The Hope Children’s Hospice - Text 5

The Hope Children’s Hospice

A The Hope Children’s Hospice provides free specialist care for children with life-limiting conditions who are not expected to live into adulthood. It cares for up to eight terminally- ill children at one time, and aims to care for them in the same way their families would care for them at home. When families prefer to do the caring themselves, a hospice carer will go to their home and help them.

B Life-limiting conditions present many long-term medical and emotional problems – not only for the child, but for parents and siblings too. So the hospice offers respite care – short stays for the child alone or for the whole family together. At these times, parents hand over responsibilities to the staff and have a ‘holiday’. Short stays give terminally-ill children an opportunity to meet others with similar conditions.

C  Each child at the hospice has their own carer and their own care plan. A normal day might start with a jacuzzi bath followed by a massage from a complementary therapist. Some children go to school, while others play with hospice play specialists.

D The hospice has a multi-sensory room. This is a special room which stimulates the children’s senses with lights, music, touch, and smell. It has touch-screen computers, video games, paddling pools, and space for wheelchair dancing. Children have music therapy and can record their own music, not only as a way to express their feelings, but to leave something for their family and friends to listen to in the years to come.

E  The hospice has a number of quiet rooms where we care for children during and after death. These are places where families and friends can say goodbye. Our support does not end with death. We help not just grieving parents, but also siblings who are experiencing bereavement. We give everyone opportunities to discuss their fears about death and dying.

bereavement – ztráta blízké osoby

grieving – truchlící

jacuzzi – vířivka

paddling pool – brouzdaliště

                                                   

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Saying goodbye

2 Using the senses

3 A home from home

4 Personal care

5 Helping the family

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 Do children have to stay at the hospice all the time?

2 How does the hospice help the children’s families?

3 How many children does each carer look after?

4 What can children do in the multi-sensory room?

5 How is music used at the hospice?

6 How are the special quiet rooms used?

3) Explain the following words.

1 terminally-ill

2 siblings

3 staff

4 wheelchair

5 fear

4) Answer the following questions.

How are Czech hospice centres financed? Where do they get money from? Have you ever been to a hospice? Who works in a hospice? What are typical illnesses of the people staying in a hospice?

Adjusted to:

GRICE, Tony. Oxford English for Careers : Nursing 1 Student's Book. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2007. The Hope Children’s Hospice, s. 76.

Woman sues hospital for botched abortion - Text 4

Woman sues hospital for botched abortion

A A 26-year-old woman in Jihlava is suing the city hospital for delivering her a healthy child eight years ago, Mladá fronta Dnes reports. “Kateřina,” who found herself pregnant at the age of 18, got an abortion at the Jihlava hospital. However, the doctor, unaware that she was pregnant with twins, accidentally left one child in her womb. She sued the hospital immediately after the child was born.

B Her lawyer, Alena Ostřejšová, said the 300,000 Kč ($18,100) sum Kateřina is asking for is to make up for lost income when she left her job to go on maternity leave following the unwanted birth. After eight years, the court is ready to pass a verdict. “This is an unprecedented case in the Czech Republic. The judge tried to find a similar case in the European courts, but failed,” Ostřejšová said.

C Such things can happen, according to Aleš Roztočil, director of the gynaecological-maternity section of the Jihlava hospital. “It is one of the complications of terminations of pregnancy,” he said. According to the head of the Prague maternity hospital in Podolí, Jaroslav Feyereisl, it is a complication that can happen to inexperienced doctors.

D This is why Kateřina decided to sue the hospital, her lawyer said. “We found out that there have been more such cases. They occur when the doctors don’t do their jobs – I don’t want to say badly, because technically everything was alright – but too routinely and they don’t bother to check their work. We want hospitals to scratch their heads and be more careful. The way they do their jobs affects people’s lives,” Ostřejšová said.

