Stuttering Nurse

[RN0310]

Hello Everyone

How many you know a nurse or health care professional who stutters? How does it make the listener feel? Do you view that person as less intelligent or incompetent?

These are a few of the questions I ask myself on those days my stuttering takes control of who I am. I have suttered since I can remember and throughout my life I have tried to hide it from other people. The last few years I have embraced it, managed it through speech threapy and tried my best to control it during important situations. With all that being said , on my not so good talking days. I allow it to consume me.

The last shift I worked was a pretty easy day until around 4pm. One of my patients started to decline , I used all the proper protocol , keep her safe and stable and ultimately had to send her to the ER. I called to give report to the Er nurse stuttered all over the place. It seems like I couldn't get a full sentence out w/o pausing , using filler words or changing my words mid sentence. I hung up the phone feeling defeated. When I transported the patient down , I didn't want to look the other nurse in the eye. To make matter worse she is in my leadership class at my job. So I'll have to face her on a more frequent basis. I am so embrassed. The report I gave her could have Been 10x better but it wasn't because my stuttering took over what I had in my mind. I keep telling myself , you kept your patient safe , Alive and acted when you needed to. But I still feel incompetent. Out of all the successful talking situations I have encountered , I still dwell on the failed ones..... Stuttering Nurse.

[MB,RN]

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. I unfortunately have little advice to give you but you seem to have the patients best interest first! Are you a new nurse? I was always self conscience when I was new and I would constantly second guess everything after the fact (a bad report). Hopefully you'll gain more confidence and it may make you feel better with your job! Don't let it define you!

As far as my perception of someone who stutters... solid assessment skills and prudent decisions as a nurse speaks for you, not the stuttering. (In my eyes). I wouldn't care if you had trouble with speaking if you could save a life and make a difference! I personally think if someone judges you for that, they're just plain ignorant. But it's life. People are mean. Good luck!!

[caffeinatednurse, BSN, RN]

I don't stutter, but I had a speech impediment when I was younger. I have moments when I'm nervous or anxious that I forget what I was going to say or if I think about it too much, I'll mispronounce or fumble through the words. What helps is positive self-talk and deep breathing prior to making a phone call or giving a report. I'll breathe deeply for a few seconds and then, the moment the anxiety passes, pick up the phone or go find the nurse to give report to. I had a preceptor in nursing school who helped me with this, as well. He used to tell me to go ahead and write down what I needed to say, and refer to it during the conversation or report. It helps keep me on track when my mind goes blank or my anxiety gets the best of me. He also used to remind me that every interaction was just another conversation, and that I knew my patient better than anybody else, and that I should rely on that knowledge to trust myself when giving report or talking to another nurse.

[MB,RN]

?? You said you stutter? Just trying to help. Good luck.

[RN0310]

Yes I do...thanks

[RN0310]

A speech impediment/stutter are all in the same. Thanks for sharing your story with me.

[MB,RN]

Ooooooops. So sorry! But thanks for replying to the OP. I didn't pay enough attention! Sorry to both of you two!

[Anonymous865]

Hello Everyone

How many you know a nurse or health care professional who stutters? How does it make the listener feel? Do you view that person as less intelligent or incompetent?

These are a few of the questions I ask myself on those days my stuttering takes control of who I am. I have suttered since I can remember and throughout my life I have tried to hide it from other people. The last few years I have embraced it, managed it through speech threapy and tried my best to control it during important situations. With all that being said , on my not so good talking days. I allow it to consume me.

The last shift I worked was a pretty easy day until around 4pm. One of my patients started to decline , I used all the proper protocol , keep her safe and stable and ultimately had to send her to the ER. I called to give report to the Er nurse stuttered all over the place. It seems like I couldn't get a full sentence out w/o pausing , using filler words or changing my words mid sentence. I hung up the phone feeling defeated. When I transported the patient down , I didn't want to look the other nurse in the eye. To make matter worse she is in my leadership class at my job. So I'll have to face her on a more frequent basis. I am so embrassed. The report I gave her could have Been 10x better but it wasn't because my stuttering took over what I had in my mind. I keep telling myself , you kept your patient safe , Alive and acted when you needed to. But I still feel incompetent. Out of all the successful talking situations I have encountered , I still dwell on the failed ones..... Stuttering Nurse.

I don't stutter, but like everyone else I have had many, many times when I felt I had "failed" or "embarassed" myself. What I have observed is that it always seemed much worse to me than it did to my coworkers. If they even noticed my "failure" at all, they saw it as a minor oops and quickly forgot it. I saw it as an epic embarassment.

The nurse you gave report to probably didn't even notice. If she did notice anything, she probably assumed that you were distracted. I'm sure that nurse has had times when she was trying to give report while she was being pulled in 5 different directions and felt like she didn't give a good report.

As you said, you kept your patient safe and acted when you needed to. Everything else is just background noise.