A Texas nurse says she’s often teased about her last name, which happens to be “Newby.” She wonders if she should change it and how long the term newbie has been around. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Why are the names of cars so unimaginative? Grant argues that auto manufacturers might take inspiration from ornithology to build a better car name. (Then again, would you be any less aggravated if you were rear-ended by a lazuli bunting?) Also this...
Good night, nurse! is an old-fashioned exclamation for surprise, disbelief, or frustration, and Debbie in Dallas, Texas, uses it as a cussword substitute. An early example dates to 1908, close to British lexicographer Eric Partridge’s estimate of...
bro-in-lo n.—Gloss: Brother-in-law. «No, your crazy bro-in-lo cannot pack heat in our ICU.» —“I can’t believe I’m having to go over this again” by Jo (Johanne Bertha) Head Nurse Mar. 28, 2009. (source: Double...
COW n.— «“I have my entire nurse’s desk with me whenever I have my computer. Everything I need to know is in the computer with me,” explains Laura Woolliscroft. R.N., as she types on a laptop that sits on a wheeled cart. Nurses...
ICUitis n.— «Shalof describes the absolute chaos she and her patients feel when they are transferred out of the ICU with 1:1 nursing care to the floor where nurses may have up to eight patients. As a floor nurse, I can see the shock this...

