Medical Chart Malapropisms & Funny Errors
Ranked #2,285 in Healthy Living, #46,643 overall
Medical Errors Aren't Supposed to Be Funny :)
This lens focuses on medical bloopers and malapropisms from patients' charts and from things people say. A malapropism is basically a blooper of diction. You meant one thing but wrote/said another. All aren't funny, obviously, and some are simply too crude to post.
And, too often, people just send the same list around and around via email. Well there are thousands just in our collection, but we would also like to highlight some of the other medical humor sites out there. Check back frequently and suggest sites for us to add.
And please keep in mind, that the people that have developed these sites have copyrighted the material. You do not have permission to copy and distribute these things unless it is explicitly stated by the owner of the copyright.
Get Medical Malapropisms in your Email
real funnies from real charts
Chart Farts® are Medical Bloopers from Actual Hospital ChartsWe are going to shamelessly plug our own stuff here. And here's why... We all need a break from the stresses of work in the health care industry or the difficulties in facing serious illness as a patient or family member. There's a free service that provides unique Chart Farts® directly to your email - once every two weeks or so. You can sign up at GiggleMed.com.
Whatever you do, don't open these emails at work :) Here's a small sample:
- "We will watch her diarrhea closely"... (Whatever floats your boat, Doc.)
- On discharge instructions: "Drink plenty of urine"... (More proof that hospital food should be avoided at all costs.)
- Indication for flex sig - "blood when whipping himself"... (If you bleed when you do that, then don't do that.)
- Order "Please feed patient only when awake."... (I'm glad that that's clarified.)
GiggleMed.com has thousands of original bloopers from real charts... Get about 6-to-10 Chart Farts® in one email every two weeks:
- "The patient will remain hospitalized until the day of discharge"... (A lifetime of schooling to get a knack for the obvious.)
- "He had surgery for an unbiblical hernia"... (Prophesied in the scrolls of old.)
- "Seashore disorder"... (That would be "seizure". I'm sure you learned about seizures in nursing school.)
GiggleMed on Twitter
Tweets with medical malapropisms & other medical humor

- aka Twitter
- 0 followers
- 0 following
-
- If you're in #healthcare & not following @mi2innovation , then u should have your urine tested... coolest tweets out there
-
- RT @BigGooseEgg Awesome artist with unique fund raising for his #iphone game #app Check it out - http://t.co/skyPsG9q
-
- RT @karensugarpants: Helping a ticklish child do PT exercises is hilarious and kinda maddening.
-
- Heard in the hospital hallway: "Then she smoked... like an idiot"
-
- GiggleMed #medical #humor on Google Plus http://t.co/zSK5Kq0X
Funny Medical Humor Blog
GiggleMed RSS Feed
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byMedical Humor Sites You Should Know About
- Chart Farts
- A hilarious (and huge) collection of funny things seen on patients' charts. Real stuff, real charts.
- GiggleMed.com Home
- Check out the Random Diagnosis Generator, the collection of Chart Farts (R), and the Joint Commission humor. Awesome stuff, but it's ours, so we're biased :)
- Placebo Journal
- A very well done site started by the self-proclaimed "King of Medicine", Dr. Farrago. And not just a site, but also the most successful medical humor journal out there.
- Hippocritis
- Not updated nearly enough, but pretty darn funny.
- Q Fever
- Also not updated nearly enough, but definitely worth a look.
Medical Humor Gifts
For health care workers who have everything...
Foley Flagger Sign Tile Coaster
Caution... Stop... Slow Down... I'll do whatever you want as long as you stop threatening me with that catheter.
Throckmorton Sign Cap
Not a lot of people know what Throckmorton Sign is - but if you do, you'll find these designs hilarious.
I'm Post-Call Rectangle Magnet
I can't ask you while your post-call, presumably because of sheer exhaustion. And this, of course, makes me feel totally safe with you overseeing my care.
Got Fun or Feedback?
Leave it here...
-
Reply
-
lolataylor88
Aug 25, 2011 @ 8:29 am | delete
- You should share this in a newsletter to medical professionals. They probably would love to laugh as well. A good way to do this is by getting a medical email list and sending it to them. You may be able to make some money by sending out a newsletter with these medical humor stories. Love this post by the way. Keep it up!!!!