E According to experts, gynaecologists who perform abortions on women with twins can double-check their work with an ultrasound test – which the doctor did not do. At this point, Kateřina’s daughter still doesn’t know that she wasn’t wanted, the lawyer said. “Kateřina has a second child; she’s married. She’s a completely normal mother. She loves her daughter, and you can’t relate that to her demand for money,” Ostřejšová said, adding that the lawsuit is intended as a warning to the hospital. However, psychologist Vacláva Masaková says the child could suffer a terrible shock if she found out about the lawsuit. “It could damage the relationship with her mother and destroy trust. The child could become an introvert,” she said.

double-check – opětovně zkontrolovat

lawsuit – soudní proces

sue –zažalovat

to bother – obtěžovat

unprecedented case – nebývalý případ

womb – děloha

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Doctors should be more careful

2 Unprecedented case according to Ostřejšová

3 Kateřina and her child today

4 Introduction

5 Opinions of doctors from Czech maternity hospitals

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the article about?

2 Who is Kateřina? What happened to her?

3 What does her lawyer want?

4 What do the obstetricians say?

5 What does psychologist Vacláva Masaková think?

3) Explain the following words.

1 twins

2 maternity leave

3 unwanted birth

4 ultrasound test

5 introvert

4) Answer the following questions.

What is an abortion? What is a miscarriage? What are reasons for an abortion? Should an abortion be legal or illegal?

Adjusted to:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/talking/czechs-and-sex-a-comprehensive-survey

Euthanasia. Do Czechs care? - Text 3

Euthanasia. Do Czechs care?

A Euthanasia – in the original Greek the word means help in suffering, both medical and in the mind. The word now applies to the highly controversial issue of enhancing death on the request of a patient. Illegal in the Czech Republic, euthanasia became a topic of discussion and a political issue some ten years ago. Ever since then it has faded into the background, overshadowed by other events seen as more urgent. Talking to a few citizens of Prague about their opinion on euthanasia, I had the impression that many Czechs remain undecided.

B Supporters and opponents of euthanasia among professionals agree in one point. They both want to help dying patients. While supporters would prefer to do so by putting suffering and pain to an immediate end, opponents opt for palliative care, not trying to keep the patient alive artificially, but trying to alleviate their suffering as much as possible. Under this approach, patients are given painkillers and provided professional care at home, in hospitals or hospices.

C Pavel Boček worked at Paediatric Clinic of Oncology at the Motol Faculty Hospital for thirteen years and has always been interested in trying to improve the quality of life of his terminally ill patients. He agrees with euthanasia but only under certain circumstances. “If we are talking about euthanasia we should only talk about adult patients. I was seeing a patient who was suffering from one kind of cancer. He had numerous metastases in his body but his brain was clear. He was able to think about the quality of his life and he was in great pain although he was getting some anaesthetics.”

D “He was asking us, very directly, to stop his life because he could not bear to see himself in such a mess and he did not want to see the cancer win. He wanted to be the winner. From my point of view, we have first to ask the patient himself, because he is the one we are talking about. We have to focus on patients who want this to be done, who have a clear mind, and who have this very specific request”, Pavel Boček added.

E “The main arguments were that doctors cannot decide that this patient is going to die or not. But my opinion is that it is not the decision of the doctor. A doctor is only a person who provides that”, says Pavel Buček once nicknamed “doctor death” because of his views. He makes clear that he would support legalisation of euthanasia but not before through discussion. Euthanasia, just like the death penalty, is irreversible and it is necessary to rule out its misuse. People on the streets seem to fear the same.

artificially – uměle

circumstance – okolnost

enhancing – urychlení

irreversible – nezvratný

to fade – vymizet, vyblednout

to opt – zvolit

to overshadow – zastínit

undecided – nerozhodný

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Need to focus on patients who want euthanasia

2 Approaches of supporters and opponents

3 The doctor does not decide but provides help

4 Introduction

5 Pavel Boček and his patient

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the article about?

2 What do supporters and opponents of euthanasia say?

3 Who is Pavel Boček?

4 What does he think?

5 What does he say about his patient?

3) Explain the following words.

1 painkiller

2 to alleviate the suffering

3 cancer

4 patient

5 death penalty

4) Answer the following questions.

What is a death? What are causes of death? What are types of death?

Adjusted to:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/talking/euthanasia-do-czechs-care

Czech’s shocked by hospital killings - Text 2

Czech’s shocked by hospital killings

A It was a news report that sent shivers down people’s spines. Since May 2006 a 30-year old nurse had killed eight people and attempted to kill at least nine more at a hospital in eastern Bohemia’s Havlíčkův Brod. There is no indication that his motive was euthanasia – none of the people he killed were suffering from a terminal illness and they were all expected to recover.

