UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

HOSPITAL STAFF.
NURSING TASKS.

5 6 Cirujano
Enfermera de cargo/ hermana Paramedico
9
1 7 8 Enfermera de triaje
Limpiador Portero
3
Consultores Recepcionista Enfermera intrumentista

Cleaner

paramedic
receptionist
lidiar con
consultant

triage nurse
scrub nurse

porter
charge nurse

surgeon

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UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

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 UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

EXERCISE 6. VOCABULARY: NURSING TASKS.

6.1. Go back to exercise 3, “An interview with practice nurse Reena Chaudry”, and
complete the table below.

Medical Professions Nursing Tasks Medical Problems

Carrying out routine procedures

6.2. In pairs, can you think of other nursing tasks? Make a list.

6.3. Read the following text about nursing work and complete the gaps with the verbs from the box.
You may need to change the form of some words.
Registrar Operar Realizar Defender Administrar Colaborar Educar Proporcionar
Monitorear
record (x2) operate monitor perform advocate administer collaborate educate provide

Many people believe that all that nurses do is help doctors and treat wounds, but there is a lot more
to nursing work. Nurses not only work side-to-side with doctors, they (1) ___________________ with
whole teams of doctors, auxiliaries and other medical professionals to plan for patient care. To plan
the best care possible, nurses also (2) ______________ patients’ medical history and symptoms, (3)
___________________ and (4) ___________________ their vital signs and notify doctors of any
significant changes. They are also in charge of (5) _________________________ medication and
other treatments. To check for symptoms or to give medication, they sometimes need to know how
to (6) ___________________ certain diagnostic tests. Therefore, (7) ___________________ medical
equipment is also among their main tasks and skills. And, what’s really important: caring for patients
does not only mean giving medication or helping them with basic tasks such as getting dressed or
washing. It also means (8) ___________________ general support and advice to them and their
relatives, and very often this includes (9) ___________________ them about illness or recovery
management, and (10) ___________________ for the general wellbeing of all patients at all times.

→Have you noticed? These expressions have a specific combination of verb + noun (administer
medication; dress wounds; perform tests; etc.). When you make vocabulary lists, always try to learn
combinations of words!

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UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

7. VOCABULARY: A HOSPITAL ROOM.

Here is a picture of a common hospital room.

Match the words in the table below to each of 9
the numbers in the picture (1-11).

bed cama 11

IW
blinds persianas 9

buzzer zumbador 2 10
chair silla 4

11
drawer cajon 8

light luz
1
locker armario 7

pillow almohada 10

sheets sabanas 6

table mesa 5

TV television 3

8. Now read the description of the room and complete each gap with the correct preposition from the box.

above (x3) on (x3) at behind next to (x2) in front of in IW

This is one of the standard rooms (1)_________ the General Hospital. Rooms normally have single beds, placed

(2)_________ the centre of the room. All beds should have sheets and pillows (3)_________ them.

(4)_________ the bed, (5)_________ the right-hand side there is a locker, and (6)_________ the locker there is a

TV. The TV is attached to a moveable arm so that its position can be adapted to the position of the patient.

(7)_________ the bed, (8)_________ the left-hand side there is a chair, and attached to the wall there is a

buzzer that patients can use to call the nurses. There is also a lamp (9)_________ the bed, attached to the wall.

(10)_________ the head of the bed, there is a window with blinds. Finally, the room includes a wheeled table. Its

height can be adjusted so that it can be placed (11)_________the patient, just (12)_________ their legs.

→More prepositions: SELF-STUDY TASK 1

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 UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

PA
RT
2:
H
OS
PI
TA
L
DE
PA
RT
M
EN
TS

bebes niños ancianos casos de emergencia ejercicios corazon riñon

rayos X
trastornos de piel resultados de pureba
sistema nervioso operacines
emergency cases
openations
kidney
skin disorders
elderly
test results
babies
children
heart
X-rays
nervous system
exercises

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UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

I E C
G F D
H A B

straight on front of at
end

second left
turn of
turn right

turn left go
next to

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 UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

EXERCISE 12. WRITING. Giving directions. Use the map of a hospital and continue the email
to explain how to get from the main entrance of the hospital to the Department of Coronary
Care (Cardiology).

