no hablo español

Back when I first became a nurse in 1988, I did a lot of my clinicals in different backgrounds in hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, doctor’s offices, and nursing homes.

As a new nurse, I was trying to find my "niche" and at the present I was doing geriatric nursing in a nursing home. Geriatric patients have a lot of stories along with lots of wisdom to share, if you are willing to listen?

But what about patients that is so stubborn and will not give an inch to nurses who are really trying to please them? I will never forget one little beautiful and very old woman who had a Hispanic background. She never learned to speak English, as her family stated she was from the old country and had never desired to learn English. To help all the staff that did not speak Spanish, phrases like "are you in pain" "where does it hurt" "do you need anything" "are you hungry" and so on were posted on large pieces of paper that were hung over her bed. She apparently was fed up with doting South Georgia nurses trying to perfect their accents. Being from Hawaii, I too had an olive complexion. As I walked in, the patient seemed happy to see me, or so I thought for about one minute.

Trying to look like I knew how to communicate with this little woman, I took one look at the paper signs hanging over her bed and attempted to communicate with her. She all of a sudden got very angry and started yelling at me and motioning for me to get out of her room. I had no idea what I had said or done wrong to upset her and proceeded to find someone who understood Spanish, hoping to make amends. After a nurse fluent in Spanish came to my aid and as I explained to her what had happened, I very quickly found out that nothing I had said upset her at all. She firmly and honestly believed that since I was "olive complexioned as her" that I too should be fluent in Spanish, and nothing I could do or say could convince this little woman that I no hablo español!

I had to be replaced by a nurse who spoke Spanish, and even though this nurse explained to her that I did not speak Spanish, she never believed her. I was not allowed back in her room and I certainly was not allowed to be her nurse. Although I found this very interesting that she thought that complexion could dictate what languages I should speak, I did understand that with her age and beliefs that I was not able to convince her that I was Hawaiian and did not speak Spanish.

And here 20 years later, I still no hablo español. Nurses just remember you can please some of the patients some of the time, but, no matter what you do; you CANNOT convince some patients of anything, no matter how hard you try!