B When thirty year old Petr Zelenka started work at the Havlíčkův Brod Hospital as a nurse he seemed like the ideal employee – devoted, enthusiastic and willing to work overtime whenever needed. In his spare time he studied to improve his knowledge of medicine, particularly his knowledge of pharmaceuticals. When he was promoted to a head nurse on night shifts he started applying his knowledge in practice. On nights when he was in charge the entire intensive care unit was in his hands – and he started injecting his victims with heparin – a blood-thinning drug causing internal bleeding when administered in large doses.

Milan Juško who heads the investigation told the media he was certain that the nurse had not been acting as an angel of mercy: “This had nothing to do with euthanasia – this was carefully plannedmurder.”

C The hospital’s head physician Pavel Longin says that the higher number of cases in which patients died as a result of internal haemorrhaging alerted him to the fact that something was wrong: “We were investigating who was on duty at the time. I thought it might be two or three nurses who were new and inexperienced. I thought we would have to watch them very carefully but instead we found that nurse Zelenka figured in every single case and that was definitely very suspect.” The hospital sacked Zelenka in September and reported the incident to the police almost a month later. The nurse, who had in the meantime began work at a hospital in a different Czech town - in Jihlava, was arrested on December 1. There is no indication that he had managed to commit any murders at his new workplace.

D Now, many are questioning how the perpetrator was able to get away with it the long four months – why did it take so long for the hospital and the police to act? The hospital’s director has since been sacked and an investigation is underway to assess whether the police could have sped up the arrest.

E With eight murders and at least nine attempted murders to his name Zelenka could face anything between 15 years in prison and a life sentence. This is one area where the suspect has shown emotion: surprise that in the end he was caught.

dose – dávka

haemorrhaging – krvácení

mercy – milosrdenství

perpetrator – pachatel

sack – propustit ze zaměstnání

sent shivers down people’s spines – leze z toho mráz po zádech

to speed up – urychlit

underway – na cestě

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Why did it last so long to find the perpetrator?

2 Petr Zelenka – a devoted nurse or a murderer?

3 Sentence for Zelenka

4 Pavel Longin was searching for the perpetrator

5 Introduction

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the article about?

2 Who is Petr Zelenka?

3 What did he do?

4 How did Pavel Longin search for the perpetrator?

5 What could be the sentence?

3) Explain the following words.

1 euthanasia

2 terminal illness

3 victim

4 nurse

5 attempted murder

4) Answer the following questions.

What is euthanasia? Where can it be applied? Should it be legal? And why? What are types of euthanasia?

Adjusted to:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/ice_special/czechs-shocked-by-hospital-killings

Czech birth-rate rising but population still ageing - Text 1

Czech birth-rate rising but population still ageing

A Exactly a year ago, Radio Prague reported that the Czech Republic was experiencing something of a baby boom, especially in the summer months when maternity hospitals around the country were finding it hard to cope with an unusual number of births. This summer, the situation seems very similar. That may sound like good news, but demographers say, in the long term, the Czech population will continue ageing.

B The year 2007 saw the highest number of births in the Czech Republic since the mid-1990s when the birth-rate took a dive in this country. Over 102,000 babies were born last year and experts agree it is because many of the baby-boomers born in 1974 and 1975 are having their first children now when they have reached their 30s – unlike previous generations who had children at a much younger age. Demographers also say it is quite likely that the women who are now having their first baby will decide not to have any more children.

C Demographer Terezie Kretschmerová from the Czech Statistical Office says: “It is very likely that women, who are now in their fertile age, will end up having fewer children than women who were in their fertile age a few decades ago. Also, a larger proportion of them will remain childless. If the trends from 2005 were to continue, up to 37 percent of women would stay childless.”

D Currently there are 1.28 children per woman in a reproductive age, which makes the Czech Republic's fertility rate one of the lowest in the world. The average age when women have their first baby continues to rise, from 26.3 years in 2004 to 26.6 last year. Despite that, the Czech population has been increasing in recent years, but mainly due to immigration.

