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Bedside talk: patients and care home residents

Kind, clear words for patients, residents and worried families.

Can I just check your name and date of birth? We ask everyone.

Computer voice · not a real clip

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About 4 min Free, no account

All 15 phrases

Checks and routines4

  1. Can I just check your name and date of birth?The routine ID check before meds or procedures.
  2. I'm just going to do your obsObs (observations) means blood pressure, pulse, temperature, oxygen and breathing rate.
  3. Just a sharp scratchWhat you say right before a needle goes in.
  4. Have you opened your bowels today?The polite clinical way to ask about poo.

Gentle care talk5

  1. What would you like me to call you?Ask first.
  2. Can I pop you on the bed?'Pop' makes a request sound gentle: 'pop your arm out', 'pop this gown on'.
  3. Are you comfy, my love?Warm everyday care talk.
  4. I'm just going to draw the curtain roundSay it before personal care or an examination.
  5. Is it all right if IAsk for consent before each step of personal care, for example before washing their back.

Understanding patients4

  1. I need to spend a pennyAn old euphemism from an older patient: they need a wee.
  2. Have you had your tea?In care homes and much of the North and Midlands, 'tea' means the evening meal and 'dinner' can mean lunch.
  3. I'm feeling a bit wobbly / a bit offBritish understatement.
  4. On a scale of nought to ten, how bad is the painOlder Brits play pain down ('mustn't grumble', 'it's a bit sore'), so a scale gets a clearer answer.

Talking to families2

  1. She's settled todayA safe update for families: she's calm and there are no new problems.
  2. I'll ask the nurse in charge to come and have a wordUse it when a question about a diagnosis, what happens next or private information is not yours to answer.
Check yourself15 questions

Question 1 of 15

Why add 'we ask everyone'?

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About this pack
Price
Free
Account
Not needed, saved on this device
Reviews
1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days later
Moments
0 of 15 phrases have a clip
Sources
Picked by Talk, CC BY-SA 4.0
Phrases
Picked by Talk.
How Talk picked them
Part of Talk's themed British life packs. Talk wrote each phrase with what it really means, when to say it, what not to say instead and one quiz question. A phrase gets a moment only if Talk's spoken videos say it with the same meaning. One review picked each moment, and a second tried to reject it. This pack holds 15 phrases.
Licence
Talk shares this list under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Meanings and examples
Written by Talk in plain English.
Dictionary details
From Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Princeton WordNet, used under the WordNet licence. WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
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