British Diana (asker) Mar 5, 2017:

Thank you, everybody for a good discussion and for all your expertise. This is definitely one of those areas where first-hand experience of the institution in question is invaluable. However, I have also been pointed to various written sources. I'm gratefull to you all for your help!

Jacek Kloskowski Mar 4, 2017:

"reception" (as the organizational unit) or "reception desk" (as the station, window) are OK just like in any building or hotel. "registration'' is more of a term used for the organizational unit, which in particular may have a "Registration or reception desk".

word "practice" stems from "practicing medicine" and refers usually to to the establishment where doctors practice the medicine, e.g. "medical practice" (could be one or more doctors) or "medical group practice'' where there are usually a few specialists practicing medicine.

what you call ''practice room'' e.g. a room where doctors actually perform medical work is called a ''treatment room" or and there are usually few of such rooms for different doctors. it can be also called "doctor's office" or "medical office'' but without the distiction of a particular room, as this term can also refer to the whole establishment in general.

As per staff room:

Is most often referred to as "medicals/doctor's lounge'' (but this can be also a place where medical staff socializes) or better yet as ''doctors/medical office break room" or medical staff break room", e.g. a room where medical staff can take a break or eat.

Gudrun Maydorn (X) Mar 4, 2017:

Can I say "Practice" for that one? Should be okay in that context. And I would say "staff room" and not "common room". Staff ("Personal" in German) might be less confusing to German speakers than "common room" (literally "allgemeiner Raum, normaler Raum").

British Diana (asker) Mar 4, 2017:

@Jack It's great that you are providing such a lot of input! As the Hospital is in Germany and the potential users have no connection with the UK, I am keeping away from too British terms, so I won't be using "surgery" except in the sense of Chirurgie. So US usage as Long as it is readily understandable is fine by me.
What I mean by "staff room" is the place where the nurses spend their breaks, have something to eat etc, not the place when they are on duty, this is the nurses Station, I think.

Gudrun Maydorn (X) Mar 4, 2017:

Background reading / teaching books Hi British Diana, I taught English to German nurses and doctors' receptionists years ago and found the following books quite useful both for teaching and for translation:
Cambridge English for Nursing
https://www.amazon.de/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=cambridge english ...
Professional English in Use - Medicine
https://www.amazon.de/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=professional engli...

British Diana (asker) Mar 4, 2017:

@ Gudrun Thank you for your comment.This particular Hospital has three separate "desks" The first is called Rezeption, the second Verwaltung and the third (slightly further away) Facharztzentrum.
At present I am going for "Information Desk" for the first as it is the first port of call, The second one might be a "Registration Desk" and the third is what the employees themselves call the "Praxis", it's where the patients arrive to see one of the specialists after having registered. Can I say "Practice" for that one?

Gudrun Maydorn (X) Mar 4, 2017:

@ Jack Possibly a difference between US and UK English. Praxis in the meaning of Arztpraxis sounds like the English word practice, but is actually called "doctor's surgery" in UK (the flat or rooms where you go to see a doctor), while at the same time the English word surgery is also used to mean "an operation".

Ramey Rieger (X) Mar 4, 2017:

registration vs. reception desk and so on...good luck!

Ramey Rieger (X) Mar 4, 2017:

Hi Diana A ward is simply the collective space where patients being treated for the same disorder sleep/reside - it can consist of a common room and sleeping rooms, a nurse's station and various toilets, etc.

Have you found a good source for the other terms? If it should stay basic, I'd translate into English over one of the better dictionaries and then check a monolingual dictionary/thesaurus for the fine differences.
Have fun!

Gudrun Maydorn (X) Mar 4, 2017:

reception From my years in British medical admin I would use:
Anmeldung - reception or reception desk

Jacek Kloskowski Mar 4, 2017:

As per your remaining, I don't really get the "practice vs surgery and/or "staff room'' issue. Please clarify.

Jacek Kloskowski Mar 4, 2017:

Schwesterzimmer:

I assume you mean a place where nurses spend time during shifts. In hospitals they use:

1. nurses' station
2. nursing station
3. nurse station

where the options 2 and 3 are supposedly correct, as option 1 would suggest nurses own that room (possessive). There is an interesting publication to read about that "naming issue" here: https://www.academia.edu/284002/_Nurses_Station_or_Nursing_S...

There is also a term "nurse's office" but mostly used in the context of a school nurse.

Anmeldung:

This can get little hairy, as it depends if you are coming to see a doctor or get outpatient care in the clinic (usualy smaller, not always) or hospital ambulatory care center (or simply outpatient center) as an "outpatient" or getting admitted to the hospital for a longer stay. If it is a day-long visit, you call "registrations office" or "reception." if you need to be admitted to the hospital - usually, this is prearranged by your regular doctor; you can also schedule it yourself over the phone or in person in:

- admissions (office),
- admiting office
- admitting and registration

or a variety of the above.

Jacek Kloskowski Mar 4, 2017:

My take on it Facharzt:

- (medical) specialist
- specialty doctor / physician
- specialist doctor / physician

Patientzimmer:

- patient room (or just room (e.g. room no. , 4th floor etc), very common, patients feel better when stayng in "rooms", makes them feel more at home) where patients stay overnight when admitted.

In general, a ward is either a multi-patient room (6 o more according ot the dictionary http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ward) or a whole wing / division / floor in the hospital dedicated to some type of patients (maternity ward, children's ward etc.) or just by function "(for example "general ward" to differentiate it from "ïntensive care unit"). What I see in Canada and US "wards'' were replaced mostly by "departments". However, "patient room" term might still be used by hospital administration or on the floor plans, doctors and nurses usually use the term "room''. A lot of it has to do with bad connotations of the "psychiatric ward" from history. Mind you, this is US and Canada, UK I believe still uses "wards" as described above. See discussion here:
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/hospital-department-...

phillee Mar 3, 2017:

@Diana I think 'Specialists' is sufficient. We know they are medical.

Ellen Kraus Mar 3, 2017:

But the Building can accommodate several centres.

Lancashireman Mar 3, 2017:

To the wards Says nothing about the type of room that the patient can expect to be wheeled into.

British Diana (asker) Mar 3, 2017:

@Lancashireman That's a good point. The centre is the building, so I can't use the term inside it at all even if the German signs do!

British Diana (asker) Mar 3, 2017:

ward Can I still say "ward" when it consists of a Schwesternstation and 20 individual one or two-bed "Patientenzimmer" (rooms)? A ward is to me one big room with two rows of beds.

philgoddard Mar 3, 2017:

Diana Yes to both questions!

Ellen Kraus Mar 3, 2017:

@British Diana; if the term stands alone, you usually find "specialist " or "Consultant" for Facharzt;e.g. you need to consult a specialist.

Lancashireman Mar 3, 2017:

"translation for the sign pointing to... ... the department in the actual building"
Specialists' consulting rooms
The 'centre' is always the building itself.
Patientenzimmer = To the (patients') wards

British Diana (asker) Mar 3, 2017:

Thanks Ellen and Phil for the first responses. Ellen and Phil. Can I use "Medical specialist centre" as the translation for the sign pointing to the department in the actual building? Are you happy to call the Facharzte themselves "medical specialists"? as in "Sie (der Patient) müssen zu einem Facharzt"?