E In the year 2007, more than 60,000 foreigners came to live in the Czech Republic which equals more than half the number of babies born in this country last year. The Czech Statistical Office also projects that by 2050, the share of people over the age of 65 in the population could increase from some 14 percent now to a full one third.

baby-boomer – člověk narozený při populační explozi

fertility rate – míra plodnosti

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Kretschmerová’s opinion

2 Baby-boomers born in 1974 and 1975 are having their first children

3 The rate of seniors will have been 33 percent by 2050

4 Baby boom and aging in the Czech Republic

5 Low fertility rates in the Czech Republic

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the article about?

2 What do the demographers say about the birth rate in the Czech Republic?

3 What does Terezie Kretschmerová think?

4 What is the fertility rate in the Czech Republic?

5 Why were more children born in the year 2007?

3) Explain the following words.

1 baby boom

2 maternity hospital

3 fertile age

4 childless

5 average age

4) Answer the following questions.

What is childbirth? Why are the birth rates in the Czech Republic low? What are types of births? What is a multiple birth?

Adjusted to:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czech-birth-rate-rising-but-population-still-ageing

Birth, abortion, and dying – Vocabulary

Birth, abortion, and dying – Vocabulary

anaesthetics – anestetikum

assisted suicide – asistovaná sebevražda

attempted murder – pokus o vraždu

baby-boomer – člověk narozený při populační explozi

bereavement – ztráta blízké osoby

birth attendant – porodní asistent

birth canal – porodní cesty

birth control methods – metody ke kontole početí

birth defect – poškození při porodu

birth pangs – porodní bolesti

birth trauma – porodní trauma

Caesarean section – císařský řez

cancer – rakovina

childbirth – porod dítěte

consent – souhlas

death penalty – trest smrti

doula – dula

elective abortion – zvolený potrat

embryo – embryo

euthanasia – eutanasie

fear – starch

fertility rate – míra plodnosti

foetus – plod

freebirth – neasistovaný prord

grieving – truchlící

homicide – zabití, vražda

induced – vyvolaný

infant – novorozenec

infertility treatment – léčba neplodnosti

introvert – introvert

maternity leave – mateřská dovolená

midwife – porodní bába

miscarriage – potrat

multiple birth – mnohočetné těhotenství

natural childbirth – přirozený porod

nourishment – výživa

nurse – zdravotní sestra

obstetrician – porodník

obstetrics – porodnictví

offspring – potomek

painkiller – lék proti bolesti

patient – pacient

placenta – placenta

postpartum – poporodní

pregnancy – těhotenství

premature birth – předčasný porod

quadruplets – čtyřčata

relieve pain – ulevit bolesti

siblings – sourozenci

spontaneous abortion – samovolný potrat

spontaneously – samovolně

staff – zaměstnanci

stillbirth – narození mrtvého plodu

sue –zažalovat

suffering – trpící

suicide – sebevražda

surgical birth – chirurgický porod

sustain – udržovat

terminal illness – smrtelná choroba

terminally-ill – smrtelně nemocný

termination – ukončení

the wall of the abdomen – břišní stěna

therapeutic abortion – terapeutický potrat

to alleviate the suffering – ulevit utrpení

triplets – trojčata

twins – dvojčata

ultrasound test – vyšetření ultrazvukem

unassisted childbirth – neasistovaný potrat

unwanted birth – nechtěný porod

uterus – děloha

vagina – vagina

vaginal birth – vaginální porod

victim – oběť

vital signs – životní příznaky

wheelchair – kolečkové křeslo

womb – děloha

Birth, abortion and dying - What do you know about it? 2

Explain the following words.

anaesthetics

assisted suicide

attempted murder

baby-boomer

bereavement

birth attendant

birth canal

birth control methods

birth defect

birth pangs

birth trauma

Caesarean section

cancer

childbirth

consent

death penalty

doula

elective abortion

embryo

euthanasia

fear

foetus

freebirth

homicide

induced

infant

infertility treatment

introvert

maternity leave

midwife

miscarriage

multiple birth

natural childbirth

nourishment

nurse

obstetrician

obstetrics

offspring

painkiller

patient

placenta

postpartum

pregnancy

premature birth

quadruplets

relieve pain

siblings

spontaneous abortion

spontaneously

staff

stillbirth

suffering

suicide

surgical birth

sustain

terminal illness

terminally-ill

termination

the wall of the abdomen

therapeutic abortion

to alleviate the suffering

triplets

twins

ultrasound test

unassisted childbirth

unwanted birth

vaginal birth

victim

vital signs

wheelchair

Birth, abortion and dying - What do you know about it? 1

Answer the following questions.

