Bedside Messages

Developed in association with the Patient Provider Communication Forum, Central Coast Children’s Foundation and Dr. Bronwyn Hemsley

26 key phrases for patients supported by symbols. Available in 29 different languages.

Communication in a hospital setting can be complicated for numerous reasons, and for patients temporarily losing the ability to speak, speaking a foreign language or having a pre-existing medical condition limiting your communication capabilities can be an extremely scary situation.

Dr. Bronwyn Hemsley, a speech pathologist in Australia has conducted field research to determine the top 26 most important phrases that patients wish to convey to their caregivers when they do not have the ability to speak. These 26 phrases were then taken by the Central Coast Children’s Foundations and sent around the globe to be translated into different languages. The following documents are the result of a global effort to make these phrases accessible and useful to a wide audience within hospital settings.

These 26 phrases have been supported by Widgit Symbols to aid understanding and to help quickly reference meaning.

The Bedside Phrases Sheets are available in two sizes - A4 and letter size.