37 Unit 13

13 Monitoring the patient

LANGUAGE
1 Grammar
Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.
1 The heart rate are monitored / is monitored / monitored regularly.
2 The nurses are checked / is checked / checked the patients.
3 Mrs Ramone removed / were removed / was removed her dentures before going to theatre.
4 Keyhole surgery was / are / is used more and more frequently.
5 The anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide were discovered / was discovered / discovered by Davy.
6 I didn’t tell / wasn’t told / not told I was expecting twins.
7 She wasn’t give / gave /given the correct diagnosis.
8 A Is the ventilator monitored? B Yes, it is / be / monitored.

2 Key words from the unit

Complete the sentences with the words from the list. signo vital
vital sign
ventilador
1 A fever causes shivering . ventilator
bpm shivering temblando
2 You measure heart rate in . ondas
brainwaves
3 There is a lack of co-ordination with hypothermia. cerebrales
bpm
4 We use ultrasound to monitor babies. abnormality bpm
5 Blood pressure is a vital sign . ultrasound anomalía
6 brainwaves are monitored by an ECG. co-ordination ultrasonido
coordinación
7 A scan can show up an abonormality .
8 The ventilador helps him breathe.

READING AND VOCABULARY

Nurses see patients more often than other specialists and are in the best position to monitor
them. They look out for any problems and assess the patient’s progress and response to treatment.
Basically, by careful monitoring and recording, a nurse answers the question: what is happening to
this patient?
Monitoring body functions by checking vital signs helps to answer this question. The vital signs are:
body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate. Changes or abnormalities in vital
signs indicate changes in the patient’s condition. However, they are not 100% reliable and stable vital
signs do not always mean that everything is OK.
Bodily fluids, including blood and urine, can be analysed, usually in a laboratory. And it is now
possible to get images of what is going on inside the body using technological aids like X-rays and
ultrasound scans. For more detailed information, there are endoscopes which are used to look inside
the body, and biopsies where tissue is removed for examination.
Some patients with chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and asthma can self-monitor. They
communicate with doctors and nurses by phone and online. Patients can also be monitored from a
distance using satellite technology and the internet. This has major advantages; the patient doesn’t
have to keep visiting a hospital and it saves a lot of money.

Oxford English for Careers Nursing 1 Practice File © Oxford University Press 2011
38 Unit 13

3 Comprehension
Use the information in the text to complete the sentences with the
correct answer, a, b or c.
1 Nurses are in a good position to .
a monitor patients.
b specialize.
c get to know their patients.
2 ‘What is happening to this patient?’ is a question which .
a only nurses can answer.
b monitoring helps to answer.
c nurses must ask.
3 Stable vital signs mean .
a everything is probably OK.
b a change in a patient’s condition.
c something’s definitely wrong.
4 Technological aids give information about .
a internal organs.
b bodily fluids.
c vital signs.
5 An endoscopy gives .
a less information than an X-ray.
b more detail than a scan.
c less information than a biopsy.
6 Self-monitoring is .
a done by doctors and nurses.
b done at a hospital.
c cheap and convenient.

4 Vocabulary
Label these signs and symptoms according to their type. Write ‘C’ for cognitive,
‘M’ for motor, ‘I’ for internal and ‘E’ for external. The first one is done for you.
1 The ultrasound is showing no abnormalities. I
2 The ECG readout shows stable bpm. I
3 Sometimes she is unable to walk and falls over. M
4 The EEG shows that the patient is waking up. I
5 He is irrational and seems confused. C
6 She is very pale. E
7 Her arm is paralysed. M

Oxford English for Careers Nursing 1 Practice File © Oxford University Press 2011
39 Unit 13

5 Further vocabulary practice

Complete sentences 1–7 using the words or phrases in the box. paralysis parálisis
The first one is done for you. lack co-ordinationfalta coordinación
1 The patient is having a hypoglycaemic episode pale skin piel palida
irrational irracional
and his blood glucose level is abnormally low .
abnormally lowanormalmente bajo
2 You may observe that the patient is nervous and anxious shake and shiver
which makes her shake and shive . slurred temblaar y estremecerse
arrastrado
3 Sometimes he may lack co-ordination, so he seems to be drunk.
4 You may observe some paralysis with the patient unable to move his limbs.
5 They will have pale skin which is cold to the touch.
6 It is difficult to understand her because her speech is very slurred .
7 There may be personality changes, they may exhibit strange and irrational behaviour.

WRITING
6 Instructions
Study these instructions for taking a patient’s pulse and write similar instructions
for how to measure either temperature or blood pressure.

Example Instructions
First wash your hands. Support the patient’s arm with the palm of the hand downwards. Press three
fingers against the radius bone until you feel the place where the artery expands and contracts with
the heartbeat. Do not use your thumb because it has its own pulse. Count the beats for 30 seconds
and multiply the number by two to get the heart rate for one minute.

Temperature

Observe the patient’s general condition, check their temperature. To take a

temperature orally, first put on disposable gloves and explain the procedure to the
patient. reading on the thermometer is 40°C. Ask the patient to open their mouth and
place the thermometer under the tongue. Remove the thermometer after the
recommended time, read it and record.

Blood pressure

To measure blood pressure you need a stethoscope and a sphygmomanometer. First

clean the stethoscope. Sit the patient in a chair with the palm of their hand facing up.
Let the air out of the cuff of the sphygmomanometer and wrap it firmly around the
patient’s arm, just above the elbow. Find the pulse in the artery and place the
stethoscope over it. Pump up the pressure in the cuff. Then start to release the air
and note the point where you hear the pulse through your stethoscope. This is the
systolic pressure. The point when you can no longer hear the pulse is the diastolic
pressure.

Oxford English for Careers Nursing 1 Practice File © Oxford University Press 2011