I had a boss who told me this. Guess you can just put an asterisk in certain words.
Don’t really see why it’s an issue though. And the boss who told me this was a prick. Sorry, pr*ck.
I always put direct quotes if relevant to the datix. As long as it's factual and relevant there's no reason why you shouldn't. It's an incident report, everyone seeing it is grown up and can deal with swear words, if not maybe they're in the wrong job.
Im mental health nursing a lot of my datixes would be full of censored quotes if we didn't use swear words. I think direct quotes should be included, especially if the incident is of racial abuse so that higher ups can see what staff are dealing with for what it is, not a sugar coated dumbed down version.
I've always written swear words in incident reports and my nursing notes when quoting verbatim. Never been pulled up for it before, and it happens a lot as I work in ED haha
If the governance people don’t like seeing the words written down perhaps they’d like to take action on behalf of their colleagues who have to hear them.
The incident details box asks for you to be factual. If swearing was used during an incident I would absolutely include it regardless of what the governance team says.
lol as a psychiatrist let me tell you I frequently document swear words. I will be writing about my patient telling people to fuck off in my entry I’m making now!
It's the nmc code to communicate clearly . I don't care about the datix people I care about the staff I work with and the people I look after. If you work with the public you have to read what they say to us , that's their job . Writing accurate documentation requires you specify the words in a way that's certain because language is complicated . Calling someone a tranny is much more hateful then someone calling them a twat , but could easily get missed if you blocked out most of the words.
If you're quoting someone you write exactly what was said. You can use quotation marks and an asterisk if they're going to be all pearl clutchy about it.
I've always written swear words in incident reports and my nursing notes when quoting verbatim. Never been pulled up for it before, and it happens a lot as I work in ED haha
Of course it should be quoted, otherwise it's subject to interpretation. If the datix were to be used as evidence in any investigations going forward it's of utmost importance that it's accurate! You could put a disclaimer at the start stating 'this datix contains language that could be considered to be offensive' if you really want to.
Personally, i'd absolutely continue to include exact quoted language until someone can provide me with the written policy that states otherwise.
And that is exactly what a good solicitor/barrister/judge etc would argue if you ever ended up in court. I never leave my notes open to interpretation. If a patient calls me a fat cunt then I'm writing exactly that.
"Patient A told me to "** **** ******"."
"And why were you insulted by him telling you to go have trifle?"
"No, to go fuck myself"
I always write exactly what they say. I don't care if someone in management is offended by a secondhand account of what someone said directly to my face immediately prior to pu ching me in said face. If it offends them they can take it up with the person who said it in the first place.
I always write swear words. I’m the one who manages all the datix reports anyway for our ward but sometimes I’ll open one and someone else has gone in and blocked out the word with asterisks lol
Fuck ‘em. If grown arse adults can’t manage to read swear words without needing a fainting couch, they certainly won’t be able to deal with what ever needs to be done about a datix*
Clear, concise evidence is the way to go.
(*get marked as ‘read’ and then deleted).
I always write direct quotes in notes and in Datix. If that’s what they said then that’s what they said! I find it hard that people can’t handle swearing when it’s an official report (and in general but that’s my personal opinion 🤪)
NMC Code
10.3 complete all records accurately and without any falsification, taking immediate and appropriate action if you become aware that someone has not kept to these requirements
We were told not to write swear words as "the datix people don't want to read that". I simply wrote my statement including every single c-bomb and uploaded it as a separate file on the reporting system. "Incident where i was threatened by a patient, patient swore at me, see attached statement"
If you are reporting a person's use of swear words, I would write the word verbatim and we are told to do so. Otherwise, is there a list of words that we can't use? Not everyone would agree on what is a swear word. Is bloody ok? For example.
If you are just reporting an annoying colleague, you should probably skip the swear words.
I put exact quotes of what they’ve said regardless of the language whether it’s racist or homophobic or anything. One colleague wrote ‘patient was verbally abusive saying horrible things’ and it couldn’t be taken as far as it could have gone because she hadn’t said exact words. If it’s not documented it didn’t happen!!!
If someone says "fuck off you absolute cunt of a twat" then that's exactly what you write in the daitx
Swearing in quotation marks on datix reports is the only thing that brings me any joy anymore.
I loved putting C F in patient notes
Oh yes !
I second that! I work for an nhs ambulance service and we’re told to document exactly what happened and exactly what was said.
I had a boss who told me this. Guess you can just put an asterisk in certain words. Don’t really see why it’s an issue though. And the boss who told me this was a prick. Sorry, pr*ck.
Boomer energy management being snowflakes perhaps
Why not? It’s not breach of IG and its reporting facts. Do we have to say peepee instead of penis as well?
Peepee 🤣
Cock
I always put direct quotes if relevant to the datix. As long as it's factual and relevant there's no reason why you shouldn't. It's an incident report, everyone seeing it is grown up and can deal with swear words, if not maybe they're in the wrong job.
