things said wrong that drive you crazy

Published

Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Ok. So I'll start by saying that when I hear the office or a nurse say "orientate", it is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Its orient, not orientate.

Another one is O2 "stat". Its O2 sat, as in saturation.

Its trach, not "trache".

Or parents who tell me their kid has a trachea...I sure hope so! I want to tell them their kid isn't special for that and that we all have a trachea.

Parents that tell their kid I'll give them a shot if they don't behave. I'm not around to cause pain or scare a child.

And parents that speak Walmart! When they tell me they want to "axe me" I fear for my life or my job and then they just ask me a question.

Incorrect spelling of meds. It can lead to a med error. The med name is on the container. It can be looked up online if needed. I can't stand hearing "Phenergren", its phenergan.

Seeing/hearing yankauer spelled/said incorrectly. Passy-Muir is another.

Formula doesn't always have milk in it. Some patients are allergic to milk/dairy. Calling it milk and saying you don't want your kid to drink milk because its too much milk just sounds silly.

I'll think of more. Any others?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

No, it's now "orientate", why? I got an order to write it that way from the doctor. Lol

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

I've heard doctors say this stuff too. You would think they learned something in college!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Lol. The OP hit most of mine except for "your son has a temperature." Everyone has a temperature. Even dead bodies left in a snowbank for a week have a temperature.

Nurses that called it "yanker" instead of yankauer was like nails on a chalkboard for me.

O2 Stats. Also nails on chalkboard for me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.
Lol. The OP hit most of mine except for "your son has a temperature." Everyone has a temperature. Even dead bodies left in a snowbank for a week have a temperature.

Nurses that called it "yanker" instead of yankauer was like nails on a chalkboard for me.

O2 Stats. Also nails on chalkboard for me.

Yes! Temperature vs fever. Some of my family says that and it sounds so ignorant!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Sugar instead of diabetes....

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Pampers instead of diapers.

Personal opinion and technically both are correct, but hearing briefs instead of diaper for an infant sounds silly. A diaper is a diaper. But briefs sound better for an adult.

In the same type of error, hearing Kleenex for tissue.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

In EMS, I used to hear a lot from patients (when asked for medical history) "I got the sugar and the pressure."

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

'Speak WalMart'----- Just spit coffee all over myself!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

orientate is a perfectly fine word. We in the USA are just not used to hearing it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

We've got quite a few threads here on AN with these same frustrations and the same words/phrases always come up.

It drove me crazy to hear "orientate" used incorrectly even before I was a nurse.

Yes, orientate is a word but it is just used in the wrong context depending on where you live.

In the UK, it is more common for people to say “orientate” whereas in the US, “orient” is more common. Writers in both countries sometimes bemoan the usage of the alternative word. In fact, both words are acceptable according to the dictionaries. To a UK reader, “orient” may well sound non-standard, whereas “orientate” may sound clumsy to a US reader........

Do you “orient” yourself, or “orientate” yourself?

I live in the US so I do think "orientate" sounds clumsy. It's the same feeling I get when someone says "I seen her take her pills".

:scrying:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

:) On that same link above I found this:

50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid

36. orient – This word has three syllables. As a verb it means to place something in its proper position in relation to something else. It comes from a word meaning “east” and originally meant positioning something in relation to the east. Now it is used with a more general meaning. Say /OR-I-ENT/, not /or-i-en-tate/.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion