Which End is Which

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Many years ago when I worked CCU back in the days when we used glass oral and rectal thermometer's, I was approached by a young nursing student who was preparing to take someone's vitals on how she could distinguish the difference between oral and rectal thermometer's? My response in the midst of my own tasks even surprised me when I responded without hesitation "that's easy, whichever one doesn't have teeth marks..."

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Specializes in SICU, EMS, Home Health, School Nursing.

Thats funny! We just got a bunch of new thermometers in my unit and everyone knows red= rectal, blue= oral.... well thats what I thought anyways! I caught one of the nurses using the red one orally... I was like um you do know that is a rectal one right? You should have seen the look on her face, it was priceless! She even got a sticky note and wrote on it "this is really rectal" and taped it to the thermometer.

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Specializes in LTC / SNF / Geriatrics.

cold lips - blue; HOT #ss - red

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cold lips - blue; HOT #ss - red

Thx Christie... we could all write a book and become rich based on our experiences...

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How do you tell the diffence between an oral and a rectal thermometer?

The taste!:roll

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How do you tell the diffence between an oral and a rectal thermometer?

The taste!:roll

Great answer... however, didn't want to go there... how times have evolved... at least you didn't mention "by the stain..."

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Great answer... however, didn't want to go there... how times have evolved... at least you didn't mention "by the stain..."

Another way to tell the difference---

Sniff them. The one that smells like poo is the rectal thermometer.

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