Personeel gaan bloedgroepe, hemoglobienvlakke, bloeddruk en polsslae na.

Because the verb here is nagaan, which means to check, to examine, or to go over.

In a main clause, Afrikaans often splits this kind of verb:

• gaan goes to the usual verb position
• na moves to the end

So:

• Personeel gaan ... na. = Staff check ...

This is called a separable verb.

Compare:

• Main clause: Hulle gaan die resultate na.
• Infinitive: Hulle wil die resultate nagaan.
• Subordinate clause: Ek weet dat hulle die resultate nagaan.

Not by itself in this sentence.

Although gaan often does mean go, here it is part of the separable verb nagaan. So you should understand gaan ... na together as check / examine / review.

So this sentence is not saying that the staff are going somewhere.

Personeel is a collective noun. It means staff or personnel as a group.

So even though it refers to multiple people, it is treated as one collective idea, much like English staff or personnel.

If you want to refer to one member of staff, you would usually say:

• 'n personeellid = a staff member

Afrikaans often leaves out the article when speaking in a general or indefinite way.

So:

• Personeel gaan ... na. = Staff check ... / The staff check ... depending on context

If you specifically meant the staff, you could say:

• Die personeel gaan ... na.

Without die, the sentence sounds more general, like a statement about what staff do.

Afrikaans strongly prefers compound words: ideas that English often writes as two words are frequently written as one word in Afrikaans.

Examples from the sentence:

• bloedgroepe = blood groups
• hemoglobienvlakke = hemoglobin levels
• bloeddruk = blood pressure
• polsslae = pulse beats / pulse rates

A useful rule: in Afrikaans, if English has a noun + noun combination, Afrikaans often joins them into a single word.

There are a few different plural patterns here:

• bloedgroep → bloedgroepe
• hemoglobienvlak → hemoglobienvlakke
• polsslag → polsslae

A few things to notice:

• -e is a very common plural ending in Afrikaans.
• In vlakke, the k is doubled to keep the vowel short.
• slag → slae is a less regular-looking plural and is worth learning as a form.

So the plural ending is not always exactly the same; you often need to learn the plural together with the noun.

Because bloeddruk is usually treated like a general measurement or uncountable concept, similar to English blood pressure.

In English, we also normally say:

• check blood pressure not
• check blood pressures

By contrast, the other nouns are more naturally countable in this context:

• blood groups
• hemoglobin levels
• pulse rates / beats

So the mix of singular and plural is normal.

Literally, it comes from:

• pols = pulse
• slag = beat

So polsslae literally means pulse beats.

In natural English, depending on context, this could be translated as:

• pulse
• pulse rate
• heart rate in looser medical context

But word-for-word, it is closer to pulse beats.

Because Afrikaans lists items much like English does:

• items are separated by commas
• en is used before the final item

So:

• bloedgroepe, hemoglobienvlakke, bloeddruk en polsslae

This works just like:

• blood groups, hemoglobin levels, blood pressure and pulse rates

Since nagaan is separable, its form changes depending on the structure.

Useful patterns:

• Present main clause:
  Personeel gaan bloeddruk na.

• Infinitive:
  Personeel moet bloeddruk nagaan.
  = Staff must check blood pressure.

• Subordinate clause:
  Ek sien dat personeel bloeddruk nagaan.
  = I see that staff check blood pressure.

• Perfect tense:
  Personeel het bloeddruk nagegaan.
  = Staff checked blood pressure.

So this is a good verb to learn as a full pattern, not just as one form.