Hospital Admission

Check Up. Work in groups. Examine the picture carefully.

1. Why do you think these patients have arrived to hospital?

2. Listen to the patients problems and decide who is speaking.

3. Decide the order patients should be seen by the doctor
according to the severity of their condition.

Pronunciation. Listen and repeat the words and word combinations.

birth insect bites procedure
blood loss intensive care unit self-harming
burns minor stretchers
comb nose bleeds subsequently
court of nursing care surgery
law occur transfusion
discharge overnight triage
first aid poisoning unconscious
guardian priority violence
 Hospital Admission

Reading. Read the text. Discuss upon the following.

1. How many types of patients are there?
2. What is the difference between the elective and emergent admission?
3. Who are admitted to emergency department?
4. Describe the procedure of triaging.
5. What are the procedures in elective hospital admission?
There are three ways to admit a patient also known as an accident & emergency
to hospital: either as an outpatient, a day patient department (A&E), emergency room (ER),
or an inpatient. An outpatient needs treatment emergency ward (EW) or casualty department,
but not a bed. A day patient needs a bed for a is a medical treatment facility, usually found in
few hours, but doesn’t need to stay overnight. a hospital or other primary care center. In some
An inpatient needs at least one overnight stay. countries, emergency departments have become
Hospital admission involves staying at a important entry points for those without other
hospital for at least one night or more. Staying means of access to medical care. The
in the hospital overnight is done because the emergency departments of most hospitals
individual is too sick to stay at home, requires operate 24 hours a day. Every day of the year,
24-hour nursing care, and/or is receiving people come through the doors of A&E
medications and undergoing tests and/or surgery departments. Some walk and some come on
that can only be performed in the hospital stretchers. They may be victims of road traffic
setting. Hospitals need to plan for patient accidents, violence, accidents at home, self-
admissions. They have to predict how many harming, poisoning, burns, and so on. A&E is
beds they will need. It is quite easy to predict for people who are seriously injured, perhaps
referrals from doctors like General Practitioners, unconscious or losing a lot of blood. Hospitals
but a larger number of patients come through usually say that A&E departments are only for
A&E, and it is more difficult to plan for them. critical or life-threatening situations. Some
In general, there are two major types of hospital people go to A&E with minor injuries like
admissions, emergent and elective. Emergent sprains, insect bites, cuts and nose bleeds. They
hospital admissions usually happen when a should not be there. Usually they have to wait a
patient seen in the emergency department is long time before they are examined and
subsequently admitted to the hospital. Elective sometimes staff will send them away. When
hospital admissions occur when a doctor A&E departments have multiple casualties, after
requests a bed to be reserved for a patient on a a major incident like a train crash, they have to
specific day. An emergency department (ED), decide who is a priority and who can wait. To
 Hospital Admission
do this they use a procedure called triage. They the hospital they need extremely
sort patients into groups. There are those who close observation that can only be given in
need immediate surgery, those who are stable specialized care unit, called an intensive care
but need hospital care, and those who only need unit. Once the person's condition improves, they
first aid. People who are going to die are not a may then be transferred to a common room. If
priority for medical care. the person entering the hospital is a child, the
Elective admissions make up the parents or guardian will fill out the hospital
majority of hospital admissions, but this forms. Most hospitals allow parents and
percentage varies markedly with some hospitals. guardians to stay overnight in the hospital with
It is very important to keep accurate records of the child, and to be with them 24 hours a day.
patients’ treatment, from admission through to If the hospital stay involves surgery in which
discharge and follow-up. Before the person is there is the potential for significant blood loss, it
taken to their room, admitting procedures are may be possible to arrange to have blood drawn
performed. The person's personal data is and stored so that in the event of a transfusion,
recorded and entered into the hospital's the individual receives his or her own blood. A
computer system. This data may include: small bag can be brought into the hospital that
 name contains:
 address  night clothes (the hospital supplies their
 home and work telephone number own, but some people like to wear familiar
 date of birth clothing; some people use the hospital
 place of employment outfits to decrease the chance of staining
 next of kin their own clothing or bringing germs home
 emergency contact information, or the from the hospital)
names and telephone numbers of those  a robe
individuals the hospital should contact if the
 slippers
person being admitted needs emergency
 reading material for the hospital stay
care or their condition worsens significantly
 hobby materials such as knitting or a book
 reason for hospitalization
of crossword puzzles
 allergies to medications or foods  reading glasses
There may be several forms to fill out. One  personal care items such as comb, brush,
form may be a detailed medical and medication and toothbrush (most hospitals supply these
history. This history will include past items, but many individuals prefer to have
their own from home).
hospitalizations and surgeries. Once all the Medical staff record all treatments, test results
admitting information has been completed, the and correspondence. They try to record these
next step is usually being taken to a checking things at the time they happen. This is
room. Sometimes when people are admitted to important, and not only to ensure the correct
 Hospital Admission
treatment. Medical records are sometimes used for research, or in a court of law.

I. Comprehension Check. Read the text again. Agree or disagree on

these statements.
1. Admissions to hospital are only for inpatients.
2. There are more emergency admissions than referrals.
3. A hospital is like a small town because there are so many buildings.
4. Personal details are part of medical records.
5. Doctors and nurses are trained to manage a wide range of problems 24 hours a day.
6. People with minor injuries are admitted to hospital.
7. Triaging identifies what casualties are a priority for A&E department.
8. People who are going to die are given immediate medical care.
9. All elective inpatient hospital admissions require prior authorization.
10. Medical hospital recording stops at discharge.

