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Medicine vocabulary · Patient Communication

Reassure

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˌriːəˈʃʊr/verbCore term

In medicine, reassure means: To say or do something that makes a worried patient or relative feel calmer and less afraid, usually by explaining that a problem is not serious.

In Turkish: içini rahatlatmak, güvence vermek, teskin etmek

How it is used

Common in consultations and notes: 'Patient reassured and discharged.' The noun is reassurance, and 'reassuring' describes good results: 'The scan is reassuring.' Doctors avoid false reassurance when the outcome is uncertain.

Example sentences

  1. I want to reassure you that this kind of headache is very common and usually harmless.

  2. Her ECG was normal, which was reassuring.

Common collocations

  • reassure the patient
  • reassuring results
  • offer reassurance
  • false reassurance
  • lay termsEveryday words that people without medical training understand, used instead of technical vocabulary when talking to patients.
  • bedside mannerThe way a doctor behaves and talks with patients, especially how kind, calm and reassuring they are.
  • break bad newsTo tell a patient or family difficult information, such as a serious diagnosis or a death, in a careful, honest and kind way.
  • follow-upA later appointment or check to see how a patient is doing after treatment, a test result or a hospital stay.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: Patient Communication

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