers on this board, unless they're not native English speakers.
Do NOT let me get started on the PROPER USE OF THE APOSTROPHE WITH THE LETTER "S". When is someone going to impress it upon these folks that it IS NOT A PLURAL!!! GRRR!!! Drives me nuts. Along with the there/their/they're and your/you're fiascoes.
You're right - I too think it's just laziness. And since no one calls the question, people continue to do it. Please, we learned this stuff in the third grade. What is happening in college? Can you not CORRECT someone's writing anymore; is that deemed too damaging to one's psyche? They proved whole language didn't work in the grammar schools, so why are they still letting it slide in college - or is that the problem?
Grr. This is my biggest pet peeve! Glad to see I'm not the only one.
With all due respect, I don't think anyone ever proved "whole language" doesn't work. Whole language, combined with some phonics, is actually a great way to teach reading! And I don't see how learning to read using whole language techniques affects one's future compentency as a writer...
I'm with those who are irritated with the misuse of homonyms. "There and thier" drive me up a wall when misused so consistently. For some reason, it catches my eye in a sentence and distracts me to the point of missing the point of the sentence! I love language, and hate to see it being degraded. My oldest daughter's 4th grade teacher told us in a parent teacher conference, that it wasn't her job to correct the grammar in the children's papers, she just had them read their work aloud, "and they usually can hear what they did wrong". Shortly after that we became homeschoolers, and my daughter aced the English portion of the GED last year. (okay, proud mama bragging here:chuckle ).
Casual communication here doesn't bother me, but I do check my spelling etc. for typos (love that edit button!).
The homonym thing doesn't bother me TOO much, if it's a slip up here and there. It's when it's done constantly that it bothers me.
But Not Half As Bad As Trying To Read This When People Do This To Every Word.
OR WHEN PEOPLE DO THIS, AND THE REASON THEY SAY THEY TYPE IN ALL CAPS IS THAT THEY CAN'T SEE VERY WELL. MEANWHILE I'M THINKING THAT BY ONLY CAPITALIZING THEIR WORDS, THEY ARE ONLY WANTING TO READ THEIR OWN WORDS AND NO ONE ELSE'S.
The homonym thing doesn't bother me TOO much, if it's a slip up here and there. It's when it's done constantly that it bothers me.
But Not Half As Bad As Trying To Read This When People Do This To Every Word.
OR WHEN PEOPLE DO THIS, AND THE REASON THEY SAY THEY TYPE IN ALL CAPS IS THAT THEY CAN'T SEE VERY WELL. MEANWHILE I'M THINKING THAT BY ONLY CAPITALIZING THEIR WORDS, THEY ARE ONLY WANTING TO READ THEIR OWN WORDS AND NO ONE ELSE'S.
It's interesting how important each symbol is; how one word can take on different meanings in different contexts. The use of capitalization is especially important, as well as periods. I have seen the use of periods fall by the wayside. More and more ellipses are being put to use. No one wants to make a declarative statement anymore. It either trails off or becomes an interjection. (omg!!!!!11!) (o...m..g...)
I am not speaking specifically of allnurses. I frequent a number of boards, one of which is inhabited by a very large group of teenagers. I am a moderator there and something of a mommabear, as well. Some very strange language stuff brewing over in that world.
A few friends are teachers, from junior high through high school. I have helped grade papers and that process disturbed me. 13 year olds who can not figure out when to use witch and which, there, their and they're etc etc. Scary stuff! This is truly a universal issue. It's as if written language has fallen a few steps behind spoken word.
I love inventive use of language. One of my all time favorite poets is ee cummings. I like it wack, but I am still concerned for language as a whole. I still worry that this is a symbol for the essential breakdown of society. I used to think that the sign of the apocolypse was the beenie baby: Capitalism eating it's own tail Maybe the breakdown of language is just another seal broken. The carelessness with which we communicate with each other is heartbreaking. And I do not blame those who communicate badly. For me, it's just symbolic of something larger.
I think I'm getting kind of far out there; I've entertained these ideas on my own a bit too long, I think. I'll back on outta here like a crawdad, now. Carry on!
For me I try the best I can. English is not my maternal language. I really enjoy this site. I would want to apologize for all the errors I might do or already done. Hopefully you guys will understand what I'm trying to say most of the time.
The homonym thing doesn't bother me TOO much, if it's a slip up here and there. It's when it's done constantly that it bothers me.
But Not Half As Bad As Trying To Read This When People Do This To Every Word.
OR WHEN PEOPLE DO THIS, AND THE REASON THEY SAY THEY TYPE IN ALL CAPS IS THAT THEY CAN'T SEE VERY WELL. MEANWHILE I'M THINKING THAT BY ONLY CAPITALIZING THEIR WORDS, THEY ARE ONLY WANTING TO READ THEIR OWN WORDS AND NO ONE ELSE'S.
Yes, I had been told that all capital letters was considered "shouting" in the internet community and is considered rude. Someone responded to a post of mine on this board once(negatively) and he/she used all capital letters. It did tick me off.
Had someone respond like that to my post, all caps letters, going a little off the deep end. Have no idea if they still type like that, they've been on ignore list for 2 years now lol.
Anyway, I am preparing to write my final paper for nursing school, it is a wrap-up of our final preceptorship and our impressions of the nursing workforce we are about to enter. We are supposed to share our thoughts about furthering our education, how we have witnessed nurses being treated in the workplace, how we felt our school experience was, etc. My paper has kinda veered off on a little tangent (which I am probably going to remove) because one thing that has stuck out in my mind is the way I have seen my fellow nursing students communicate on our class web program, and I see it here on a daily basis as well. I am talking about basic communication skills as far as the written word is concerned.
carolinapooh, BSN, RN
3,577 Posts
Apparently you've never read too many papers produced at the college level. Recently in my Micro class we had to post a mini-paper on Blackboard about a self-selected infectious disease. Many of the people in my class already hold BS and AS/AA degrees.
The papers bordered on frightening. So yes, many are NOT able to produce a well-written document when it's needed.
(There's another one that really burns me up - "it's" and "its". "It's" is a contraction of "it is" and "its" is a possessive. Drives me mad when people use them interchangeably.)
ETA - when I was living in Saudi Arabia, I used to work as an assistant to the General. I used to proofread and edit articles for the base newspaper, as well as all correspondence and paperwork that left the command office. Officers in the military must have a four year college degree. Trust me when I say that a large majority of them cannot write worth a hoot. Captains and majors with ten or more years in the military have grammar and punctuation just as bad as some SEVENTH GRADERS my mother taught. And it is DISGRACEFUL.