What sets my teeth on edge...

Nurses General Nursing

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Why is it that when a normal, adult, professional nurse starts working with an elderly patient, they immediately start talking in that annoying high-pitched, lilting voice that most people reserve for talking with young kids?? Usually it's the women, but there are some guys that do it too. Not only does it set my teeth on edge, but if I'm ever in the hospital and a nurse talks to me that way I'm going to throw an insulted fit! :(

I can't believe that any 80-year-old likes to be talked to that way. I've never worked anywhere but Minnesota, but in four hospitals here ... is it just a Minnesota thing, like "you bet"? I never hear doctors, female or male, talking this way -- are we taught this as nurses?

Either way, it's driving me crazy! So for the sake of my sanity and that of all my elderly patients (enough of them are crazy already!), please stop!

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Originally posted by Susy K

Matt, I realize this is waaaaayyyyy off topic - but you are a sushi whore???

My GOD! I found another male who LIKES sushi! I must be in heaven. :kiss

Maybe Matt is not refering to Fish!:devil: LOL

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Does anyone else think that Matt resembles the neurotic kid named Cameron in the movie "Ferris Buellers' Day Off"?

Matts' cuter though...wink.

Back to topic....those high pitched syrupy voices get to me too...ug. It REALLY hit me when I heard an ICU nurse talking to my gravely ill Dad like he was a 2 year old..grrrr. Felt like slappin'the syrup right outta her.:o

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Okay, naive little blonde here - what is a sushi whore?

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Wow! I just wanted to get something off my chest -- I wasn't expecting so much ... support! Thanks!

Sushi whore: Let me put it this way, when my fiancee and I go out for sushi, our bill is usually more than $100 -- about ten of it is her's.

Jenny: Byerly's sushi will do in a pinch. It's not the greatest, though. I would recommend either Oragami (in the warehouse district, right across from Theatre de la Jeune Lune), Sushi Tango (in Calhoun Square), or Yumi's (in Excelsior). I got a sushi kit for Christmas and want to start making it, but I don't know where to get good fish.

As for the picture ... Cameron Fry, eh? That's a new one. I do get the "you look like..." comment a lot, never Cameron, though. I've had Kevin Costner, Matthew Modine, Noah Wyle, and (my favorite) Harrison Ford. :chuckle I know ... I don't see any of them either. Oh, well.

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First thing I tell my students in geriatric class, Talk to these old, wise people the way you'll talk to others!

I forbid dearies, honnies, granddad or ma and here the "du".

Something you don't have, but here you talk to people you don't know or you respect highly, with "Sie", that's formal.

Never say "du" to someone you don't know, and never say "du" to an older person.

(Although du and Sie mean you, it is like in French the tu and vous)

Also the highpitched, baby voices, they drive me absolutly mad!!

Wouldn't want to be talked to like that when I am old!!

Take care, Renee

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Specializes in Med-Surg Nursing.

I usually talk to my patients (most of whom are elderly and hard of hearing) in a slow but loud voice so I am sure that they can hear me. I try NOT to call them 'honey", "dear", "sweetie", etc. because it is offensive. I find it offensive when someone calls me any of the above names and they are not my mother or husband. I hate it when someone calls me dear! I am an almost 30 year old adult not an 11 year old! So, I can imagine that if I find it offensive then they probably will too.

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Specializes in CV-ICU.

Okay, first of all, I do not use a high pitched voice when talking with anyone. I was an alto or a tenor in high school chorus, so I don't think I have a high pitched voice. Secondly, I address almost all elderly patients with "Mr." or "Mrs." or "Ms" until they give me permission to use their first name instead. However, I have caught myself calling someone "Dearie" - and ONLY that term, in a few instances where (as I said before) I have really liked a little old lady who reminded me of someone special. And I've used the term mainly when I have to do a complex or painful procedure.

Matt, I guess I live in the wrong area of town-- I'm on the northeast end of the Cities, so that's why I hit upon Byerly's sushi. Hubby has used fresh albacore tuna and fresh salmon, both from Byerly's fish dept. for his, plus he's done lots of veggie sushi. We will have to go and check out Oragami and Sushi Tango, but Yumi's will require a special trip because that's about a 45 min. drive for us-- too far for a sushi attack! :) ;)

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Oh my......I guess being a Southerner, we might do things a bit differently.

I'd NEVER call a senior by their first name......BUT here it is entirely permissible to use Miss Susie or Mr Clyde.....that is after you know them for awhile. Otherwise it's Mr. or Mrs. Smith etc.

My DH's mother is in a nursing home and they call her Miss ApplePie. She is indeed elderly but not OLD if you catch my meaning. She loves it. She says that she's either Miss E or Miss Apple Pie......(she has a shirt with big red apples on it).

The dearie and hon.....I'll admit when I can't have a name on the tip of my tongue....you know a brain fart....then a Hon might escape....Dear ain't Southern though.

Diff'rent things for diff'rent folks.

Oh "Ma'am" is *REQUIRED* around here. I guess not so in other parts of the USA.

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Empathy is a quality not all care providers have. Some people just gloat in the fact they are able-bodied, so they talk down to those that are not. It's very wrong, and I hate it too.

I hated it when I was in clinicals and the older folks couldn't feed themselves, didn't want to eat, and couldn't talk...thats when it bothered me the most. I used touch during those times, and retina to retina communication techniques. Many of the other students baby-talked the older adults, and it was boarderline revolting with me. I wanted to be their voice, and in some instances I was. I'd wait till the "baby-talker" was in the break room, or something, I'd listen to them, then (with my own abilities) baby-talked them, with an adult voice. It upset them. Didn't get me anywhere, but, they knew what it meant to be spoken down to. I shouldn't do that, and am realizing i can not change people.

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I always try to pitch my voice lower than normal when I'm speaking with an elder. My grandmother could only hear/understand when I did that. It's Difficult to do when speaking loudly, too. At least for me.

I love sushi, too. I've never spent that much money on it, but I'm sure I would if I let my teenaged daughter "loose" in there! MMMMMMmmmmmm

Love

Dennie

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Specializes in SICU.

I always love the nurses who SCREAM at the vent patients. I guess they figure the ET tube plugs up the ears as well...

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I inherited my dad's voice and snore.....and I am a daughter.........so my voice tone is usually a bit low pitched and that seems to work well with pt. hoh, etc......

I do have a bit of country in me, but also ingrained country respect.......Mr. Mrs. Using name, asking patient what they like to be called.........

but if I have a pt. that says.....please call me bud, I will call them bud.............and yes, a hon has escaped my lips, after I have taken care of same patient a few days.......know not p/c........

I also try to use sir, ma'am and full first names for those of younger generation.....

patient care and empathy is focus..........what patient prefers.........

different when you have also been on other side of the bedrail.....

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