SUPERSTITION IN BEDSIDE NURSING 1

“Don’t say the “Q” word!”: Superstitions as hidden curriculum

Jennifer Tran

NURS 7724: Curriculum Design Evaluation

Dr. Rebecca Shabo

17 June 2023
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“It sure is quiet today!” My friend Yolanda exclaimed after the afternoon medication

pass. After her proclamation, the three anticipated admissions arrived in quick procession,

throwing the unit into disorganization the rest of the shift. I brought this story up whenever

someone said the “Q” word around me when I was working, using the anecdote as evidence that

the superstition is true and needs to be followed. I never questioned this until I was asked by a

student why the “Q” word was discouraged, and I was not able to explain why. I explained that it

was something that I had learned from my nurse preceptor, as she adhered to this by beating

around the bush to talk about how “peaceful,” or “not bad,” the shift is, but never “quiet.” She

never gave a consensus on the climate of the unit until it hit 7:01PM, at which time she

confirmed that her shift was “quiet.”

The concept of the hidden curriculum is described by Billings and Halstead (2020) as

beliefs taught in nursing aside from formal education, where the words and actions of others

silently influence the next generation to utilize and pass on. Hidden curriculum is not explicitly

taught as curriculum in education but is inadvertently emphasized by the instructors to the point

it was understood by the students important enough to integrate into their future practice.

Superstition in nursing contrasts using evidence-based practice to direct patient care, and instead

believed to be initiated by nurses’ anxiety and fear of loss of control during their shift, shifting

blame towards supernatural causes that are considered out of their control (Wu et al., 2023).

Confirmation bias after defying said superstitions further drove the use of superstition into the

hidden curriculum by unit gossip, sharing their experiences to the newer nurses through their

unspoken actions, such as avoiding night shift during the full moon, saying the “Q” word, and

tying a knot to the bedpost of a dying patient with the bedsheet.

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Of the four domains identified by Hafferty (as cited in Raso et al., 2019), the use of

superstitions in nursing practice falls under hidden curriculum influencing the learning

environment that the new nurse is learning in and being influenced by. When the experienced

nurses the new graduate nurse is modeling after, adhere to the belief that superstitions should be

followed lest to prevent catastrophe, the hidden curriculum of superstitions become part of the

unit culture that the new nurse is now influenced to incorporate the various beliefs to their own

practice. Preventing the integration of superstitions into practice should involve the mitigation of

the cause of the anxieties that drive nurses to believing in such superstitions, like encouraging

them to explore the beliefs they have and challenge their thoughts about the superstition: does

something bad always happen after uttering the word “quiet?” Has a nurse actually been haunted

after not tying the bedsheet to the bedpost of the bed? Believing in superstitions in nursing is

superfluous and necessitates disengagement.

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References

Billings, D. M., Halstead, J. A. (2020). Teaching in nursing: a guide for faculty (6th ed.).

Elsevier, inc.

Raso, A., Marchetti, A., D’Angelo, D., Albanesi, L. G., Dimonte, V., Piredda, M., & De Marinis,

M.G. (2019). The hidden curriculum in nursing education: a scoping study. Medical

Education in Review (53rd ed).

Wu, Y-W., Lai, W-S., Chen, Y-C. (2023). Superstitious beliefs among healthcare providers: A

concept analysis. The Journal of Nursing, 70(3).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6224/JN.202306_70(3).11