Chapter I

English Communication in Nursing

Learning Objectives
After completed this chapter, students will be able to:
 Communicate in English about demographic data
 Communicate in English to collect current and past health‐illness data
 Communicate in English about dimension of symptom

A. Collecting Demographic Data

Useful Vocabularies:
Surname
date of birth
Address
Phone Number
Next of kin
Marital status

Useful Expressions:
1. How to start
It is time for me to ……….
I just want to ………
I would like to ……….
I am going to ……….
I need to ……….

2. How to collect demographic data

Name What is your name?
What is your complete name?
What is your surname?
Age How old are you?
Address What is your address?
Where do you live?
Phone Your phone number, please
What is your phone number?
Do you have a mobile phone number?
Marital Status Are you married?
Health Insurance Do you have any health insurance?
Occupation & Title What is your occupation?
Do you have any academic title?
What is your title?
What do you do?
Next of Kin Who is your next of kin?
Grammar Exposure
Wh- questions
We can use questions with what, where, who, when, and how to ask for patient data.
Function Example
We can use what when we want to know about something. What is your name?
We can use where when we want to ask about place. Where do you live?
We can use who when we want to ask about person Who brings you here?
We can use when when we want to ask about time When is your birthday?
We can use how when we want to ask about condition. How old are you?

Formula:
Wh + be + S?
Wh + do/does + S + V + O/C?
Wh + Vs + S + C?

S be do/does
I am do
you/we/they are do
she/he/it is does

Activity 1.1
Complete the question with what, where, and who

1. ______________’s your name?

2. ______________ do you live?
3. ______________’s your address?
4. ______________’s your date of birth?
5. ______________’s your next of kin?
6. ______________’s her relationship to you?
 Activity 1.2
Interview your partner and fill the following interview sheet!

Name : ………………………………………………………………...
Age : ………………………………………………………………...
Sex : ………………………………………………………………...
Address : ………………………………………………………………...
Phone : ………………………………………………………………...
Religion : ………………………………………………………………...
Marital Status : ………………………………………………………………...
Health insurance : ………………………………………………………………...
Occupation : ………………………………………………………………...
Next of Kin : ………………………………………………………………...
Reason for contact : ………………………………………………………………...
Time of contact : ………………………………………………………………...

B. Current‐Health and Illness Status

Useful Vocabularies:
Health cough itchy stomachache backache
Condition dizzy nauseous sweaty
Assessment earache runny nose swollen glands
Assess fever skin rash tired
Symptom headache sore throat cold

Useful Expressions:
1. How to ask about current-health
 What do you think about your health?
 What do you feel today?
 Would you tell me about your health condition recently?
Sample of patient’s response:
“I’m usually healthy, have usual cold, and have to take medicine for high blood
pressure”

2. How to ask about illness status

 Would you tell me about your ………?

 How many times a day do you do your ………?
 Do you have any problem with your …… (bowel movement/waterworks)?
 Is the stool formed or loosed?
 Is your waterworks sluggish?
 3. How to explain about symptoms
be + adjective I am …………..(dizzy)
feel + adjective She feels …………(tired)
have + adjective He has …………..(a runny nose)

Grammar Exposure
1. Asking about patient’s condition

What + do + S+ V+ O/C?
What do you think about your health?
Do/does + S+ V+ O/C?
Do you have any problem with your digestive system?
Is/are + S+ C?
Is is itchy?
Would + S+ V+ O?
Would you tell me about your current health?

2. Describing symptoms
Formula S Formula
Be + adjective I am dizzy
You/we/they are dizzy
She/he is dizzy
Feel + adjective I/you/we/they feel tired
She/he feels tired
Have + adjective + noun I/you/we/they have (a) runny nose.
She/he has (a) runny nose.

C. History of Past Health and Illnesses

Useful vocabularies:
Disease measles chicken pox fever scarlet fever polio
rubella mumps rheumatic diphtheria tuberculosis
Useful expressions:
1. Asking common communicable disease
Questions Response
Have you ever had + a kind of disease……? Yes, I have/ No, I haven’t.
How old were you when you got it? I was about ….. years old.
Are you allergic to…… (a certain food/medication) Yes, I am/ No, I am not.
i.e. Are you allergic to penicillin?
2. Asking about immunization
Questions Response
Have you ever been immunized against + (a kind of disease)? Yes, I have/ No, I
Have you ever got ….. + (a kind of disease) immunization? haven’t.
i.e. Have you ever got polio immunization?

Grammar exposure:
Present Perfect Tenses
The present perfect is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past
participle of a verb.

Formula: S + have/has + past participle/V3

I/you/we/they have arrived
She/he/it has arrived

We use the present perfect:

• for something that started in the past and continues in the present: i.e. They've been
married for nearly fifty years.
• when we are talking about our experience up to the present: i.e. I've seen that film
before.

Adverb of frequency
We can use adverb of frequencies with the present simple to say how often we do things.
never sometimes usually often always
0% ---------------------------------------------------------------- 100%
Adverb of frequency before the main verb Patients with mumps do not usually have a
rush
Adverb of frequency after the verb be I am often very tired after work.
Activity 1.3
Work in pair

Student A
You are ill and there are your symptoms:
You
- have a skin rush
- have a headache
- are sweaty
- have a slight fever (38ºC).
Answer student B’s question, explaining you symptoms.
Student B
 Ask student A’s question and tick the symptoms that she has. After that, give her a possible
diagnosis.

For example:
Hello, how are you today? Do you have a temperature? Do you have a sore throat?

D. Dimension of Symptom
Useful vocabularies:
dull sharp aggravating factors
stabbing aching alleviating factors
Useful expressions:
Location Quality or character
Where do you feel it? What is it like? is it sharp?
Does it move around? Do you feel ….?
Show me where! What does the pain look like?
When did it last?

Severity
On a scale of 0 to 10, with ten the worst, how would you rate what you feel right now?
What was the worst it has been?
Does this interfere your usual activities? In what ways?

Timing Setting
When did you first notice it? Does it occur in a particular place or under certain
How long does it last? circumstances?
How often does it happen? Have you taken anything for it?
Does it appear in particular time?

Activity 1.4
Make a conversation to explore the dimension of symptoms
Situation A
A patient with anorexia nervosa expresses:
 I don’t want to have a lot of meal
 I don’t want to be plump
 My arms and legs are getting fat
 I have difficulty in bowel motion
 I feel nausea
 I want to vomit
 Food makes my stomach upset
 I am afraid of being fat

Situation B
A patient suspected with appendicitis expresses:
 I feel pain around my navel
 I feel pain around here (in the lower right spot of my abdomen)
 I feel a sharp pain
 Don’t touch my stomach, it increases my pain
 I feel feverish
 I feel nausea
 I vomit
 I lose my appetite
 I vomit frequently after meals
 I have recurrent pain in my lower part of my stomach
 It becomes more painful if I do the squatting bowel motion