Dear Mrs. Contadino,

Regarding your outpatient’s appointment on 2nd February at 10:15,
please read the following instructions to get to the Department of
Coronary Care.
If you arrive by car, park in the hospital car park which is at the
front of the hospital. Go to the main entrance…
You go staright on at the end of the corridor.
When you have arrived turn left at the end of the corridor. Then, you will find the Coronary Care door
on the left.

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UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

PART 3: THE NURSING PROFESSION. NURISNG ROLES. SPEAKING & WRITING.

EXERCISE 1A: READING AND SPEAKING. Read the following text about the nursing
profession.
PARAGRAPH One hundred and fifty years ago, nurses were unpaid, untrained, and unpopular,
1
but then Florence Nightingale made nursing into a profession. The methods she
introduced in the 1850s were copied all over the world and now nursing is a career
with a three- or four-year training, qualifications, grades, unions and
pensions.
PARAGRAPH In Britain, every nurse is on a grade. The grade depends on experience and skills,
2
and each grade has different responsibilities and pay. On the bottom grade are
unqualified auxiliary nurses who do the routine work on hospital wards. On the
top grades are nursing officers, who are usually administrators.
PARAGRAPH Auxiliary nurses are on the bottom of the scale, but student nurses get the lowest
3
pay. However, students don’t stay at the bottom of the pay scale forever. When they
qualify, they start working on a middle grade. As they get experience, they can get
promotion and move up the ranks to become staff nurse, then sister (charge nurse if
a man), and perhaps eventually nursing officer.
PARAGRAPH Many nurses work shifts, and often they work overtime to earn more money. After
4
basic training, many nurses choose to do further study and become specialists.
Nurses can specialize in many different fields –there are triage nurses working in
Casualty, and psychiatric nurses who treat the mentally ill. There are health visitors
who visit patients in their own homes, practice nurses working in
GPs’ surgeries and midwives who deliver babies.
PARAGRAPH Many of them say they do not get enough pay and respect for the work they do.
5
Theysay that the work is physically and mentally hard, that they work long hours and
get very tired. But they also say that there are many great rewards which have
nothing to do with money.

EXERCISE 1B. Decide if the following sentences about the text are true (T) or false (F):

1. The more responsibility you have, the higher your grade: False --- 2
2. Nursing officers are the same as auxiliary nurses: False---- 2
3. Students are paid less than auxiliary nurses: True----3
4. A charge nurse is a man: True----3
5. There are not many opportunities for British nurses to specialize: False---5
6. Many nurses say that the job is rewarding, but the pay is low: True---5

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 UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

EXERCISE 1C. Number these jobs from the highest grade (1) to JOB GRADE
the lowest (4). Two of them are equal. (1-4)
Enfermera de limpieza enfermera de quirófano (enfermera quirúrgica) Charge nurse
Enfermera de distrito Nursing officer
(hogares de personas y residencias de ancianos) Auxiliary nurse
Enfermera de medicina general (consultorios de medicina general) Sister
Partera Staff nurse
Enfermera neonatal
Enfermera de prisión
EXERCISE 2. SPEAKING. In the box below, there are some of the areas of specialization and places where
nurses can work.
El Servicio Nacional de Salud Pública:
hospitales, clínicas, consultorios de
SPECIALIST NURSE PLACES médicos de cabecera
✓ Scrub nurse, theatre nurse (surgical ✓ The National Public Health Service:hospitals,
nurse) clinics, GP surgeries
✓ District nurse (people’s homes and ✓ Operating Theatre Quirofano Clinicas y hospitales del
residential care homes) ✓ Private sector clinics and hospitals sector privado
✓ General practice nurse (GP ✓ Voluntary organizations Organizaciones voluntarias
surgeries) ✓ Nursing and residential homes Residencias de ancianos
✓ Midwife ✓ Prisons and the armed forces prisiones y fuerzas armadas
✓ Neonatal nurse ✓ Private sector organizations (leisure cruise
✓ Prison nurse companies, schools, private nursing homes, etc.)
Organizaciones del sector privado (compañías de cruceros de ocio, escuelas,
residencias de ancianos privadas, etc.)

