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Medicine vocabulary · Hospital Departments and Staff

Discharge

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/dɪsˈtʃɑːrdʒ/verbCore term

In medicine, discharge means: To officially let a patient leave hospital or a clinic's care because they no longer need it there. As a noun it can also mean fluid that comes out of the body.

In Turkish: taburcu etmek, akıntı

How it is used

Doctors discharge patients home or to another service and write a discharge summary (discharge letter). As a noun the stress moves to the first syllable: DIS-charge. 'Wound discharge' or 'nasal discharge' refers to fluid.

Example sentences

  1. If her bloods are normal tomorrow, we can discharge her home.

  2. Please send the discharge summary to his GP today.

  3. Is there any discharge from the wound?

Common collocations

  • discharge home
  • discharge summary
  • fit for discharge
  • self-discharge
  • wound discharge
  • admitTo accept a patient into hospital so that they stay in a bed for treatment or observation, usually for at least one night.
  • follow-upA later appointment or check to see how a patient is doing after treatment, a test result or a hospital stay.
  • wardA part of a hospital with beds where patients stay overnight or longer, usually for one specialty, such as a surgical or children's ward.
  • general practitionerA doctor based in the community who treats a wide range of everyday health problems, provides long-term care and refers patients to hospital specialists when needed.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Hospital Departments and Staff

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.