Nursing Voices

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

You Don't Say.

We all have work lingo... in the health care field, the jargon can be particularly mind-boggling. On L&D alone, we drop acronyms all day, from PPROM, SROM, AROM... PTL, PUPPS... to IUGR, PIH, GDM and HELLP... from EFM, FHTs, LTV, IUPC, and FSE..... to SOL, PDI, ROP, LOA, and RC/S... along with Michelle Murray's brilliant and oft' repeated TFTF (too fat to fit!).

But it's the other phrases that fascinate me... the ones you won't find in any medical terminology text book, but which need no explanation among L&D staff.

A few examples that come to mind:

"They're wheeling her up from ER 'cause she's one-cheekin' it down there."
(Patient can't sit straight on the wheelchair. She's probably already pushing, so lets get a room ready for delivery.)

"She's got a positive wet wheelchair test so we're bypassing triage."
(We can be sure that her water broke because she's wet all the way through her pants and onto the wheelchair.)

"I think she's gonna need a little vitamin P."
(Her labor sucks, and it's time for some pitocin augmentation.)

"She's gonna need a zipper."
(She'll need a C-section.)

"She ended up delivering the vaginal bypass route."
(She had a C-section.)

"Can someone bring a glass of orange juice in for ______?"
(_____ is about to pass out... probably mid-epidural placement... and needs a little sugar boost.)

"Call the clinic doc to stand by."
(The patient's physician probably isn't going to make it in time for delivery, so get an attending nearby, just in case.)

Last, but certainly not least, the always-adrenalin-inducing:

"I need another set of hands in here!"
(Something's going down the tubes fast so somebody get your ass in here!... without completely freaking out the patient or FOB.)

Occasionally, this one is followed by:

"Tell them to open the OR!"
(self-explanatory.)

7 comments:

Mother Jones RN said...

I enjoyed reading your post about OB lingo. You're right, we all have our "special" vocabulary.

MJ

Iris said...

Well, being a Jack of All Trades rural nurse who does LDRP, Palliative, Emerg, etc...basically, you name it, I done it.....I know all of those way way too well.

"I need another set of hands in here" can be used in SEVERAL differnt scenarios....the one that really comes to mind is the diabetic coma blood sugar of .... oh....let's say 1.0..... But a lot of my favourite ones come from Emerg....... the diagnosis most frequent in our Emerg........ "that guy is TSTL" (too stupid to live), of course this is usually brought on by a case of "drunken dumbass". Can you tell I was working nights last night and haven't gone to bed yet? I think you have inspired a post here for me. Stay tuned for my own set of Medical Lingo

AtYourCervix said...

There is nothing like nurses springing into action when a fellow nurse calls out "I need extra hands in here!"

apgaRN said...

Thanks gals.

atyourcervix, Isn't that one of the best things about working L&D??? I have always been comforted by the fact that I know I'm not alone... when one of us needs help, we are (almost) all there for each other!

N

AtYourCervix said...

We work very well as a team in times of crisis, that is one thing I absolutely love about L&D.

BTW ApgaRN, you've been tagged! AtYourCervix

Julie said...

Love the post. How true.

Anonymous said...

uplifting and oh so true,wtg l&d girls!