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Message |
Carl Perretta
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:42 pm
Post subject: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred to me
that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister". In the film,
some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a religious (like an order
of nuns) or hierarchichal component at work here, or are the terms
interchangeable?
=============
Carl Perretta
Wallingford, PA USA
cjperretta[at]comcast[dot]net |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:00 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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Carl Perretta" <cjperretta[at]comcast[dot]net> filted:
| Quote: |
Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred to me
that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister". In the film,
some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a religious (like an order
of nuns) or hierarchichal component at work here, or are the terms
interchangeable?
|
There's only one nurse I call "sister"...but that's only because we have the
same parents....r |
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Mike Barnes
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:10 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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In alt.usage.english, Carl Perretta wrote:
| Quote: | Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred to me
that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister". In the film,
some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a religious (like an order
of nuns) or hierarchichal component at work here, or are the terms
interchangeable?
|
I'm not a medic, but AIUI a sister is a nurse in charge of a ward or
other department in a hospital.
In case you were wondering, a male sister is called a "charge nurse".
--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:13 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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spake thusly:
| Quote: | Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred to me
that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister". In the film,
some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a religious (like an order
of nuns) or hierarchichal component at work here, or are the terms
interchangeable?
|
Yes (hierarchical) and No (not interchangeable).
"Sister" is a grade of nurse. Think of the grade as something like
"sergeant". The male equivalent is "charge nurse". They tend to
wear more dark blue on their uniforms than the other nurses.
Some "advanced" nursing roles are open only to those who have gained
the rank of Sister (I may be out of date here) such as Health
Visitor, Midwife.
--
David
=====
replace usenet with the |
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:42 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | I think it's extremely likely that the "sister" term has descended
from nursing nuns.
obAUE: UK English can use "nursing" without ever thinking about
breast feeding - it occurs to me to mention this because I try to
think in US English as well as UK when writing in AUE. Did the above
sentence give any US readers an uncomfortable image?
|
Maybe Chuck?
In AmE we do have "nursing schools", "nursing students", people who are
"studying nursing". Ask Coop.
We don't call uber-nurses "Matron" or "Matey", however, but I think we've
discussed *that* bizarre affectionate BrE-ism before. |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:47 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | spake thusly:
Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred
to me that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister".
In the film, some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a
religious (like an order of nuns) or hierarchichal component at
work
here, or are the terms interchangeable?
Yes (hierarchical) and No (not interchangeable).
"Sister" is a grade of nurse. Think of the grade as something like
"sergeant". The male equivalent is "charge nurse". They tend to
wear more dark blue on their uniforms than the other nurses.
Some "advanced" nursing roles are open only to those who have
gained
the rank of Sister (I may be out of date here) such as Health
Visitor, Midwife.
|
I have the impression (I should have waited for Linz to give us the
dinkum drum, but this _is_ AUE) that there really is some kind of
historical or emotional association between nurses and nuns -- nuns
and Knights Hospitaller were the first organised members of the
profession, after all. I don't think it's a coincidence that
British-style hospital nurses used to live under a pretty rigid
discipline, in organised Orders, and wearing a quite unnecessarily
nun-like head-dress. Infirmaries very often had, and have, Saints'
names, too. If that perception is true, then it's not difficult to
see Sisters as full members of the Order, with other colleagues
relegated to a lower rank.
I don't want to get too fatuously semiological, but I wonder if all
this, as well as nurses' association with those great religious
themes, birth, femininity, and death, contributes to their sexiness.
Men are sad creatures, and all too often nuns make them think about
sex.
--
Mike. |
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Matti Lamprhey
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:47 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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"Mike Barnes" <june2005@mikebarnes.fsnet.co.uk> wrote...
| Quote: |
I'm not a medic, but AIUI a sister is a nurse in charge of a ward or
other department in a hospital.
In case you were wondering, a male sister is called a "charge nurse".
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And a male matron?
Matti |
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Alec McKenzie
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:08 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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"Matti Lamprhey" <matti@official-totally-reversed.com> wrote:
| Quote: | "Mike Barnes" <june2005@mikebarnes.fsnet.co.uk> wrote...
I'm not a medic, but AIUI a sister is a nurse in charge of a ward or
other department in a hospital.
In case you were wondering, a male sister is called a "charge nurse".
And a male matron?
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A patron?
--
Alec McKenzie
mckenzie@despammed.com |
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Jim Lawton
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:44 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 13:42:40 -0400, "Carl Perretta"
<cjperretta[at]comcast[dot]net> wrote:
| Quote: | Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred to me
that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister". In the film,
some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a religious (like an order
of nuns) or hierarchichal component at work here, or are the terms
interchangeable?
=============
Carl Perretta
Wallingford, PA USA
cjperretta[at]comcast[dot]net
|
http://tinyurl.com/cr49x says it all ...