Think about your future job as a nurse, and discuss in pairs:

a) What would be your ideal job? Why?
b) What tasks would you carry out?
c) What would be the best part of that job? What challenges do you think you would encounter?
d) Is there any nursing specialization that you would NEVER do? Why not?

EXERCISE 3. ROLES IN NURSING WITHIN A&E

3A. READING COMPREHENSION: “Health careers: a real-life story”1.

In pairs, one of you is ‘Student A’ and the other is ‘Student B’. Each of you reads your
assigned “Real-life story” (Aisha or Paul).

Make sure you check the glossary and understand all the relevant vocabulary.

9 1 Texts adapted from “NHS – Working in Health”, Aisha: https://cutt.ly/VhTrcLH; Paul:

https://cutt.ly/ChTrbjj
UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

Student A:

Real-life story - Aisha Thabet

Aisha Thabet, Adult Nurse on an A&E ward (Sheffield Teaching Hospitals)
What made you decide to become a nurse?

I knew I wanted to keep my options open, and adult nursing covers all fields of
healthcare, from neonatal care to end of life. Working in A&E means you see
patients from all ages and backgrounds, so I knew this would be a great fit1. I
had also been inspired by my time working closely with nurses and witnessing
first-hand the amazing work they do.

How did you become a nurse?

In 2010 I worked as an apprentice in care on an elderly ward, I was working with vulnerable
people on a daily basis helping them with severe conditions such as dementia. It was tough2,
but I found my passion for helping people and saw how rewarding a career in nursing could be.I
wanted to have more responsibility, so when I saw a job as a healthcare assistant advertised, I
grabbed it with both hands3!
What do you do on a day-to-day basis?

Nurses are on the front line of an A&E ward! When patients come in, we make an initial
assessment and have to decide whether the patient needs immediate attention and we
observe anything that needs flagging4 like sepsis or any cardiac issues. We make a plan for the
patient before they see a doctor to ensure they get the best care possible.

Very often A&E nurses have to take control of the situation and be the decision-maker. This
was a bit daunting5 at first, but it is also really empowering and there’s always lots and lots of
support around. Sheffield is a major trauma centre, and I often get to work with the trauma
lead, or the front door response team, so I meet many great professionals and learn new
things every day. I’ve even had to work with the police on a couple of occasions!

What are the best bits?

I love seeing the speedy turnaround6 of patients. Most patients that come into A&E are
suffering some serious pain and it’s great to be able to stabilise them and help them in such
difficult moment. I also love the variety of the work, treating different people with different
needs every day makes the job really exciting, I’ll never get tired of it!
***
Glossary: (1) “a great fit” = very appropriate, the best possible option for something or
someone; (2) “tough” = hard, difficult; (3) “grabbed it with both hands” = without thinking twice; (4) = “that needs
flagging” = that needs to be seen, something serious or important (to flag = tosignal or warn); (5) “daunting” = frightening,
that causes fear, intimidating; (6) “turnaround of patients” = the coming and going of patients, the fast processing of
patients

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 UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

Student B:

Real-life story – Paul Malone

Paul Malone, Triage nurse (East Midlands Ambulance Service)

How I got into the role.

On my pre-nursing course at college1, the surgical nurses really inspired me

with their expertise, pioneering work and dedication. So, after I obtained my
degree, I decided to study for my Adult Nursing qualification.

