Understanding and Using Active Verbs
Giving Instructions on Medical Procedures:
Health care practitioners who deal directly with patients are constantly called upon to give instructions. Ideally, you will use terms that the patient and/or the caregivers will understand. In many cases, you will need to use everyday speech instead of complicated technical terms.
Terms may have different meanings in different settings. In this exercise, match each verb below with the meaning it usually has in a medical setting.
1) administer | a) put |
2) preserve | b) give (first aid, etc.) |
3) assess | c) go with |
4) arrange | d) recognize differences |
5) ensure | e) find out the facts about something |
6) maintain | f) reduce (make less) |
7) control | g) keep something from happening |
8) apply | h) regain health after illness |
9) establish | i) conclude; decide |
10) accompany | j) suppose; believe |
11) assume | k) ask for someone’s opinion or advice |
12) consult | l) believe something is true because of good evidence |
13) determine | m) save something from damage, loss or destruction |
14) distinguish | n) consider all the facts of a situation or problem, decide what the position is and what is likely to happen |
15) induce | o) make plans and preparations |
16) minimize | p) make certain |
17) place | q) support |
18) prevent | r) prevent something from becoming worse |
19) recover | s) put something on a surface or rub it into |
20) suspect | t) discover facts that show that something (e.g. cause of death) is true |