II. Comprehension Check. Match the terms with their definitions.

1. overnight stay a. when a patient is sent to hospital

2. admission b. the sorting out of patients 
3. referral c. treatment after a patient has been discharged from hospital
4. discharge d. time as an inpatient
5. follow-up e. letters, emails and messages
6. correspondence f. when you leave a hospital after treatment
7. triage g. the moment when a patient enters hospital

III. Comprehension Check. Identify the categories (colors) of the triage procedure?
 Lee Fenton was hit by a falling tree, which he was cutting down.
 Two-year-old Toby Smith fell into a neighbour's swimming pool.
 76-year-old Eric Baker slipped on a wet bathroom floor.
 One-year-old Ben Brown put a small toy in his mouth and it lodged in his
throat.
 Lasvinder Singh cut his hand badly while opening a tin of peaches.
 Ten-year-old Jason Gold swallowed some of his father's medicine.
 82-year-old Iris Watts dropped a pan of boiling water on her foot.
 Hospital Admission
 Nick Young suffered cuts, bruises, and a broken arm when he was putting up
some shelves in his home.

Vocabulary. Choose the correct variant, according to the meaning.

1. Use a stretcher to bring in the next victim/ casualty/ sufferer, she can’t walk.
2. This patient’s condition is stable/ critical/ normal at the moment, but she needs to see
a doctor soon.
3. He has minor/ major/ unimportant injuries, but they are not life-threatening.
4. This patient is in serious danger – his condition is crucial/ vital/ critical.
5. She has cuts and bruising to her face – I’m sure she’s a sufferer /victim/ patient of
violence.
6. This child is seriously ill – he’s a significance/ priority/ importance for immediate
treatment.
7. All patients are explicitly examined/ triaged/ checked up to the minors or majors area
before being admitted. 
8. Cutting is a long-term/ self-harming/ life-threatening behavior in which teens
deliberately cut or scratch themselves.

Language Spot. Why is it important to communicate with patient’s family?

Read the information below.

How did that happen? ASKING ABOUT CHIEF

Have you noticed any COMPLAINTS
strange behavior before?
(PART II) DESCRIBING HOW
THINGS HAPPENED
How has she/he been This is typically documented from the patient’s
feeling recently? own words, but sometimes in emergency cases
patient cannot speak or is unconscious.
Has he/she been
A collateral history from relatives or other
complaining of anything? witnesses, including paramedics, is vital.
Did anything else happen? The patient's recent health, functional status
and previous medical history may provide
Has she ever had anything diagnostic clues as well as guiding decisions
like this before? regarding ongoing care, such as admission to a
critical care unit.
How fast did the
Previous hospital records must be requested
paramedics arrive? urgently and the next of kin contacted.
Bystanders may have witnessed the patient
Can you tell me more about
collapse, while paramedics are skilled in
what you saw? surveying the scene for clues, such as empty
drug packets, alcohol or a suicide note.
Hospital Admission
Have you dialed 999 immediately?

Listening. a) Listen to a conversation between the doctor in

the admission office and Mr. Stone who is worried about his
wife. Write down as many details as you can .Compare your
answers.

b) Adverbs: describing how things happened can help to make a diagnosis.

Look at these statements underline the most appropriate adverb in these
sentences.

1. The fainting? It just happened abruptly /gradually / slowly. The next thing I
knew she was lying completely flat on the pavement.
2. The patient suddenly became pale and started to sweat, but not profusely /
rapidly / enormously.
3. She was lying flat, but bystanders were trying to keep her upright, so she was
twitching slowly / convulsively / suddenly.
4. As he couldn't see good/ clearly / visually, he got quite frightened.
5. In a seizure, there is typically / rarely / seldom no prodrome, but this is not
always the case.
6. After collapsing, he didn't get better spontaneously / slowly/gradually. The
patient was a bit drowsy for quite a while afterwards.
7. He recovered completely / partially / poorly from the accident. Now he's
perfectly OK.
8. Fainting and vomiting don't reliably / partially / clearly discriminate seizures
from faints.

I. Speaking. Where do you think the majority of accidents

occur: at home, work, or in the street? Some accidents might
happen in both or all situations. Are these always a case of
hospital admission?

II. Speaking. Describe an accident that happened to you.

a) What happened?
b) Have you been hospitalized?
Hospital Admission
c) What was the procedure for admission?

Checklist. Assess your progress in this unit. Tick () the statements which are
true.
 I can understand hospital admission procedures
 I can distinguish between emergent and non-emergent conditions
 I can describe what happened
 I can talk about emergency cases

Key Words.

Verbs kin violence

to admit first aid
to allow guardian Adjectives
to discharge hospital setting accurate
to fill out insect bites elective
to occur intensive care unit emergent
to operate means injured
to request nose bleeds minor
to stain nursing care unconscious
to undergo outfit overnight
to worsen priority
procedure
Adverbs
robe
Nouns markedly
self-harming
birth seriously
poisoning
blood loss subsequently
slippers
burns significantly
sprains
comb
stretchers
court of law
surgery Preposition
cuts
transfusion through
employment
triage
entry
Useful References
Sam McCarter , Medicine 2. Student's Book , Oxford University Press España, S.A. , 2010 , p.144,

ISBN- 978-0194569569
Tony Grice, Oxford English for Careers: Nursing 1, OUP Oxford, 2007, p. 135 , ISBN-13 978-
0194569774
Hospital Admission
http://samples.jbpub.com/9781449652722/9781449645106_ch01_001_036.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6330912/