Vocational English Teacher’s
Book
English for
Nursing 2
Pearson
Unit 4
Symptoms and injuries
Symptoms
Asking about symptoms and injuries
This unit looks at developing language
for common symptoms and injuries, as
Asthma emergency – giving
well as encouraging patients to describe
how these came about. It also deals with instructions
the symptoms of asthma and giving
instructions in an emergency situation. SOAP notes
Finally, it provides an introduction to
understanding and writing simple SOAP
notes.
HCI VIETNAM
NEXT
Symptoms and injuries
contusion (bruise),
abdominal,
respiratory,
sprain.
HCI VIETNAM
What can chest pains be a symptom of?
NEXT
signs, symptoms and
injuries.
Signs are objective –
what you can see with the eye:
bruise, swelling, redness, or with medical
equipment:
e.g. vital signs.
Symptoms are subjective –
these are what the patient feels (headache,
nausea, etc.).
HCI VIETNAM
Injury is the patient term for the physical damage
to the body (cut, broken bone).
NEXT
signs, symptoms and
injuries.
1 injury
2 contusion/sprain
3 sprain/contusion
4 abdominal/chest
5 chest/abdominal
6 respiratory
HCI VIETNAM
NEXT
Triage Room
HCI VIETNAM
NEXT
Triage Room
HCI VIETNAM
Find synonyms for more formal medical
words.
mass shortness of breath
respiration dizziness
vertigo swelling
contusion bruise
dyspnea breathing
HCI VIETNAM
LANGUAGE
Past Simple Past Continuous
We use the past simple to We use the past continuous to
talk about events, states talk about events and
or habits at definite times temporary states that were in
in the past. progress around a certain
time in the past.
At 4 pm last Monday, I At 4 pm last Tuesday, I
finished work early and went was working in the office.
home.
HCI VIETNAM
In pairs, students should take turns asking
Asking about and answering the nurse’s questions in 4,
symptoms and
using the patient record. This will serve to
reinforce the target language items.
injuries
HCI VIETNAM
Asking about symptoms and injuries
Open- questions are questions that allow
someone to give a free-form answer.
Open & Closed Closed- questions can be answered with “Yes”
questions or “No,” or they have a limited set of
possible answers (such as: A, B, C, or All
of the Above)
Are you satisfied? How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with this process?
Did you find it? Where was the item?
HCI VIETNAM
Does that work for you? What do you think about that?
Asking about symptoms and injuries
The most common sports injuries are:
Sprains and strains
Knee injuries
Swollen muscles
Achilles tendon injuries
Pain along the shin bone
Rotator cuff injuries
Fractures (broken bones)
Dislocations
HCI VIETNAM
Asthma
emergency –
giving
instructions
What is your experience of asthma?
What advice might nurses give to asthma sufferers
about how to enjoy a good quality of life?
1 What generally happens when a patient has an
asthma attack?
2 Which countries have the highest levels of asthma in
the world?
HCI VIETNAM
3 Where do most of the deaths in asthma take place?
4 Who is more likely to suffer from asthma?
5 What is the cure for asthma?
NEXT
Extra activity Ask students to deliver a short presentation
on asthma, using the diagram on page 32.
HCI VIETNAM
NEXT
Extra activity Ask students to deliver a short presentation
on asthma, using the diagram on page 32.
HCI VIETNAM
NEXT
Language
The Imperative
We use imperatives to give clear, Take your time.
simple instructions to a patient. Don't lie down.
We can use sequencers followed by First breath out. Then blow into
a short pause to make it easier the mouthpiece.
for the patient to understand the
HCI VIETNAM
instructions.
NEXT
Extra Activity
1 What is a peak flow meter?
2 What is a nebulizer?
3 What is a portable nebulizer?
HCI VIETNAM
NEXT
SOAP
What do you think SOAP stands for?
What do you think SOAP notes are used for?
HCI VIETNAM
NEXT
SOAP
What do you think SOAP stands for?
What do you think SOAP notes are used for?
HCI VIETNAM
Preparing for the
next unit
In preparation for Unit 5, suggest
the following to your students:
Compile a list of words related to food and
nutrition you already know in English.
• Write a diary of your food intake for the
week.
• Do some (online) research into Type 1 and
Type 2 diabetes.
HCI VIETNAM