[MUSIC PLAYING] [SPEAKING SPANISH] Vital signs. Here you'll find everything you need in order to take a patient's blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and to check his or her oxygen level, height, and weight. We'll begin with a video tutorial. For now it is just intended to provide a preview of what you will learn in the next section. Don't worry if you don't follow along completely. See how much you can understand though.
This video tutorial will be different in that a nurse with limited background in Spanish will be speaking. This is to better illustrate how you might sound as you begin your real life practice we all have different ability levels, and we're all starting from different places. The main thing is to communicate clearly and slowly pronunciation does not have to be perfect in order for communication to take place.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
1a. Presión Sanguínea (Blood Pressure)
The following chart provides language you can use when taking a patient's blood pressure.
| English | Spanish | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I need take your blood pressure. | Necesito tomarle la presión. | nay-say-see-toe toe-mar-lay la pray-see-own |
| Keep your arm straight. | Mantenga recto su brazo. | mahn-tain-gah rake-toe sue brah-so |
| Please roll up your sleeve. | Por favor, enróllese la manga. | pour fah-bore ain-row-yay-say la mahn-gah |
| Your blood pressure is (#). | Su presión sanguínea es (#). | sue pray-see-own sahn-guee-nay-ah ace (#) |
| Your blood pressure is too high. | Tiene una presión alta. | tee-ay-nay oo-nah pray-see-own all-tah |
| Your blood pressure is too low. | Tiene una presión baja. | tee-ay-nay oo-nah pray-see-own bah-ha |
| Your blood pressure is normal. | Tiene una presión normal. | tee-ay-nay oo-nah pray-see-own noar-mall |
1b. Temperatura (Temperature)
The following chart provides language you can use when taking a patient's temperature.
| English | Spanish | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I need to take your temperature. | Necesito tomarle la temperatura. | nay-say-see-toe toe-mar-lay la tame-pair-ah-too-rah |
| Lift up your tongue. | Levante su lengua. | lay-bahn-tay sue lane-g'wah |
| This goes under your tongue. | Esto va debajo de su lengua. | ace-toe bah day-bah-ho day sue lane-g'wah |
| I am going to put this in your ear. | Le voy a poner esto en su oído. | lay boy ah pone-air ace-toe ain sue oh-ee-doe |
| I am going to place this on your forehead. | Le voy a poner este en su frente. | lay boy a pone-air ace-tay ain sue frain-tay |
| Your temperature is ____. | Tiene una temperatura de ____. | tee-ay-nay oo-nah tame-pair-ah-too-rah day ____. |
| Your temperature is high. | Su temperatura es alta. | sue tame-pair-ah-too-rah ace all-tah |
| You have a fever. | Tiene una fiebre. | tee-ay-nay oo-nah fee-ay-bray |
1c. Ritmo Cardiaco/Pulso (Heart Rate)
The following chart provides language you can use when taking a patient's heart rate.
| English | Spanish | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I need to take your heart rate. | Necesito tomarle el pulso. | nay-say-see-toe toe-mar-lay ale pool-so |
| May I have your wrist? | ¿Me puede dar la muñeca? | may p'way-day dar la moon-yay-kah |
| Your heart rate is ____. | Su pulso es ____. | sue pool-so ace ____. |
| I am going to listen to your heart to get your heart rate. | Voy a escuchar su corazón para obtener su ritmo cardiaco. | boy ah ace-koo-char sue core-ah-soan pa-rah oab-tay-nair sue reet-mo car-dee-ah-ko |
| Your heart rate is too high. | Su ritmo cardiaco es muy alto. | sue reet-mo car-dee-ah-ko ace moo-ee all-toe |
1d. Saturación/Nivel de Oxígeno (Oxygen Saturation/Level)
The following chart provides language you can use when checking a patient's oxygen level.
| English | Spanish | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I need to check your oxygen level. | Necesito revisar su nivel de oxígeno. | nay-say-see-toe ray-bee-sahr sue knee-bail day oak-see-hay-no |
| Please put your finger in here. | Por favor, coloque su dedo aquí. | pour fah-bore koh-low-kay sue day-doe ah-key |
| Your oxygen saturation is ____. | La saturación de su oxígeno es ____. | lah sa-too-rah-see-own day sue oak-see-hay-no ace ____. |
| I am going to have to take off your fingernail polish. | Voy a tener que quitarle el esmalte de sus uñas. | boy a tay-nair kay key-tar-lay ale ace-mall-tay day suess oon-yahs |
| Your oxygen saturation is fine. | La saturación de su oxígeno está bien. | lah sa-too-rah-see-own day sue oak-see-hay-no ace-tah bee-ain |
| It should be above 90%. | Debería estar por encima del noventa %. | day-bay-ree-ah ace-tar pour ain-see-mah dale no-bain-tah pour-see-ain-toe (tah) |
| Your oxygen level is too low. | Su nivel de oxígeno está demasiado bajo. | sue knee-bale day oak-see-hay-no ace-tah day-ma-see-ah-do ba-ho |
1e. Peso (Weight)
The following chart provides language you can use when checking a patient's weight.
| English | Spanish | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I need to check your weight. | Necesito tomarle el peso. | nay-say-see-toe toe-mar-lay ale pay-so |
| Please remove your shoes. | Por favor, remueva sus zapatos. | pour fah-bore ray-m'way-bah suess sah-pah-tohs |
| Step on the scale. | Súbase a la báscula. | sue-bah-say ah la bah-skoo-lah |
| Undress your baby to the diaper. | Quítele la ropa a su bebé, déjele el pañal. | key-tay-lay la row-pa ah sue bay-bay day-hay-lay ale pahn-yall |
| Your weight is ____. | Su peso es ____. | sue pay-so ace ____. |
1f. Altura (Height)
The following chart provides language you can use when checking a patient's height.
| English | Spanish | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I need to see how tall you are. | Necesito medir su altura. | nay-say-see-toe may-deer sue all-too-rah |
| Stand with your feet against the wall. | Párese con sus pies en contra de la pared. | pa-ray-say cone suess pee-ace ain cone-trah day la pah-raid |
| Stand up straight. | Párese recto. | pah-ray-say cone suess pee-ace ain cone-trah day la pah-raid |
| Your height is ____. | Su altura es de ____. | sue all-too-rah ace day ____. |
1g. Misceláneas (Miscellaneous)
The following chart provides language you can use when assessing other common patient information.
| English | Spanish | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Your child's head circumference is ____. | La circunferencia de la cabeza de su niño es de ____. | la seer-koon-fay-rain-see-ah day la kah-bay-sah day sue neen-yoh ace day ____. |
| Your BMI (body mass index) is ____. | Su BMI (índice de masa corporal) es de ____. | sue een-dee-say day mah-sah core-pour-all ace day ____. |
| I need to listen to... | Necesito escuchar... | nay-say-see-toe ace-koo-char... |
| ...your heart . | ...su corazón. | ...sue core-ah-soan |
| ...your lungs. | ...sus pulmones. | ...suess pool-mo-nace |
| ...your stomach | ...su estómago | ...sue ace-toe-mah-go |
If you are struggling with a concept or terminology in the course, you may contact [email protected] for assistance.
If you are having technical issues, please contact [email protected].
Source: This content has been adapted from "Spanish for Nurses" by Stephanie Langston.
