Medical focus: equipment to take patient Observations

a Match the equipment (1 -5 ) to the definitions (a-e).

1 blood pressure cuff a takes a patient's blood pressure
2 digital blood pressure monitor b wraps around a patient's arm to take blood pressure
3 pulse oximeter с takes a patient's temperature
4 scales d records a patient's blood oxygen saturation
5 tympanic thermometer e weigh a patient

b Match the pictures (1 —5) below to the equipment in Exercise 4a.

Unit 1 Admitting patients

 Communication focus: giving instructions to a patient
► l.5 Stephen, the Ward Nurse, is taking Mr Bracknell’s Observations.
Listen to the conversation and tick ✓ the instructions you hear.
1 Can you stand on the scales, please? □
2 Can you open your mouth, please? □
3 Can you bend your leg, please? □
4 Can you turn your head to one side for me, please? □
5 Can you bend your arm, please? □
6 Can you roll up your sleeve, please? □
7 Can you put your arm out straight? □
8 Can you hold out your hand, please? □

b Which instructions (1-8) from Exercise 5a can you use with the following
equipment?
tympanic thermometer _______
scales _______
blood pressure c u f f _______________
pulse oximeter _______

с In pairs, take turns to choose a piece of equipment in Exercise 4a and ask

your partner for the instructions you give a patient.

d In pairs, practise taking a patient’s Observations. Student A, you are the

nurse; give instructions to the patient. Student B, you are the patient;
listen to the nurse and follow their instructions. Use the equipment in
Exercise 4a, the phrases in Exercise 5a and audioscript 1.5 on page 93 to
help you. Swap roles and practise again.

Charting and documentation: taking and

recording patient Observations
6 a Match the abbreviations (1 - 8 ) to their meanings (a-h).
1 T— a oxygen saturation
2 P N. b observations
3 RR \ с kilograms
4 BP \ d pulse
5 Wt N. e respiratory rate
6 OjSATS f temperature
7 kg g blood pressure
8 Obs. h weight

Unit 1 Admitting patients

Ь ► 1.5 Listen again to Stephen taking Mr Bracknell's Admission Observations
and record the information on the Observation Chart below.

ADMISSION OBSERVATIONS
Full name: Phillip Bracknell
DATE: 24/06/2009 Preferred name: Mr Bracknell
DOB: 28/5/58
BP JL T
DnP A Watson
P wt .kg
Hosp. No:897635
RR OjSATS- .%

Date Time T P BP RR 0 2SATS Sign Name

^ — —■- - I и _ i ii~ i n

С ► l .6 Listen to Bessie, the Ward Nurse, taking Samira, a young patient's.

Admission Observations and record the information on the Observation
Chart below.

Mount
•phia
HoaptGi
OBSERVATION CHART
Paediatrics
ADMISSION OBSERVATIONS
Full name: Samira Khadri
DATE: 02/10/2009 Preferred name: Samira
DOB: 05/01/2003
BP /
Dr: R Howland
P Hosp. No:87453
RR

► t f M atch the beginnings (1 - 8 ) to the endings (a -h ) to com plete B essie 's

exp lan atio n s. Listen again to check your answ ers.

1 Fm going to take — .^ a the information from this machine.

2 П1 just take b your Obs. now.
3 П1 get the rest of с your respirations while you were watching the machine.
4 Ш wrap d the cuff around your arm.
5 »». П1 just dip e your temperature with this special thermometer...
6 H i turn on f weigh you now.
7 I counted § this lead onto your finger.
8 OK. Ill h the machine now.

Unit 1 Admitting patients 13

 e In pairs, practise the conversation between Bessie and Samira using
audioscript 1 .6 on page 94 to help you.

f IN J. Bessie and Fay, another Ward Nurse, are talking about Samira’s
10.00 Obs. Look at the chart below and listen to the conversation. Did Fay
chart all the Observations correctly? Correct any incorrect information on
the Observation Chart.

S e p h ia
•Hospital
OBSERVATION CHART
Paediatrics
ADMISSION OBSERVATIONS
Full name: Samira Khadri
DATE: 02/ / 0/2009 Preferred name: Samira
DO . _ DOB: 05/01/2003
Dr / I ________
Dr: R Howland
p Wt kg
Hosp. No: 87453
RR O,SATS %

Date Time T P BP RR 0 2 SATS Sign Name

02/10/09 lO.OOhrs 375 m 105/60 20 99% F . N ew land

g Look at the following examples of written and spoken abbreviations.

In pairs, practise saying the spoken abbreviations.

Written Spoken
T365 Temp thirty-six five
P 78 Pulse seventy-eight
BP 125/85 BP one twenty-five over eighty-five
RR 18 Resps 18
02 SATS 97% Sats ninety-seven percent

14 Unit 1 Admitting patients

h ► и Listen to some more patient Observations andl£irclg)the readings you
hear.

1 H er tem p’s up today. It’s

2 He has a slow pulse. It’s

56.

3 H er B P ’s
95/16.

4 H is tem p’s norm al,

3 6 7.

5 H er resps are slow at ] , breaths a minute.

14

6 She has a pulse of and a BP of ^ 9/70.

62 118/70

i In pairs, take turns choosing one of the following abbreviations and asking
your partner to say it.
a BP 140/90 f RR 19
b P75 g BP 120/80
с RR 16 h T375
d 0 2 SATS 96% i P60
e T36« j 0 2 SATS 99%

In pairs, practise explaining a patient's Admission Observations to another

nurse who is taking over the next shift. Student A, use the Admission
Observations below; Student B, use the Admission Observations on page 89.

ADMISSION OBSERVATIONS
Full name: Annabel Marriot
DATE: Ш Ш Ы ж Preferred name:Annie
, DOB: 16/5/1965
BP 120/85 T
Dr: NKovacs
P 72 Wt 18kg
Hosp.No:719322
RR IS Ш
,M,I M ______ m _.l a*~"4H

Share your knowledge

In small groups, discuss the following questions and then feed back your
group’s ideas to the class.
1 Have you ever admitted a patient before?
2 What sort of things do patients like to know about when they come into
hospital?
3 Why is it important to spend time with a patient when they first arrive in
hospital?

Unit 1 Admitting patients 15