to bathe (or not to bathe :) ?)

[alla]

I have a question

I am translating a sentence :

"The patient will bathe at least every other day while in hospital"

does the verb "bathe" include "takng a shower" or only "taking a bath in a bathtub" ?

it is about psychiatric patients with bipolar disorder, guidelines for nurses

the dictionaries say only "take a bath", but it would be unhygienic ina hospital, wouldn't it?

Thank you for any help

 

[emsr2d2]

I have a question

I am translating a sentence :

"The patient will bathe at least every other day while in hospital"

does the verb "bathe" include "takng a shower" or only "taking a bath in a bathtub" ?

it is about psychiatric patients with bipolar disorder, guidelines for nurses

the dictionaries say only "take a bath", but it would be unhygienic ina hospital, wouldn't it?

Thank you for any help

It doesn't specify but "to bathe" to me would simply mean to "wash one's body", regardless of whether it's in a bathtub or a shower. It would be better if it said "The patient will bath or shower every other day..." (note that I used "to bath" as a verb instead of "bathe")

There is nothing unhygienic about taking a bath, and it's probably quite common in some hospitals. Most will have showers but perhaps bipolar patients have specific needs. I imagine that a nice calm bath might be good for someone in a manic phase of their bipolar disorder.

 

[alla]

Thank you very much for your explanation, emsr2d2

 

[Ouisch]

I have a question

I am translating a sentence :

"The patient will bathe at least every other day while in hospital"

does the verb "bathe" include "takng a shower" or only "taking a bath in a bathtub" ?

it is about psychiatric patients with bipolar disorder, guidelines for nurses

the dictionaries say only "take a bath", but it would be unhygienic ina hospital, wouldn't it?

Thank you for any help

Yes, "bathe" can refer to washing in a bathtub or in a shower, or even lying in bed and having the nurse give you a sponge bath.

I don't know whether a "bath" would be unhygienic unless the staff didn't take the time to scrub down the entire bathtub after each use. Medical personnel are busy enough, a thorough tub scrub would take a lot more time than cleaning the floor of a shower stall.

 

[Rover_KE]

In BE at least the word bathe is rather formal and is rarely used colloquially.

We say

'I have a bath every week, whether I need it or not.'

'You smell. Go and have a bath.'

'She baths her baby every day'.

We reserve bathe for more delicate and localised irrigation purposes:

'I have an eye infection and need to bathe them three times a day' (though confusingly I use an eye bath to do this).

'We'll bathe his frost-bitten toes in tepid water.'

Unfortunately the past tense and participle of both verbs is spelt bathed, so the context has to determine which pronunciation is appropriate.

Rover

 

[alla]

Thanks for all the answers
By the way, this is an American text

 

[Rover_KE]

By the way, this is an American text

In this case, alla, that piece of information is of no importance, but in future posts please tell us at the very beginning as that fact may affect our replies.

Rover