When will people learn NOT to say the "Q" word...

Tragically Hip · Jul 16, 2012

I like the comment by a previous poster who stated it could be intuition. Seriously, every single time someone mentions how quiet it is, all hell breaks loose. Never have I heard it and not witnessed everything hitting the fan. Call it what you will, it's true.

Or it's confirmation bias. Are you really confident that you remember each time "quiet" is uttered and everything doesn't hit the fan? (Don't worry — the double quotation marks act as a force field, and as long as that bad old word is in quotes, it can't hurt you.)

This is a classic superstition.

As far as the full moon thing is concerned, it's been scientifically debunked. It's a product of confirmation bias. You do not keep track of all the full moon nights where nothing out of the ordinary happens. You also do not keep track of the non-full-moon nights where all hell breaks lose.

At first I thought it was funny, but now I'm a bit concerned. We do practice evidence-based medicine, don't we?

OnlybyHisgraceRN, isn't all this talk of sorcery sinful?

_______

More on confirmation bias here.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2012

I am superstitious and I'm proud. A lifetime of experience has taught me that, does it always hold true? No, but it comes true more than it doesn't. Things come in three's and the crazies come out on the full moon.

Onlybyhis grace....how's the new job? Obviously well, you are learning the ropes of the ICU. I'm glad.

msjellybean · Jul 16, 2012

In addition to believing the "quiet" phenomena, I have a bad luck combination of underwear & scrub pants. I can wear them separately from one another & nothing ever happens, but together is a guaranteed disaster.

First time I wore them together, we had a full arrest. Second time I wore them, we had tornadoes & had to pull everyone out into the hallway for about two hours. Third (and last) time I wore them, the whole house had seven full arrests & two rapid responses before 11am; in addition to my floor getting slammed.

OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN · Jul 16, 2012

Or it's confirmation bias. Are you really confident that you remember each time "quiet" is uttered and everything doesn't hit the fan? (Don't worry — the double quotation marks act as a force field, and as long as that bad old word is in quotes, it can't hurt you.)
This is a classic superstition.
As far as the full moon thing is concerned, it's been scientifically debunked. It's a product of confirmation bias. You do not keep track of all the full moon nights where nothing out of the ordinary happens. You also do not keep track of the non-full-moon nights where all hell breaks lose.
At first I thought it was funny, but now I'm a bit concerned. We do practice evidence-based medicine, don't we?
OnlybyHisgraceRN, isn't all this talk of sorcery sinful?
_______
More on confirmation bias here.

I'm not sure, why don't you tell me?

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Jul 16, 2012

Are people really that superstitious?

Yes! I've heard coworkers mention "the word that must not be mentioned" on such a night and then all h*** breaks loose!!! I've learned to NEVER speak of the Q-word and never complain about how bored I am during a slow night until AFTER I have clocked out. I don't want to jinx myself. And at times I must resist the urge to slap my coworkers who mention the Q-word or complain about how bored they are.... :lol2:

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Jul 16, 2012

Oh, and I am a firm believer that a full moon = a very busy night. It usually is, too. And before we switched to colored uniforms, I had a set of scrubs I used to wear a lot, until I had two codes happen while wearing them. I decided that was my bad juju set of scrubs and never wore them again!

Twinmom06, ASN, APN · Jul 16, 2012

on our OB unit the song "Tonight's Gonna be a Good Night" is NEVER played - if it comes on the radio (we have a small radio in the Nurse's station its turned off immediately...the one night I was bopping around to the song when the Aide came out of the nursery - I swear she was going to punt the radio down the hall!

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 16, 2012

yup... is just like "murphy's law" if you wash your car it will rain :cool:

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 16, 2012

so funny you mention this but i thought wearing a certain scrub set made my shift hell, because every time i wore it things would go bad. i just never wanted to admit it, being in denial. once again, i'm not supersticious.... this nursing thing is making me nuts!!!

i had a pair of shoes that guaranteed i'd be floated if i were so foolish as to wear them to work. and one of my past orientees had an off-white pair of suede danskos that ensured we'd have a bloody mess of a patient every time she wore them. she figured that out on her own and stopped wearing them to work, but then she happened to be wearing them out one night and someone threw someone else through a plate glass window . . . .

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2012

we're not the only profession to have superstitions and practices to go with them. i shared a house with an actor for a few years and learned that one never, never mentions the name of a certain shakespeare play, although one may call it "the scottish play" in a pinch. :nono:

Calder · Jul 16, 2012

It's crazy that the superstitious here work in a scientific field yet still believe that reality can be affected by speaking magical words such as "quiet". If mojo can actually heal or harm people, why bother with medicine at all? Give everyone a prayer and a chicken foot and send them home.

brownbook · Jul 16, 2012

Yesterday at work I said "the quick queen of quincy and her quacking quackeroo" and it was real busy the rest of the shift. I think it is any "q" word, not just "quiet".

Perhaps all of you could do an evidence based study on this?