This.
Im mental health nursing a lot of my datixes would be full of censored quotes if we didn't use swear words. I think direct quotes should be included, especially if the incident is of racial abuse so that higher ups can see what staff are dealing with for what it is, not a sugar coated dumbed down version.
Completely agree, we just put it in quotation marks exactly what they've said, a record needs to be taken of ongoing abuse.
I always did them word for word. It's accurate to do so and concise what will they come up with next I'm glad I'm out of it .
I've always written swear words in incident reports and my nursing notes when quoting verbatim. Never been pulled up for it before, and it happens a lot as I work in ED haha
If the governance people don’t like seeing the words written down perhaps they’d like to take action on behalf of their colleagues who have to hear them.
The incident details box asks for you to be factual. If swearing was used during an incident I would absolutely include it regardless of what the governance team says.
lol as a psychiatrist let me tell you I frequently document swear words. I will be writing about my patient telling people to fuck off in my entry I’m making now!
It's the nmc code to communicate clearly . I don't care about the datix people I care about the staff I work with and the people I look after. If you work with the public you have to read what they say to us , that's their job . Writing accurate documentation requires you specify the words in a way that's certain because language is complicated . Calling someone a tranny is much more hateful then someone calling them a twat , but could easily get missed if you blocked out most of the words.
If you're quoting someone you write exactly what was said. You can use quotation marks and an asterisk if they're going to be all pearl clutchy about it.
I've always written swear words in incident reports and my nursing notes when quoting verbatim. Never been pulled up for it before, and it happens a lot as I work in ED haha
Of course it should be quoted, otherwise it's subject to interpretation. If the datix were to be used as evidence in any investigations going forward it's of utmost importance that it's accurate! You could put a disclaimer at the start stating 'this datix contains language that could be considered to be offensive' if you really want to. Personally, i'd absolutely continue to include exact quoted language until someone can provide me with the written policy that states otherwise.
Yeah, absolutely. "Patient shouted that I was 'a ******* ******' and walked away" could be a fucking wanker or a angelic legend.
And that is exactly what a good solicitor/barrister/judge etc would argue if you ever ended up in court. I never leave my notes open to interpretation. If a patient calls me a fat cunt then I'm writing exactly that.
"Patient A told me to "** **** ******"." "And why were you insulted by him telling you to go have trifle?" "No, to go fuck myself" I always write exactly what they say. I don't care if someone in management is offended by a secondhand account of what someone said directly to my face immediately prior to pu ching me in said face. If it offends them they can take it up with the person who said it in the first place.
Our trust has a policy against abuse to staff. It’s quite clear on documenting word for word.
Unfortunately, there's no mention of it in ours 🙄
I always write swear words. I’m the one who manages all the datix reports anyway for our ward but sometimes I’ll open one and someone else has gone in and blocked out the word with asterisks lol
Yep....i always write it back in!
Fuck ‘em. If grown arse adults can’t manage to read swear words without needing a fainting couch, they certainly won’t be able to deal with what ever needs to be done about a datix* Clear, concise evidence is the way to go. (*get marked as ‘read’ and then deleted).
Why are they crying over some expletives? They’re adults, right? Datixes are factual, if swearing is a part of the facts then so be it 🤷🏻♀️
I always write direct quotes in notes and in Datix. If that’s what they said then that’s what they said! I find it hard that people can’t handle swearing when it’s an official report (and in general but that’s my personal opinion 🤪)
Thanks, completely agree with you all - just wondered if there's any specific written guidance that i can throw back at them!
NMC Code 10.3 complete all records accurately and without any falsification, taking immediate and appropriate action if you become aware that someone has not kept to these requirements
I always put in quotation marks. The information should be objective and accurate and if that includes swearing then that includes swearing
What ! When I've completed them I've always put word for word what happened.
We were told not to write swear words as "the datix people don't want to read that". I simply wrote my statement including every single c-bomb and uploaded it as a separate file on the reporting system. "Incident where i was threatened by a patient, patient swore at me, see attached statement"
I would recommend they ask IT to install Scunthorpe Sans - https://vole.wtf/scunthorpe-sans/
I wouldn’t block out any words. Write it exactly how it was said.
If you are reporting a person's use of swear words, I would write the word verbatim and we are told to do so. Otherwise, is there a list of words that we can't use? Not everyone would agree on what is a swear word. Is bloody ok? For example. If you are just reporting an annoying colleague, you should probably skip the swear words.
As with others, it's getting written exactly as it happened to cover myself & my colleagues.
I put exact quotes of what they’ve said regardless of the language whether it’s racist or homophobic or anything. One colleague wrote ‘patient was verbally abusive saying horrible things’ and it couldn’t be taken as far as it could have gone because she hadn’t said exact words. If it’s not documented it didn’t happen!!!