German for Nurses: 80 Phrases You’ll Use on Shift
General B2 German doesn’t automatically prepare you for the specific, fast-paced language of a nursing shift — handover, patient assessment, and colleague communication all draw on a narrower, more specialised vocabulary than everyday conversation. Here’s a working set organised by situation.
Handover (Übergabe)
- Ich übernehme die Schicht. — I’m taking over the shift.
- Der Patient in Zimmer 3 hat starke Schmerzen. — The patient in room 3 has severe pain.
- Die Vitalwerte sind stabil. — The vital signs are stable.
- Der Blutdruck ist erhöht/niedrig. — Blood pressure is elevated/low.
- Die Temperatur liegt bei [X] Grad. — Temperature is at [X] degrees.
- Er/Sie hat heute Nacht schlecht geschlafen. — He/she slept poorly last night.
- Die Medikamente wurden um [time] verabreicht. — Medication was administered at [time].
- Bitte kontrollieren Sie die Werte in zwei Stunden. — Please check the readings in two hours.
- Es gibt nichts Besonderes zu vermerken. — Nothing unusual to note.
- Der Arzt wurde bereits informiert. — The doctor has already been informed.
Assessing pain and symptoms
- Haben Sie Schmerzen? — Are you in pain?
- Wo genau tut es weh? — Where exactly does it hurt?
- Auf einer Skala von eins bis zehn, wie stark sind die Schmerzen? — On a scale of one to ten, how severe is the pain?
- Ist der Schmerz stechend oder dumpf? — Is the pain sharp or dull?
- Seit wann haben Sie diese Beschwerden? — Since when have you had these symptoms?
- Ist Ihnen schwindelig oder übel? — Are you feeling dizzy or nauseous?
- Können Sie tief einatmen? — Can you breathe deeply?
- Haben Sie heute schon etwas gegessen? — Have you eaten anything today?
Administering care
- Ich muss Ihnen jetzt Blut abnehmen. — I need to take a blood sample now.
- Das könnte kurz unangenehm sein. — This might be briefly uncomfortable.
- Bitte machen Sie eine Faust. — Please make a fist.
- Ich messe jetzt Ihren Blutdruck. — I’m going to measure your blood pressure now.
- Sie bekommen jetzt Ihre Medikamente. — You’re getting your medication now.
- Bitte schlucken Sie das mit etwas Wasser. — Please swallow this with some water.
- Ich helfe Ihnen beim Aufstehen. — I’ll help you get up.
- Vorsicht, langsam. — Careful, slowly.
- Kann ich Ihnen sonst noch helfen? — Is there anything else I can help you with?
Talking with patients and family
- Guten Morgen, wie geht es Ihnen heute? — Good morning, how are you feeling today?
- Der Arzt kommt gleich zu Ihnen. — The doctor will come to see you shortly.
- Machen Sie sich keine Sorgen, das ist normal. — Don’t worry, that’s normal.
- Ich hole sofort jemanden. — I’ll get someone right away.
- Möchten Sie, dass ich das Fenster öffne? — Would you like me to open the window?
- Ihr Angehöriger schläft gerade. — Your relative is currently sleeping.
- Die Besuchszeiten sind von [X] bis [Y]. — Visiting hours are from [X] to [Y].
Talking with colleagues and doctors
- Können Sie kurz vorbeikommen? — Can you come by for a moment?
- Ich brauche Unterstützung bei Zimmer 5. — I need support with room 5.
- Der Patient hat sich verschlechtert. — The patient’s condition has worsened.
- Sollen wir den Arzt rufen? — Should we call the doctor?
- Ich habe eine Frage zur Medikation. — I have a question about the medication.
- Können Sie das bitte dokumentieren? — Could you please document that?
Knowing these phrases is one thing — using them confidently, at real speaking pace, under the pressure of an actual shift, is another skill entirely. SipLingo includes real workplace scenarios built around exactly these situations, with corrections in your own language and scoring on word accuracy, grammar, fluency and intonation. Try it free →
Practise your German out loud with SipLingo, free to try on iPhone and Android:
Why memorising this list alone isn’t quite enough
A phrase list gets you the words, but real shifts involve unpredictable variations — a patient describing symptoms in their own way, a colleague asking a follow-up question you didn’t anticipate, a doctor using slightly different phrasing than what you rehearsed. The same principle that applies to exam speaking preparation applies here: the goal is building flexible, responsive fluency around these situations, not memorising fixed scripts that break the moment reality deviates from them.
A practical way to use this list
Rather than trying to memorise all 80 phrases at once, pick the section most relevant to your current biggest anxiety (handover, if that’s what worries you most; patient communication, if that’s the harder part) and practise those out loud, in full context, until they feel automatic — then move to the next section. Trying to absorb the entire list simultaneously tends to produce shallow familiarity with everything rather than genuine fluency with anything.
Documentation-specific vocabulary
Beyond spoken communication, written documentation uses its own conventions worth knowing separately:
- Patient klagt über… — Patient complains of…
- Zustand unverändert. — Condition unchanged.
- Keine Auffälligkeiten. — No abnormalities noted.
- Medikation wie verordnet verabreicht. — Medication administered as prescribed.
- Rücksprache mit Arzt erfolgt. — Consultation with doctor completed.
German clinical documentation tends toward concise, standardised phrasing rather than full narrative sentences — learning these fixed documentation patterns specifically, separate from conversational German, is worth dedicated attention if writing accurate notes is part of your role.
A note on formality with patients versus colleagues
Default to Sie with patients regardless of their age, and generally with colleagues in more formal or hierarchical hospital settings, at least until a colleague explicitly invites du. Ward culture varies — some units are quite informal among staff — but starting formal and adjusting based on what you observe is the safer default in an unfamiliar workplace, consistent with broader German professional etiquette.
Official sources
For the official details and the latest updates, see:
- telc gGmbH: telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege – German exam for nurses – Nursing exam format, report-writing task, 16-min pair speaking, free mock exam
- Make it in Germany (Federal Government): Nursing professionals: recognition and German level – Recognition routes, B2 for licence, A2 for recognition partnership
Frequently asked questions
What German phrases do nurses need most on shift? Handover communication, pain and symptom assessment questions, and basic care administration phrases come up most frequently and consistently across nearly every shift, making them worth prioritising first.
Is general B2 German enough for nursing work? It’s a foundation, but most nursing roles in Germany expect B2 as a formal minimum with the practical expectation that nurses also build specific clinical vocabulary and communication patterns beyond general conversational German.
How do I practise nursing German if I don’t have colleagues to speak with yet? Speaking these phrases out loud repeatedly, ideally in full sentences within realistic scenarios rather than as an isolated list, and using conversation practice tools built around workplace situations specifically, helps build the responsiveness real shifts require before you’re actually on one.
Practise these exact situations out loud before your first shift. SipLingo includes real nursing and healthcare scenarios with corrections in your own language. A1 to B2.
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