Unit 8 Hospital language Task 1 Hospitals a) What do these hospital departments deal with? E.g. Radiology is the place where x-rays are taken. Ophthalmology is the place where doctors check your eyes. You can get your medicine at the pharmacy. - The Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) - Intensive Care Unit (ICU) - Gynaecology - Maternity - Neonatology - Paediatrics - Cardiology - Neurology - Pathology b) Complete the gaps in the text below with suitable words: Outpatients are the people who come to hospital to attend a clinic or have tests or ……………….. and then return home on the same day. Outpatients who have an ………………. to see a specialist go to a clinic in one of the Outpatient Departments (OPDs). They usually have been …………. to the hospital by their GP, who writes a referral letter to the consultant explaining the patient´s problem. Inpatients stay in the hospital for one or more days. The rooms where they stay are called ……………… . The inpatients in a hospital are admitted in one of three main ways. They may be seen in one of the outpatient clinics and admitted from there or, if there is a lot of demand for the treatment they need, they are put on a waiting ………… . Alternatively, their GP may arrange the admission by telephone because they are ………………… ill, for example with suspected myocardial infarction. Or they are seen in the A&E Department, where the doctor on …………. arranges the admission. Task 2 Symptoms and signs A) The problems which a patient reports to the doctor are called symptoms, for example pain or nausea. Signs are what the doctor finds, also known as findings, for example rapid pulse rate. Symptoms are also known as complaints. To report a patient´s symptoms or complaints, doctors say: “Mr Farnsworth was admitted complaining of chest pain.” In case notes, the abbreviation c/o is used. B) Patients say they went to (see) the doctor; doctors say the patient presented. The symptom which causes a patient to visit a doctor – or to present – is called the presenting symptom, presenting complaint or presentation. e.g. His presenting symptom/ complaint was chest pain. He presented to his GP with chest pain. The usual presentation is chest pain. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb present. 1. A 67-year-old man ……………… with a 9-month history of increasing shortness of breath. 2. The ………….. symptoms in this patient could perhaps be due to renal failure. 3. Other conditions with a similar …………….. include acute cholecystitis. 4. The patient usually ………….. with a severe sore throat. 5. Reduced growth is an important ………………. complaint of coeliac disease. C) Match the patient´s statements with medical terms: fatigue/tiredness malaise loss of appetite weight gain weight loss constipation 1. My appetite is very poor. / I´ve been off my food for days. 2. My motions are very hard. / I´ve been quite constipated lately. 3. I feel tired all the time. / I feel completely worn out. / Lately I´ve been feeling completely exhausted. 4. I feel unwell. / I´ve been out of sorts lately./ I haven´t been feeling myself for a week. 5. I´ve gained five kilos. / I´ve put on weight eight kilos in the last year. 6. I´ve lost a lot of weight recently. D) Read the patient´s description of her symptoms then complete the case report. I was well until a few months ago. In the beginning, I just felt off-colour and a bit tired. But lately I´ve been feeling completely worn out at the end of the day. I´m not eating any more than usual but I´ve put on nine kilos in the last year. My motions are hard and my hair started to fall out. Case report A 50-year-old housewife, who had been well until four months previously, (1) ………………………. of tiredness and malaise. She had (2) ………………… 9 kg in weight in the year before she (3) …………………. to her GP although she denied eating more than usual. She was (4) …………………… and she noticed that her hair had started to fall out. E) Writing Write a short case report about this 60-year-old man: I haven´t been feeling myself for several months now. I feel completely worn out after doing anything. I´ve been off my food and I´ve lost ten kilos in weight. F) Listening (http://www.hospitalenglish.com/students/nurse.php) Listen and complete the gaps in the text: Nurses are healthcare professionals with a very wide range of duties, responsibilities, and specialties. Nurses are responsible for the ………………., care and safety of patients. They are also responsible for maintenance of ……………… and education for the patient. Nurses provide direct ……………. and monitor symptoms, response, and ………… in patient care. Three main types of nurses are: An …………………. (licensed practical nurse) usually has less than 2 years of training. They perform simple and some ……………….medical procedures. They work under other health care professionals to provide patient care. An …………………… (registered nurse) has a university degree in nursing and often is responsible for ………………. tasks of LPNs. RNs provide direct care, patient education and make decisions about proper patient care. An …………………. (advanced practice nurse) has a masters or doctoral degree. They provide direct care, …………………… disease, prescribe medication, work in research and educate patients and other healthcare professionals. There are many specialties for APNs. Nurses play a very important part of direct patient care and maintaining health in the community. The art of ……………… makes dramatic differences in patient outcomes and disease treatment.