{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.03428571428571429, 'fraction_numerical': 0.006857142857142857, 'mean_word_length': 4.976109215017065, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
“Nurses Station” or “Nursing Station”? How to Appropriately Describe Our Work Space in Acute Care?

The term “nurses’ station” is often used synonymously with “nursing station” without thought to the contextual differences between the two. While many people are guilty of making this error, the more astounding revelation is that most are unaware of it. The term “nurses’ station” implies a possessive quality, as if to say the nurses own or run the station. Conversely, “nursing station” has a generic quality to it that suggests tasks or duties that a nurse might perform in that area. Technically, either term could be used correctly to describe the area. However, the terms’ differences are subject to interpretation and open for misconception. Any misconception can cause the receiver to take offense, misconstrue, or act in a manner that is incongruent with the senders intended message. How do people use these terms and why do people choose one term over the other? The dissonance that exists with these terms is an intellectual and curious debate that needs to be explored. A cursory search of the nursing literature revealed that both terms are used. For example, Goldstein (1979) chose “nursing station” throughout his article to describe how the station was used, which was for job-related functions and also for collaborative purposes. Shattell, Andes, and Thomas (2008) also used “nursing station” in their study that examined space within the acute psychiatric setting. The physical and environmental aspects of the nursing station were examined and described as a setting within the larger context of the acute care unit (Shattell, Andes, & Thomas, 2008). For the purposes of the above authors’ articles, “nursing station” was used to