Diversity.. at what price? - Page 3

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  1. Aug 20, '11 by
    Quote from Laboratorian
    Talk about communication breakdown: there is a redneck, a frenchman, and a deaf guy running a department in my lab. ALL HIGHLY EDUCATED AND COMPETENT! But you can't understand a word they are saying. They go at it HOURLY like cats and dogs! You would think a fight was breaking out at the way they scream at each other.


    When I first read your comment...I was waiting for the punchline.
    hey_suz, ALavallee, prettymica, and 11 others like this.
  2. Aug 20, '11 by
    Quote from Been there,done that
    Would it be OK to admit it doesn't work if a communication breakdown led to the demise of your loved one?

    Just to be clear, I am not disagreeing with you. In my "unpolitical correctness", if the majority of those a healthcare professionals works with and/or patients can not understand the employee then they do not belong in that setting. Heck I get irritated when I call my cell phone providers help line and can't understand the person - and that is not putting my life at risk.
    Lucky724, HIPPIECHIKRN, CaOTn96, and 2 others like this.
  3. Aug 20, '11 by
    Quote from Not_A_Hat_Person
    Would it be any different if your co-workers had very strong New England, Southern, or Hawaiian accents? If you can't understand each other, you can't understand each other.
    Native English speakers are able to lose a regional accent if they only try; foreigners, however, who learned English after a certain age (usually age 10), are never able to completely lose their foreign accent; the older they were when they learned English, the stronger their accent tends to be. No speech therapy can help someone totally lose their foreign accent (it this were possible, don't you think Arnold would have lost his long ago?)

    That said, maybe nurses with extemely heavy accents shouldn't work in areas where clear oral communication is important.

    DeLana
    Erina, Been there,done that, leslie :-D, and 7 others like this.
  4. Aug 21, '11 by
    I understand that speaking with people heavy and thick accents can sometimes be time consuming and somewhat irritating but as a supervisor would so helpfully remind me from time to time: suck it up and listen harder. The only way to resolve this problem would be to stop hiring people with thick accents. This in and of itself would be detrimental to patient care because this would exclude some highly intelligent candidates that may be able to best help your patient with new ideas and research. Also, as an other person pointed out these people can also be a great asset as translators.

    Another thought however is to possibly spend more time talking to the people you are having trouble communicating with. In my experience, you begin to learn a persons inflections and meanings and the accent becomes less prevalent. Also by speaking you and other native English speakers more often it may help them to learn and understand us better as well.

    There will honestly never be a true solution to this especially as sneeze continues to become more diversified. It would behoove all of us to just take the time to listen and well all be better for it
    DaretoDreamRN, linearthinker, nola1202, and 1 other like this.
  5. Guide
    Aug 21, '11 by
    Quote from bug2621
    I understand that speaking with people heavy and thick accents can sometimes be time consuming and somewhat irritating but as a supervisor would so helpfully remind me from time to time: suck it up and listen harder. The only way to resolve this problem would be to stop hiring people with thick accents. This in and of itself would be detrimental to patient care because this would exclude some highly intelligent candidates that may be able to best help your patient with new ideas and research. Also, as an other person pointed out these people can also be a great asset as translators.

    Another thought however is to possibly spend more time talking to the people you are having trouble communicating with. In my experience, you begin to learn a persons inflections and meanings and the accent becomes less prevalent. Also by speaking you and other native English speakers more often it may help them to learn and understand us better as well.

    There will honestly never be a true solution to this especially as sneeze continues to become more diversified. It would behoove all of us to just take the time to listen and well all be better for it
    Why is it okay to say "suck it up and listen harder" but not okay to say the speakers should "suck it up and take more classes/practice your english skills". Some of both should go a long way.
    I know a lovely lady who is originally Spanish speaking. When I first met her on a contract she could barely get vital information across. We spent much time guessing at what the other was saying. The next time I came back for a contract she had enrolled in ESL classes. We had a lot of fun laughing over trying to say the tongue twisters assigned by her instructor to improve pronunciation. By the last time I saw her she was able to converse fluently on just about any topic. All because she made the effort. Oh, and not young - she's a grandmother.
    hey_suz, Ruby Vee, Erina, and 12 others like this.
  6. Guide
    Aug 21, '11 by
    i have never understood why we americans feel everyone on the planet must speak fluent american-style english, when the persons in other parts of the world learn british english. words are spelled
    the same or very nearly so, but are pronounced differently.