When I finished that, I rotated through different wards, but I always felt more and more drawn to2
the intensity of accident and emergency (A&E). After my rotation, I spent five years as a theatre
nurse and a year as an adult nurse on a cancer ward. But I missed the adrenaline of A&E, so I talked
with my supervisor and as soon as a vacancy opened up, she helped me move to A&E.

What I do.

At the moment, I’m a triage nurse based in the control room, so I never actually see my patients. I
handle3 the less urgent 999 calls: anything from abdominal pains to minor injuries. I took this role
because I am also focusing on developing my teaching skills as part of a special project, training
ambulance service staff on child protection and vulnerable adult issues. But I know I’ll get tired of
the lack of excitement!

Before that, I was going out with the emergency response team sometimes, and that really put my
clinical skills to good use. Once, I worked out that a patient who had only reported some abdominal
pain in fact had a very serious condition, and my diagnosis saved him. I’ll never forget an experience
like that!

The best bits.

I loved everything about working in A&E from the very beginning! I have learned how to cope

with4 absolutely anything and have done things I never dreamed of: going out with the flying
squad5, attending major accidents, plastering, suturing, learning how to recognise fractures… I love
having the responsibility to give every patient high-standard care at a moment when they’re in
great need and achieving that is incredibly rewarding6. But what gives me the greatest satisfaction
is that working in A&E has helped me become an independent practitioner. Well, that and of
coursethe possibility to make the difference between life and death for so many people!

***
Glossary: (1) “college” = in the UK, ‘college’ refers to the educational stage after compulsory education (more or
less similar to ‘bachillerato’). This can include professional or vocational courses; (2) “drawn to” = attracted by; (3) “to
handle” = to take care of, to be in charge of/responsible for, to manage; (4) = “to cope with” = to be able to face or
do something without suffering; (5) “flying squad” = emergency response teams that use helicopters to assist victims in
difficult access places or when more urgent help is needed; (6) “rewarding” = that makes you feel good and satisfied

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 UNIT 1 – THE HOSPITAL. DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF.

3B. Comprehension questions & Discussion points:

• What are the main differences between Aisha’s and Paul’s current nursing roles?

• Did they follow similar educational and training paths? Do you

think similar pathscould be followed in your country?

• They talk a lot about “the best bits”, but which do you think are the hardest bits of
working in an A&E ward?

• Based on their experience and what you know about other

nursing roles, would you say A&E is the toughest ward to work in?
What skills should an A&E nurse have?

• What do you know about A&E in your country? Would you like
to work in an A&Eward? Why/why not?

3C. WRITING: YOUR ‘REAL-LIFE’ STORY AS A NURSE

Work in pairs. Following the examples of Aisha and Paul, you are going to write your own
(invented) ‘real-life’ story as a nurse (only ONE).

Choose one Nursing role, and imagine that you have been working for about 5-10 years:
1) What nursing job are you doing now? Why did you choose it? How did you
get into that role?
2) What is a normal day like in your current role? What tasks do you carry out?
Who do you work with?
3) What do you like the most about it? Are there any challenging bits?

Make sure your story has different sub-headings for each of the bullet points above. Your
story should be about 200-250 words long.

For inspiration, you can have a look at the NHS website “Explore nursing roles”:
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/nursing/roles-nursing.

It includes a “Compare roles” section which enables you to look at various roles
simultaneously:
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/compare-roles/compare-roles-health

¿Qué trabajo de enfermería estás haciendo ahora? ¿Por qué lo elegiste?

¿Cómo llegaste a ese papel?
To deal with budgets and shifts
To run a ward ¿Cómo es un día normal en tu puesto actual? ¿Qué tareas realizas? ¿Con
To refer a patient to a speciallist quién trabajas?
To record vital signs ¿Qué es lo que más te gusta de ella? ¿Hay algún reto?
To administrer medication
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