--
Jim
"a single species has come to dominate ...
reproducing at bacterial levels, almost as an
infectious plague envelops its host"
http://tinyurl.com/c88xs |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:17 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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Jim Lawton wrote:
| Quote: | On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 13:42:40 -0400, "Carl Perretta"
cjperretta[at]comcast[dot]net> wrote:
Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred
to me that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister".
In the film, some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a
religious (like an order of nuns) or hierarchichal component at
work
here, or are the terms interchangeable?
=============
Carl Perretta
Wallingford, PA USA
cjperretta[at]comcast[dot]net
http://tinyurl.com/cr49x says it all ...
|
Except that it fails to explain why shift work somehow has to be
called "internal rotation", which I'd previously have assumed must
have something to do with assisted parturition. Or the feeling I get
when idiots arse about with the language I've been working hard to
learn all my life.
--
Mike. |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:03 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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Mike Lyle spake thusly:
| Quote: | the Omrud wrote:
spake thusly:
Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred
to me that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister".
In the film, some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a
religious (like an order of nuns) or hierarchichal component at
work here, or are the terms interchangeable?
Yes (hierarchical) and No (not interchangeable).
"Sister" is a grade of nurse. Think of the grade as something like
"sergeant". The male equivalent is "charge nurse". They tend to
wear more dark blue on their uniforms than the other nurses.
Some "advanced" nursing roles are open only to those who have
gained the rank of Sister (I may be out of date here) such as
Health Visitor, Midwife.
I have the impression (I should have waited for Linz to give us the
dinkum drum, but this _is_ AUE) that there really is some kind of
historical or emotional association between nurses and nuns -- nuns
and Knights Hospitaller were the first organised members of the
profession, after all.
|
I think it's extremely likely that the "sister" term has descended
from nursing nuns.
obAUE: UK English can use "nursing" without ever thinking about
breast feeding - it occurs to me to mention this because I try to
think in US English as well as UK when writing in AUE. Did the above
sentence give any US readers an uncomfortable image?
| Quote: | I don't think it's a coincidence that
British-style hospital nurses used to live under a pretty rigid
discipline, in organised Orders, and wearing a quite unnecessarily
nun-like head-dress. Infirmaries very often had, and have, Saints'
names, too. If that perception is true, then it's not difficult to
see Sisters as full members of the Order, with other colleagues
relegated to a lower rank.
|
Indeedlily.
| Quote: | I don't want to get too fatuously semiological, but I wonder if all
this, as well as nurses' association with those great religious
themes, birth, femininity, and death, contributes to their sexiness.
Men are sad creatures, and all too often nuns make them think about
sex.
|
Is that what they're for? I did wonder. But I haven't consciously
seen a nun for years - they've gone all modern now and wear plaid
skirts and sensible blouses so as not to frighten the horses.
--
David
=====
replace usenet with the |
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Steve Hayes
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:25 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 13:42:40 -0400, "Carl Perretta"
<cjperretta[at]comcast[dot]net> wrote:
| Quote: | Last night, while watching he film "Vera Drake", it again occurred to me
that nurses in the UK are sometimes referred to as "sister". In the film,
some are referred to as "nurse" also. Is there a religious (like an order
of nuns) or hierarchichal component at work here, or are the terms
interchangeable?
|
Yes there is a hierarchy. Above a mere sister is a matron, and below nurse is
nurse-aide or nursing assistant (AmE = candy striper, or at least so the
novels inform me).
But I believe they like to be called "Health Professional Grade X" nowadays.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk |
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Steve Hayes
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:25 am
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 19:47:56 +0100, "Matti Lamprhey"
<matti@official-totally-reversed.com> wrote:
| Quote: | "Mike Barnes" <june2005@mikebarnes.fsnet.co.uk> wrote...
I'm not a medic, but AIUI a sister is a nurse in charge of a ward or
other department in a hospital.
In case you were wondering, a male sister is called a "charge nurse".
And a male matron?
|
Patron.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk |
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Mike Barnes
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:28 pm
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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In alt.usage.english, the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | But I haven't consciously seen a nun for years - they've gone all
modern now and wear plaid skirts and sensible blouses so as not to
frighten the horses.
|
I just *love* sensible blouses. But then I'm not a horse.
--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England |
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Frances Kemmish
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 5:43 pm
Post subject: Re: Guidance on when nurses are referred to as "sister" |
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Steve Hayes wrote:
| Quote: |
Yes there is a hierarchy. Above a mere sister is a matron, and below nurse is
nurse-aide or nursing assistant (AmE = candy striper, or at least so the
novels inform me).
But I believe they like to be called "Health Professional Grade X" nowadays.
|
I think a "candy-striper" is a volunteer.
Fran |
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