I was recently visiting one of the facilities where I do consulting and walked in just in time to hear the end of a conversation and decided that as funny as it was at the time, hearing only part of a conversation can definitely be how rumors get started:

Marge: "Honestly Sally I have done everything possible to recruit qualified nurses and it's getting to the point where the town drunk looks like a BSN to me."

Sally: "Marge.......... most town drunks ARE BSNs!!!"

(Of course Sally wasn't serious, but if I didn't know her as well as I do........a rumor may have started.....gotta chuckle)

 Rumors get started by gossip passing along information from another source should not be repeated, people love drama and are drawn to anything that sounds like drama.

LOL!

Why do you think that so many soap operas are based in around hospitals? They're hotbeds of gossip, drama and rumor mills. I think it's funny to just stay in the background and listen to all the drama and mayhem being strewn about not only by the nurses, but the docs get in on the action as well!

Too funny!

Ain't that the truth! It reminds me of that commercial "Billy has an oreo cakester!" and by the time it gets to the end of the information chain, "Bobby has his first chest hair?!?!?!" Because honestly, in reality, all it takes is just one person to misspeak, or misinterpret, and WHAMMO!!! The rumor fairy has dusted the unit with some preposterous story that has been twisted to the max!

Gotta love that rumor mill!  :)

So true.....ya gota love the rumor mill and at the same time ya gotta wonder why don't people have lives that entertain them beyond the thrill of the rumor? Interestingly Miriam-Webster defines rumor as both a noun and a verb:

"rumor." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008.

 

Merriam-Webster Online. 2 June 2008
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rumor

or

"rumor." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008.

 

Merriam-Webster Online. 2 June 2008

<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rumor>

Any way you slice it whether noun or transitive verb, rumor can and usually is a 4 letter word. (Use your imagination on that one)

sort of like telephone but really ends up happening is that each person purposely adds something new to what they previously heard to make their story more interesting, basically everyone loves to over-exaggerate and as it gets passed around things can sometimes get completely out of hand, and that is how rumors can become outrageous!

I work in an office of 40 people.....3 of which are the only men.....we have drama daily and rumors....it surprises me as an adult that so many people spend time talking about one another. 

AbusyRN2go says ...

 I have a funny rumor story, during one of my childbirth education classes I was teaching I would walk the room while waiting for couples to arrive, I heard two sets of couples talking about a third couple they were making fun of her weight and a comment she had made to them at break. I thought I would make a point of this to the class. I walked over by the two rumor couples and pretended to be on the phone talking about this 3rd couple I said "yeah Sally and jake won't be coming to class tonight, they are having a stress test performed at the hospital, I noticed the ears perk up on my two rumor couples. Over the next 15 minutes I sat back and watched as they spoke to each and every other couple in the room and then that couple spoke to the next couple and so it went all the way around the room, I was so curious as to what the outcome of this coversation was going to be, before Sally and Jake arrived (they were always late) one women walked up to me and said she wanted to go and get flowers for Sally and Jake, could she leave real quick and come back, flowers I said why is it her birthday, no for the baby, what do you mean I said, wait for it..."well I heard that Sally's baby was in distress because of her being over weight and they did a amniocentesis and they could not find the heart beat and, well the baby is dead, she is on the maternity floor now, we need to take flowers to her" Can you believe it! Only in america.  I tried not to laugh but played along, Oh my god, I said, class did you all hear about Jake and Sally? One couple shouted out, yeah she is having twins, another shouted, no she is obese and it is hurting the baby, no another man said, what are you talking about, they are just breaking up thats all, It was all I could do to not blow it and laugh, I saw through the window Sally and Jake coming towards the door, I said quickly "Let us close our eyes and say a prayer for Sally and Jake" while everyone had their eyes closed Sally and Jake walked in and stopped, everyone looked up and stared I replied "Vickie, Matt (they started the rumor) would you like to explain to Jake and Sally why we were saying a prayer, he said Huhhhhh, no! I repiled "this ladies and gentleman what you ALL participated in is called gossip, I hope you all learned your lesson, no gossip in MY class" I never heard another word from any of them about another! This shows how you can not even recognize the story at the end.

You are such a great observer of human behavior. I'm still laughing about your "how rumors get started" story and I commend you for adding that learning experience to their childbirth class. I'd venture to say that you likely have changed the course of some lives by allowing them an exercise in critical thinking combined with the best medicine.........laughter.

That is not a problem! lol  THIS IS A SOAP BOX, so feel free to vent or to share or whatever you choose to do. Take care and stay in touch.

Joel

AbusyRN2go says ...

 Gossip is unfortunately an every day occurence across the board, it crosses  all racial lines and leaves few people alone. Becaue I am sure a direct person, I tell people to their face what I think, sometimes this is good and sometimes bad depending who I am telling, but I always go to the source. It never ceases to amaze me how people back pedal when confronted with gossiping, people do not want to admit they gossip, it is easier to deny. I guess I feel as professionals WE should try and rise above such childishness. But over the past 30 years as a nurse, that is NOT what I have witnessed by other nurses. Even on this link, nurses are still gosiping  about someone else. If you do NOT hear a piece of information directly from the source of said information it is gossip! And NOT proven to be the truth or accurate. Does this stop anyone? No it doesn't. I think if people in the world stopped gosiping for 24 hours, you would be able to hear a pin drop from across the country, and of course thousands of husbands yelling, Y E S !! FINALLY LOL

Now THATS a funny thought. That was cool.

DaMomb, that's probably the best way to handle gossip. Your not feeding into the gossip however seems to be causing them to gossip about your not talking to them. Ha.....isn't it weird how a cohesive group of professionals like nurses "eat their own kind"? Geezum, dare to be a little different in this field and watch the otherwise fully competent, effective patient caregivers, dedicated professionals turn and cannibalize you for being different. It's a wonderful profession, but not without it's downside. Wear your PPE at all times. :)