A day in a nurse’s life
Hello! My name is Amanda Summers. I’m a licensed nurse. I work at the General Paediatrics Unit of Norfolk General Hospital. We do 12 hour shifts, so sometimes I start work at 7 am and finish at 7 pm. Today I’m doing a night shift, so I start work at 7 pm and finish at 7 am. I’m working with Mr Jones tonight, who is a surgeon, and Mrs King, who is a registered nurse.
Last year I worked for another hospital in another city, but I was not very satisfied with my situation as I had to travel a lot to get to my workplace. So I decided to quit and apply for this position at the Norfolk General Hospital.
At the paediatrics unit we care for ill, injured or disabled children. I have a lot of tasks at the hospital. I have to clean rooms and make beds. I have to help patients with bathing, moving in bed, or standing and walking. I measure and record patients’ vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, and pulse. I also have to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner for patients. I provide basic patient care and treatments, such as taking temperatures or blood pressures or dressing wounds. I also have to record food and fluid intake and output.
licenced nurse (LN) – infermieree abilitato
shift – turno
surgeon – chirurgo
registered nurse (RN) – infermiere diplomato
satisfied – soddisfatto
to decide – decidere
to apply for – fare domanda di
paediatrics unit – unitá di pediatria
to care for – prendere cura di
injured – ferito
disabled – disabile
patient – paziente
to measure – misurare
to record – registrare
vital signs – segni vitali
height – altezzza
weight – peso
temperature – temperatura
blood pressure – pressione sanguigna
pulse – battito
to provide – prevedere, fornire
treatment – trattamento
to take somebody’s temperature –
to take somebody’s blood pressure – misurare la temperatura di qualcuno
to dress a wound – bendare/ fasciare una ferita
fluid intake – assunzione di liquidi
What about you?
Are you satisfied with your job?
Or do you want to change your career?
There are many types of employment possibilities for adults. Finding a career you like is important because you are going to spend most of your life working. Every kind of employment requires training. For some jobs it is enough if you take a course, others require high school, college or university degrees.
What do you do? What are your qualifications?
 |
 |
 |
| I work in a fast food restaurant. I don’t have a degree or a certificate. I took a course at the fast food restaurant.
|
I’m an accountant. After my GCSE (Br)/school leaving exams (US) I took part in a book-keeping course and got a certificate at the end.
|
I’m a surgeon. After leaving secondary school (Br)/high school (US) I went to university. I graduated in surgery from Cambridge University.
|
| Io lavoro in un ristorante fast food. Non ho nessuna laurea o certificato. Ho partecipato solo ad un corso nel ristorante fast food. | Sono commercialista. Dopo i miei esami finali della scuola media ho partecipato in un corso di ragioneria alla fine del quale ho ricevuto un certificato. | Sono chirurgo. Dopo aver finito la scuola media sono andata all’università. Mi sono laureato di chirurgia all’università di Cambridge. |
| degree – laurea certificate – certificato to take a course – partecipare ad un corso |
GSCE exam – esami finali della scuola media school leaving exam – esami finali della scuola media to take part in – partecipare a book-keeping – ragioneria course – corso certificate – certificato |
secondary school – scuola media high school – scuola media to graduate in – laurearsi to graduate from – laurearsi di |
Other important words and expressions:
to work at/in – lavorare ad un posto
to work full time – lavorare a tempo pieno
to work part-time – lavorare part-time
to work 9 to 5 – lavorare dalle 9 alle 5
to work hard – lavorare tanto
to work for … – lavorare per qualcuno
to work in shifts – lavorare in turni
to take/have a day off – prendersi un giorno libero
to work/do overtime – fare degli straordinari
task – lavoro, compito
duty – dovere, lavoro
responsibility – responsabilitá
to be responsible for – essere responsabile per
to be in charge of – avere la responsabilitá per, essere in carico di
employee – dipendente
to employ – datore di lavoro
salary – stipendio/ salario (mensile)
wage – salario/ paga (settimanale)
to earn money – guadagnare soldi
