I.
Pre reading activities:
Brainstorm the following statement: “ Health is a state of complete physical, mental and
social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”
(World Health Organization)
IN PATIENT DEPARTMENT, HOSPITAL
Inpatient care is the care of patients whose condition requires admission to a hospital.
Progress in modern medicine and the advent of comprehensive out-patient clinics ensure that
patients are only admitted to a hospital when they are extremely ill or have severe physical
trauma
An in patient department (hospital) is a health care institution providing patient treatment
with specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals are somewhere that we never want to spend time,
but always end up visiting. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which has an
emergency department. A district hospital typically is the major health care facility in its region,
with large numbers of beds for intensive care and long-term care. Specialized hospitals include
trauma centres, rehabilitation hospitals, children's hospitals, seniors' (geriatric) hospitals, and
hospitals for dealing with specific medical needs such as psychiatric problems (see psychiatric
hospital). Hospitals are broken down into departments. They may have acute services such as an
emergency department or specialist trauma centre, burn unit, surgery, or urgent care. These may
then be backed up by more specialized units such as:Emergency department, Cardiology, Intensive care
unit, Paediatric intensive care unit, Neurology, Oncology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Every hospital in this list has its specialties, but all of them can provide excellent, wellrounded care. You can be rest assured that you will get the best treatment no matter where you
go. People get put on life support because they are too ill or injured to keep their own body
systems functioning. It often happens that someone is put into Intensive Care without a diagnosis
because they need the care available there. While life support is doing its job, the doctors do
examinations and tests to discover what the problem is. When they know that, they can give
disease-specific treatment. A doctor's first duty is to save lives, which is why life saving
procedures may be put in place as a priority. Other concerns are lower priority in the immediate
crisis. In the case of cardiac injuries, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external
defibrillator. The purpose of basic life support (abbreviated BLS) is to save lives in a variety of
different situations that require immediate attention. These situations can include, but are not
limited to, cardiac arrest, stroke, drowning, choking, accidental injuries, violence, severe allergic
reactions, burns, hypothermia, birth complications, drug overdose, and alcohol intoxication. The
most common emergency that requires BLS is cerebral hypoxia, a shortage of oxygen to the
brain due to heart or respiratory failure. A victim of cerebral hypoxia may die within 8–10
minutes without basic life support procedures. BLS is the lowest level of emergency care,
followed by advanced life support and critical care or an emergency cesarean, dialysis, iron lung
Healthcare professionals involved in rehabilitation are often involved in discharge planning
for patients. When considering patient discharge, there are a number of factors to take into
consideration: the patient's current state, their place of residence and the type of support
available.
Vocabulary
Hospitalist-Physicians whose primary professional focus is hospital medicine
Shift work- a pattern of work in which you sometimes work during the day and sometimes
during the night
Trainee- someone who is training for a particular profession or job
Caregiver - Other people who work in hospitals or care for people who are ill: attendant,
care assistant, caregiver, carer, caretaker, care worker, night porter, orderly, physiotherapist
Explanatory notes
Health care (or healthcare) is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness,
injury, and other physical and mental impairments in human beings. Health care is delivered by
practitioners in allied health, dentistry, midwifery (obstetrics), medicine, nursing, optometry,
pharmacy, psychology and other health professions. It refers to the work done in providing
primary care, secondary care, and tertiary care, as well as in public health.
A patient is any recipient of health care services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of
treatment by a physiotherapist, physician, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse,
psychologist, podiatrist, veterinarian, or other health care providerThe word patient originally meant 'one
who suffers'. This English noun comes from the Latin word patiens, the present participle of the deponent
verb, patior, meaning 'I am suffering,' and akin to the Greek verb πάσχειν (= paskhein, to suffer) and its
cognate noun πάθος (= pathos
An emergency department (ED), also known as accident & emergency (A&E), emergency room
(ER), or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in acute care of patients who
present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance. The emergency
department is usually found in a hospital or other primary care center
Intensive care medicine or critical care medicine is a branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis
and management of life-threatening conditions requiring sophisticated organ support and invasive
monitoring
A trauma center is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide comprehensive emergency medical
services to patients suffering traumatic injuries. Trauma centers grew into existence out of the realization
that traumatic injury is a disease process unto itself requiring specialized and experienced
multidisciplinary treatment and specialized resources.
Rehabilitation hospitals, also referred to as inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, are devoted to the
rehabilitation of patients with various neurological, musculo-skeletal, orthopedic and other medical
conditions following stabilization of their acute medical issues. The industry is largely made up by
independent hospitals that operate these facilities within acute care hospitals. There are also inpatient
rehabilitation hospitals that offer this service in a hospital-like setting, but separate from acute care
facilities. Most inpatient rehabilitation facilities are located within hospitals
A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children and adolescents.
Children's hospitals can serve children from birth up to the age of 18, or in some instances, children's
hospitals' doctors may treat children until they finish high school. The number of children's hospitals
proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal
medicine and adult surgical specialties.
Geriatrics or geriatric medicine[1] is a specialty that focuses on health care of elderly people. It aims to
promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. A geriatrician or
geriatric physician, a physician who specializes in the care of elderly people. Geriatrics, the care of aged
people, differs from gerontology which is the study of the aging process itself. The term geriatrics comes
from the Greek γέρων geron meaning "old man", and ιατρός iatros meaning "healer". However, geriatrics
is sometimes called medical gerontology.
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals and psychiatric wards ("psych" wards) when
they are a sub-unit of a regular hospital, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of serious
mental disorders, such as clinical depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Psychiatric hospitals
vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialize only in short-term or outpatient
therapy for low-risk patients. Others may specialize in the temporary or permanent care of residents who,
as a result of a psychological disorder, require routine assistance, treatment, or a specialized and
controlled environment. Patients are often admitted on a voluntary basis, but people whom psychiatrists
believe may pose a significant danger to themselves or others may be subject to involuntary commitment.
A burn is a type of injury to flesh or skin caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or radiation
Burns that affect only the superficial skin are known as superficial or first-degree burns. When damage
penetrates into some of the underlying layers, it is a partial-thickness or second-degree burn. In a fullthickness or third-degree burn, the injury extends to all layers of the skin. A fourth-degree burn
additionally involves injury to deeper tissues, such as muscle or bone.
II.
After reading activities:
Answer the following questions:
1. What is an in patient department?
2. When do people go to the hospital?
3. What are the life saving procedures?
4. What do the specialized hospitals include?
5. What are the specialized units at a hospital?