If you're a nurse and would like to communicate better with your Englishspeaking patients, this exercise will help

you by allowing you to practice useful

terms/expressions nurses use every day.
I.

QUESTIONS:

(Choose the best response for each one)

1. I'm here to change your __________________________. ( = the container used

by bedridden patients to go to the bathroom).
a. bedpan
b. bedding
c. pillows
2.
a.
b.
c.

Turn __________________________ please. I have to wash your back.

of
around
on

3. We need to move Mr. Harris into a __________________________ room. ( = a

room with no other patients)
a. alone
b. solo
c. private
4. I need __________________________ your blood pressure.
a. to check
b. to verify
c. to inspect
5. We have to __________________________ ( = clean/disinfect) your wound.
a. stain
b. Stabilize
c. Sterilize
6. To help a patient put on his/her clothes = To ___________________________ a
patient
a. Clothe
b. Dress
c. put on
7. Yes, Mr. Brown was _________________________ to the hospital ( = checked in
to the hospital) yesterday.
a. admitted
b. allowed
c. allotted

8. Your grandmother was taken to the respiratory ___________________________.

( = the part of the hospital that deals with patients with respiratory
illnesses)
a. Word
b. Ward
c. Weird
9. Right now all the rooms are full. We'll get you a space as soon as one is
__________________________.
a. coming up
b. available
c. changed
10. Doctor, Mrs. Williams' __________________________ (= I.V.) line is not
properly connected.
a. Introverted
b. Intrinsic
c. Intravenous

II.

Complete each of the following sentences with the letter of the

correct answer:

Bathe, illness, outpatient, disability, discharged, geriatrics, increase,

administer, preventive, therapy

1. _____________ is a field in medicine that focuses on the health of older people.

2. His ______________is not serious. = He is not seriously sick.

3. We will have to _____________you dosage. = You will have to take more

medicine.

4. A _____________is something that may prevent you from functioning normally.

5. The nurse will ________________( = give) the vaccine to Mrs. Williams.

6. One of the nurse's main duties is to ______________( = wash) the patients.

7. None of the patients stay at the clinic. They only visit on an

______________basis.

8. We have to begin your ______________( = treatment) as soon as possible.

9. These are ______________measures. ( = steps taken to make sure something

doesn't happen)

10. That patient has been ________________from the hospital. (= allowed to go

home)

III.

Answer the questions according to the reading passage.

Practice of Medicine

Modern scientific and technological developments in the practice of medicine

and public health have drawn nursing into new and wider fields of activity, and
its functions have been expanded accordingly. Therefore, nursing is no longer
limited mainly to activities within the hospital, or to what is called curative
nursing. It has become also a community service in which preventive and
rehabilitative functions are a vital part of its program. The modern concept of
nursing considers the hospital, however central, as only one of many health
agencies in the community.
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.

As we understand from the reading, today ----.

the only reason people go to hospitals is for nursing care
most of the nursing practice now takes place in people's homes
hospitals are not the only setting where people receive care or support
scientific and technological developments can't improve the quality of care
that is delivered in hospitals
e. nursing care is not vital to the core competency of hospitals any more
2.
a.
b.
c.

One can infer from the passage that ----.

nurses were treating more people in the patient's own home in the past
hospitals are the only places where nursing care is crucial
nurses don't see the hospital and clinic as important units in the
community health program
d. hospitals are still the most important component of the healthcare sector
e. nursing shortage has had significant consequences during the past few
years

3. According to the passage, the nurse's function has been

expanded because of ----.
a. the nurse's activities in the hospital
b. hospitals, which are the most common work environments for nurses
c. the reluctance of nurses to work in the hospital
d. the necessity of working longer hours
e. the progress in science and technology in related fields
IV.

Your task

Read the following excerpt and, without looking back at the article, answer the
reading comprehension questions. The answers are at the bottom of this page
Text
Arthritis and rheumatism are general names for approximately 100 diseases that
produce inflammation or degeneration of connective tissue. Some of these
diseases are infectious and primarily afect younger people. Rheumatic fever, for
example, is a bacterial infection that occurs mostly in children or teenagers.
Rheumatoid arthritis predominantly strikes women between 20 and 60. However,
the most common rheumatic disease is a noninfectious, noninflammatory
degenerative joint disease - osteoarthritis. To some degree, it afects nearly all
older adults, causing swelling, pain, and stifness in joints. Treatment may
include heat, exercises, and drugs that reduce pain and inflammation.
Besides osteoarthritis, many other noninfectious diseases can limit the activities
of the elderly. Osteoporosis (a condition in which bone loss exceeds bone
replacement so that the bones become less dense, more porous, and more
brittle) often leads to fractures, especially of the hipbone. Many conditions
conspire to decrease the sensory perception of the elderly. Cataracts are created
when the lens of the eye - or a portion of it - becomes opaque and sometimes
swells or shrinks and interferes with vision. Deterioration of nerves in the inner
ear causes the characteristic old-age hearing loss, most severe in the highpitched tones. The senses of taste and smell also deteriorate in old age.
Source: Tiersky, E.M. (1992) The Language of Medicine in English, Englewood
Clifs: Prentice Hall, pp. 39-44.
Questions
A. Answer True or False to the following statements:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Rheumatic fever is a viral infection.

Osteoporosis is the most common arthritic disease.
Elderly people's senses are less acute than when they were younger.
Cataracts are transparent.
Three terms associated with osteoporosis are dense, porous and brittle.

B. Please complete the following sentences by choosing the most correct term
(s):
1. Osteoarthritis is an example of a/an __________________ disease

a) infectious
b) incurable
c) noninfectious
2. A condition in which bone loss exceeds bone replacement is called
______________
a) rheumatoid arthritis
b) osteoporosis
c) rheumatism
3. As mentioned in this article, sensory perception of the elderly relates to
___________:
a) sight, hearing and touch
b) taste, smell and hearing
c) hearing, smell, taste and sight
4. ______________ primarily afects younger people, while rheumatoid arthritis
predominantly strikes ___________ between the ages of 20 and 60.
a) Rheumatic fever; women
b) Osteoporosis; hearing loss
c) Cataracts; males