What is childbirth?

Why are the birth rates in the Czech Republic low?

What are types of births?

What is a multiple birth?

How are Czech hospice centres financed?

Where do they get money from?

Have you ever been to a hospice?

Who works in a hospice?

What are typical illnesses of the people staying in a hospice?

What is an abortion?

What is a miscarriage?

What are reasons for an abortion?

Should an abortion be legal or illegal?

What is euthanasia?

Where can it be applied?

Should it be legal? And why?

What are types of euthanasia?

What is a death?

What are causes of death?

What are types of death?

Birth, abortion, and dying – Study material

Birth, abortion, and dying – Study material

Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. The offspring is brought forth from the mother.

• Childbirth is the process at the end of a human pregnancy that results in a baby being born.
• Natural childbirth is the technique of minimizing medical intervention, particularly anaesthetics, during childbirth.
• Unassisted childbirth (UC) is birth without the aid of medical or professional birth attendants. Also known as freebirth.
• Multiple birth is the birth of two (twins), three (triplets), four (quadruplets), etc., babies resulting from a single pregnancy.
• Birth canal is the term used for the vagina during birth, as it is the route through which the infant passes during a vaginal birth.
• Caesarean section or C-Section is surgical birth through the wall of the abdomen.
• Birth pangs are the pains felt by the mother during labour, resulting from contractions of the uterus and pressure on nerves and organs.

Birth control methods are devices, medications or behaviour patterns to reduce the probability of pregnancy.

Placenta is the organ in most mammals that provides the nourishment of the foetus and the elimination of its waste products.

Midwife is the term for a health care provider that provides at home health care for expecting mothers, delivers baby during birth, and provides postpartum care.

Birth doula is the term for a labour assistant that provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, and other assistance to expecting mothers, partners, families, and baby before, during, and after childbirth. A postpartum doula provides support after birth, and specializes in postpartum care for mother and infant, infant attachment, and other newborn care.

Complications

Infertility treatments are devices, medications, or behaviours patterns to increase the probability of pregnancy.

Premature birth is the birth of an infant before the full term of pregnancy.

Birth defect is a physical or mental abnormality present at the time of birth.

Stillbirth is the birth of a dead foetus or infant.

Birth trauma is a theory in Pre & Perinatal psychology and natural medicine that the baby experiences extreme pain during the birthing process and that this pain influences the child later in life.

Complications may cause a miscarriage or spontaneous abortion to occur.

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of a foetus or embryo from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species. In the context of human pregnancies, an abortion induced to preserve the health of the gravida (pregnant female) is termed a therapeutic abortion, while an abortion induced for any other reason is termed an elective abortion. The term abortion most commonly refers to the induced abortion of a human pregnancy, while spontaneous abortions are usually termed miscarriages.

Reason for abortion: family size, financial issues, genetic factors, mental health reasons, my age (too young or old), my education, my personal reasons for not wanting a child, physical health reasons, problems with my relationship, rape/incest

Euthanasia refers to the practice of ending a life in a manner which relieves pain and suffering. Euthanasia is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary and active or passive. Euthanasia is usually used to refer to active euthanasia, and in this sense, euthanasia is usually considered to be criminal homicide, but voluntary, passive euthanasia is widely non-criminal.

• Voluntary euthanasia – is conducted with the consent of the patient. Voluntary euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. When the patient brings about his or her own death with the assistance of a physician, the term assisted suicide is often used instead.
• Non-voluntary euthanasia – is conducted where the consent of the patient is unavailable. Examples include child euthanasia, which is illegal worldwide but decriminalised under certain specific circumstances in the Netherlands under the Groningen Protocol.
• Involuntary euthanasia – is conducted against the will of the patient.

Death is the termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism.

Causes of death in humans as a result of intentional activity include suicide, homicide and war. From all causes, roughly 150,000 people die around the world each day.

Physiological death is now seen as less an event than a process: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible. Where in the process a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of legal death. A patient with working heart and lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring. Precise medical definition of death, in other words, becomes more problematic, paradoxically, as scientific knowledge and medicine advance.

Adjusted to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death