Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Eating and Drinking
Eating and Drinking
6)
Nursing/medical or
Abdomen
Abdominal pain
Anorexia
No appetite
Dyspepsia
Good appetite
Halitosis
Nausea
Oesophagus
Gullet
Poor appetite
Cant face food; dont eat enough to keep a bird alive; been off my
food; not hungry; peck or pick at food
Stomatitis
Vomit
Be sick; bring up; lose the lot; puke; retch; sick up; spew; thorw up
Miss Hyde-Whyte has come into the community hospital for assessment. She lives alone and has
been retired for over 20 years. The district nursing team, who have been visiting Miss HydeWhyte to treat her leg ulcer, have recently become concerned about her lack of interest in meals
and obvious weight loss.
Nurse
: hello Miss Hyde-Whyte, Im Nurse Mosquera. I would like to ask you some
Nurse
: I will need to weigh you and measure your height, but first a few questions.
Nurse
Miss H
: Well I used to have breakfast, proper cooked lunch and something on toast or a
Miss H
: I used to really enjoy cooking, have a G&T and then sit at the table with a nice
meal, but now Ive got no appetite and I just pick at it. My dad would have said you dont eat
enough to keep a bird alive.
Nurse
Miss H
: Two reasons I think. Ive had mouth ulcers for ages. Probably my false teeth
dont fit anymore and I have been sick a few times after meals.
Nurse
: Ill look at your mouth in a moment and see if any treatment would help. It
might be a good idea to see your dentist about the poorly fitting dentures. Tell me about the
vomiting. (offering self)
Miss H
back.
: If I eat a proper meal I soon feel sick and then Im sick. The food just come
Nurse
Miss H
Nurse
: What colours is the vomit? Is there any blood or bile? (open ended & seeking
clarification)
Miss H
: No blood and its not green or yellow like bile the colour varies it depends on
: Sometimes blood can look like coffee grounds anything like that? (seeking
clarifications)
Miss H
Nurse
Miss H
: Thats the strange thing. Once Ive been sick I feel fine [all right]. My stomach
[abdomen] feels uncomfortable before Im sick, but that feeling soon goes afterwards.
Nurse
: When you were eating normally what sort of food did you cook? (open endeed)
Miss
: Proper meals meat or fish and lots of veg. [short for vegetable] and I always
had dessert or some cheese. No point doing all that if youre going to be sick.
Nurse
Miss H
: Most days. Its nice to get out and have a chat [talk] with people.
Nurse
Miss H
: I know that I must eat something, so I have things like scrambled [a cooking
method] egg on toast, soup and milky drinks. Its not unpleasant [In English when you have two
negatives, know as a double negative, it creates a middle way, meaning not a negative (an
unpleasant diet) either. So here, not unp;easant means a fairly acceptable diet], but I know its
not enough.
Nurse
: Lets see how much you weigh. Whats your normal weight? (seeking
clarification)
Miss H
: Before the vomiting started I had been about 10 stone [an Imperial Unit of
weught where 1 stone = 14 pounds, see Ch. 11] for as long as I can remember [for a long time].
Nurse
: We use the kilogram for weight, but I can tell what it is in atones and pounds.
(giving information)
Miss H
Nurse
unwelcome or bad] you have lost about I I kilo grams. You weigh 52 kilogram; thats 8 stone 2
pounds, so thats nearly 2 stone less than usual. We will have to keep an eye on [keep a frequent
check] your weight. (giving information & offering self)
Miss H
Nurse
: Im going to refer you to the dietician and ask her to come and do a full
nutritional assessment and see how we can provide you with enough nutrients and fluid while we
wait for all the tests [investigations] to be done. Meanwhile, we can order things like scrambled
eggs, and give you soup and drinks with added nutrients [fortified] if youre sure that wont
make you sick. (summarizing & planning)
Miss H