-
-
Reply
-
Tylerdurdensoap
Aug 7, 2011 @ 10:02 am | delete
- Totally true! www.NurseFail.com is one of the best out there, I think, for medical/nursing humor. Laughter is how we deal with all the terrible death, dying & depresso stuff like that. It's just how it is in the medical field. We are educated people, always thinking, of course we are gonna come up with a creative outlook! hahahaha
-
-
Reply
-
Tylerdurdensoap
Aug 7, 2011 @ 10:00 am | delete
- Totally true! www.NurseFail.com is one of the best out there, I think, for medical/nursing humor. Laughter is how we deal with all the terrible death, dying & depresso stuff like that. It's just how it is in the medical field. We are educated people, always thinking, of course we are gonna come up with a creative outlook! hahahaha
-
Medical Humor Book Review - Bugs on Scrubs by GiggleMed.com
Medical Humor Book Review - Bugs on Scrubs by GiggleMed.com
OK... so I'm not known for going with the establishment on everything.
I love & respect tradition, however, and I certainly value the contributions of the people who preceded me. And this is especially the case with medical knowledge.
However, I do have one major point of difference with established norms in the health professions. And that is learning and education.
Sure, there's a tried and true way of learning through medical school, nursing school, etc. And sure, there's value to medical journals and the so-called "Literature". But reading through medical journals is not the best method of continued learning for a lot of us.
Furthermore, there are people within healthcare who can benefit from evidence based medicine, but are not doctors or nurses.
I happen to think there's a role for medical humor in education. It is easier to read or look at it. It is memorable. And it does not require an advanced degree to understand it.
Medical humor can be an awesome teaching tool. Medical jokes can serve as great pattern interrupts (important for learning) during conferences, etc. Medical humor can be viral (in a good sense of the word).
Take GiggleMed.com's latest book, for example. Bugs on Scrubs. It's a medical humor book with evidence-based principles in it regarding infection control. See for yourself http://GiggleMed.com/bugs - it's great for doctors, nurses, infection control programs, hospital environmental services, techs, students, & administrators (although the suits won't like the ending :)
Medical Humor for Reducing Foley Catheter-Related Infection
Medical Humor for Reducing Foley Catheter-Related Infection
Have you ever thought of using humor as a medical education tool or as part of your hospital's initiatives to influence behavior?
Well, you might want to consider it...
In hypnosis, they often look to create what's called a "pattern interrupt" before getting someone to learn, believe, or act on something. Basically, a pattern interrupt is something that is sort of out of the ordinary pattern of things, that's may be shocking, funny, or just unexpected in that setting.
In the healthcare setting, especially in the middle of a hair-pulling, stressful day, humor can offer that very interrupt of the stressful pattern. And BAM! at that moment, that's when you want your message to get across.
Take Got Foley? buttons or mousepads for example. If you're trying to do some QI project where you reduce catheter-related infections, consider using this GiggleMed design as an awesome pattern interrupt... it's humorous, it's unexpected, and it's consistent with the message you want to get across. Check it out.
So, medical humor can be an awesome teaching tool. Medical humor can be viral (in a good sense of the word).
Take a look GiggleMed.com's medical humor store
Medical Humor Gift for Nurses Week - Hello Agency Nurse
Medical Humor Gift for Nurses Week - Hello Agency Nurse
Nurses Week gifts are pretty easy to find. But what about gifts for that nurse that has everything? Or what about getting a gift that the word "cute" is not used? And where "LOL" really does mean "laughing out loud"?
Well, you might wanna take a look GiggleMed.com's medical humor store or at some of the books available, like Bugs on Scrubs, Hello Agency Nurse, JCAHO is Coming!, and others.
This year, for Nurses Week, why not check out Hello Agency Nurse... it's funny for staff nurses and agency nurses alike. There's also a quick video tour of the book on GiggleMed.com's YouTube channel. Check it out.
by Dun_Tzu
Dun Tzu is the pen name for the GiggleMed writers. We are doctors and some degree of anonymity is necessary. Medical humor is a sensitive subject and we... more »
- 3 featured lenses
- Winner of 3 trophies!
- Top lens » Medical Chart Malapropisms & Funny Errors
Explore related pages
- Daffy Diseases Daffy Diseases
- What Is NurseFail.com All About? What Is NurseFail.com All About?
- Make me Funny Make me Funny
- The Morning After Carpal Tunnel Surgery The Morning After Carpal Tunnel Surgery
- iHealth Humor & Parody iHealth Humor & Parody
- Quiz: Funny But True Medical Slang Quiz: Funny But True Medical Slang