    i live in a small town but a very culturally diverse neighborhood. neighbors are from india, saudi arabia, israel, germany, japan, china, korea, brazil, pakistan, and central america. there are many three
    generational families, who speak english with varying degrees of clarity, but we manage both on and
    off the job. most of the adults are mds or other advanced degree holders, the kids are as american
    as any other native born child. the children old enough to remember life in their native country still
    seem to embrace their new life in america and enthusiastically adapt to their new lives.

    only a few cultures find being asked by a mere woman to repeat themselves offensive, and where i worked longest, this was handled by having every single order written down. as for nurses and staff who refused to use english on the job, they were given a progressive warning system of reprimands.
    who cares which language is spoken during lunches or breaks? admittedly, some workers deliberately speak their own language just to be rude, but it has been my experience, that most don't. when they did, i just pulled out my book and enjoyed a bit of reading time.

    with orders and instructions, i became a good listener. if some colleagues become huffy if asked for clarification, too bad!
    DFWgal, prettymica, BunnySan27, and 12 others like this.
  7. Aug 21, '11 by
    Quote from bagladyrn
    Why is it okay to say "suck it up and listen harder" but not okay to say the speakers should "suck it up and take more classes/practice your english skills". Some of both should go a long way.
    I know a lovely lady who is originally Spanish speaking. When I first met her on a contract she could barely get vital information across. We spent much time guessing at what the other was saying. The next time I came back for a contract she had enrolled in ESL classes. We had a lot of fun laughing over trying to say the tongue twisters assigned by her instructor to improve pronunciation. By the last time I saw her she was able to converse fluently on just about any topic. All because she made the effort. Oh, and not young - she's a grandmother.
    The reason I say " suck it up and listen harder" is because apparently we are the ones taking issue with their thick accents, therefore we need to work on ourselves. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with them taking classes to assist them with speaking the English better either, but you really cant force someone to better themselves. You can only work on you. Not to mention these esl classes probably cost time and money that they may not be able to afford or fit in. Maybe if employers paid for these classes for employees, more people would be apt to take them.

    So the easiest thing to do is take a deep breath and truly LISTEN to what is being said, instead of mentally grumbling about why they don't speak better English.
    linearthinker, wsuRN09, wooh, and 1 other like this.
  8. Aug 21, '11 by
    I have trouble understanding people speaking English that are from around these parts. Usually those who learned a foreign language prior to English have better pronunciation than the people around here that learned backwoods hillbilly Georgian first.

    It would be nice if everyone would just talk exactly like me. But people seem to always think "Everyone except me has an accent." We've all got an accent, except for the few of us that at one time aspired to be news anchors.
    prettymica, BunnySan27, Not_A_Hat_Person, and 2 others like this.
  9. Aug 21, '11 by
    Quote from Been there,done that
    All posts so far by newbies...Interesting.
    Exactly. The newbies haven't 'been there' or haven't been nurses long enough to have worked in a large city where you are the only native English speaking person around.

    Also if someone posts a cartoon of ducking under a couch just after you post your valid vent, it tends to sway posters to think what you said is shameful.

    You have a valid vent/issue/complaint that many veteran nurses have dealt with. I'm glad you're not afraid to post something that some think isn't "pc" enough for their tastes.

    I liked Karen's post/suggestion.
    kids, hey_suz, Erina, and 7 others like this.
  10. Aug 21, '11 by
    I stand behind my couch posting (yes pun intended)

    and it IS shameful to spout hateful rhetoric regarding people just because they are not like you.

    take my post whichever way you will....

    P.s NEWBIE and DARN proud of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    BunnySan27, DaretoDreamRN, linearthinker, and 4 others like this.