Thread: Internment

HI people! I came up with the word "internment" when editing a medical document; the Spanish term is "internación", but I think the correct translation into English would be "hospitalization".
Can anybody help me with this? Thanks a lot!

Hello, Marlene. What do you think about "admission"? I believe that admission refers to "internación", but if the patient is not staying overnight it is simply "entry".

Hi,
I believe that "internación" y "hospitalización" have the same meaning.

Marlene,

You can use the term "internamiento", which I believe is used a lot and well accepted by doctors.

Some else mentioned "admitted" and that's what I'm leaning toward... "he's been admitted" sounds less severe than "he's been hospitalized"

I also think that "admission" is the right word.

Cheers

This is my understanding:

When it is decided that you are going to stay at least one night in the hospital, you are "admitted". This could intail any or all of the following: checking in or registering, being taken to a room, or just being told "We'd like to admit you", etc.

Once you've been "admitted", it could be said that you've been "hospitalized". The morning after you've been "admitted", someone may call your work and say: "I just wanted to let you know, ____ won't be at work today because he/she has been "hospitalized"." The person on the other end of the phone may then say: "Oh my gosh, what happened?" The person calling on your behalf would then say something like "He/she had _____ pain last night. I took him/her to the emergency room, and they "admitted" him/her."

I hope this helps!

Thank you all guys! I realized that "admitted" is not the same as "hospitalized", In this case, the Spanish sentence used "internación" as this was a severe accident, therefore I decided to use "hospitalization".

What is clear is that the word "internment" is not used at all to refer to medical contexts in English.

Thank you all!!