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So this has lately been a pet peeve of mine at work, patients that live in this country and speak NO English. I can totally understand and sympathize with how scary it must be to be visiting get sick and be hospitalized in a country where you do not understand the language and what the people around you are trying to convey but when you LIVE here?!? Whenever I have visited other countries I have made an effort to learn the basics of their language to make them more at ease, after all I am in their country I don't think they should have to make special accommodations for me. But I am so tired of calling an interpreter to explain what I am doing 15 times during the shift, after I've already had them come up and explain in detail what would be happening and when throughout the night and clarifying any questions that the patient had. Do I need to learn more patience for my diverse patients or does this irk anyone else as well?

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
English is not an easy language to learn. How do you know they haven't tried to learn English, but failed?

The only people who I've heard say this are English speaking people. Why is it a difficult language to learn, in your opinion? Are you speaking from the experience of having known enough people who tried, failed, and gave up to be able to make a generalized statement like that? Maybe people who've learned to speak English and thought it was hard will chime in, or comments about verb structure will be offered, but more often than not, people repeat that as a truism just because it's a truism. I'm really not trying to be annoying, just curious! :)

I agree with Miranda, older immigrants often don't become fluent in English themselves, but it's at the top of the list for their children and grandchildren, and those are not the people I think of in this discussion. One of my friends at work has been in the US for 21 years, she knows about 20 English words, tops. Another actually understands and speaks English quite well, but she is terrified people will judge her negatively if she makes a mistake. Another doesn't give a cr*p about making mistakes, and instructed me to only speak to her in English. I said OK but only if you only speak to me in Spanish. Very amusing conversations ensued!! There's just more to it than a simple can/can't equation.

Specializes in Health Information Management.

Well, here's an objective evaluation on the difficulty level involved in learning English...however, this study evaluates only the European languages.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1233-english-is-toughest-european-language-to-read.html

I've had my say on this one already, so I'm going to keep quiet on my own opinions. However, for those who are interested in the debate over how quickly immigrants from the past and present acquire(d) English after settling in the U.S., I'm pasting a link to an excellent study:

http://www.news.wisc.edu/15801

I was curious myself, and I found it very enlightening.

Okay, carry on.... :)

This study refers to immigrant communities from 1839 to the 1930s, so the information is not surprising. This was a time in our country's development when education was a luxury for many, including those who did speak English. Television did not exist. Radio was in its infancy for only the last ten years of the period in question. Newspapers flourished in cities but "breaking news" could take days or weeks to arrive in rural areas. A large segment of the population finished their schooling with eighth grade (if they were lucky enough to have gone that long).

Immigrant communities were just that--communities that were often self-sufficient to a large degree. Many groups arrived en masse from their European villages and tried to recreate their hometowns here. My part of the country is full of little hamlets named after the places they left behind.

Speaking English was a skill many of them aspired to, if not for themselves, then for their children. There were some isolationists who thought they could survive as an enclave, but the majority knew that wasn't practical; they wanted to preserve the best of their heritage AND embrace the culture of their new country, as well.

These transplanted communities, especially in the rural areas, had their own churches, schools and newspapers, often managed entirely in the language of the Old Country. This was done, not from anti-American sentiment, but rather out of a desire for self sufficiency. They did not expect others to make their lives work.

Assimilation occurred gradually as young people left the smaller towns and moved to find work in the urban areas. Some came back with families. WW I connected immigrants in America to the stories that were taking place in their homelands. Newspaper--dailies, not weeklies--told what was happening to the rest of the world. Radio did so with even more immediacy.

Additional major developments that influenced the blending in of immigrant populations were the arrival of WWII, the ability of "ordinary folks" to own a car, the increasing expectation that children would continue education through high school and the advent of television. Every one of these took place after the period under scrutiny in the linked study. And they all had a sizable impact on the immigrant population.

When I spoke of the push certain immigrant groups made to learn English, I had in mind the 1940s through the 1970s. Adults took night classes. They practiced reading the paper aloud and followed along with what their kids were doing in school. These were people who put in long hours to keep their families afloat, but the goal of attaining US citizenship motivated them to study. That, and they didn't want to be forever dependent on their children to navigate everyday life for them.

Fast forward to now. Radio, TV, newspapers, libraries and computers abound. Learning opportunities are everywhere. And yet people in certain cities are not learning English. There are a number of reasons behind this--cultural resistance, busyness, the difficulty of the English language--but where previous immigrants managed to overcome such resistance in the past, that is no longer the case. We have now made it easy to avoid learning English. In our misguided sensitivity, we are enabling entire communities to "just say no" to acquiring an essential tool to be able to function well in American society. But even worse, we are encouraging an isolationism that can't help but bring about a divided loyalty.

If this sounds similar to the Old Country groups that maintained their own schools and churches and newspapers and conducted all their business in their native tongue, consider that the earlier groups were far more self-sufficient and did not insist that the American culture twist itself into a pretzel to accommodate them. People from their own communities learned how to speak English and translate for them. When their kids went to English-speaking schools, it was with the understanding that, although it would be rough going in the beginning, the kids would learn better and faster by immersion. And they did.

Today, you can get a driver's license, buy a car, fill out your taxes, do your shopping, go out to eat, and complete your day's work and never once have to step outside your native language. Why? Because we have made it too easy to avoid learning to speak English. And in so doing, we have set ourselves up to have to deal with the separatist mentality (ranging from bland indifference to outright hostility) that is the natural consequence of this lapse in our judgment.

Teddy Roosevelt had this to say on the matter--

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

I disagree with Teddy on one point. There is plenty of room for different cultures, customs, music, food, and, yes, language. Such vibrancy and texture enrich us all. But I do agree with his premise that primary allegiance should be to the US. Learning to speak functional English should be strongly encouraged. We should draw a line at the number of accommodations we are willing to make and begin a gradual backing off of some of them. Give the immigrant populations time to adjust--that's only sensible--but there should be an end in sight. The message ought to be that we'll help you out to a point. Beyond that, it's your responsibility if you want to live here and prosper. Will this be a challenge? Of course, it will. But that goes with the territory of moving to a different country. To suggest otherwise is naive and foolish.

All of that said, health care is one of the few places where accommodation really needs to be made. You don't try to educate people who are sick or injured. You just take care of them.

Nevertheless, the push still needs to be made in other areas.

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I have to wonder is it one particular language or a particular culture that irks so so much. My grandparents were born in the Austrian Empire.....now Slovakia. I never knew my grandmother but my grand father spoke English like a college professor-he was THAT proud to be an American!

Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

My friend's mum and dad left south america to escape persecution when things got really bad, & came to Australia. When they eventually got a house with a carpet & a roof, my friend's mum sat down on the empty floor and absolutely balled her eyes out - she couldn't believe the kindness and generosity that was shown to them. She had been living in a hut (if you could call it that), and her floor was the dirt she slept on with a hubby and 2 kids. They left all their family behind in SA.

So to pay everyone back they learned really good English, though my friend's mum spoke better than her dad. They spoke Spanish at home around me, and I didn't mind one bit. I picked up some words but never had time to learn it all.

They are wonderful, generous, kind, amazingly strong people. They did the right thing, but others don't seem to think they SHOULD learn a native language.

My dad had a foreign guy at work who he was trying to teach. When a machine breaks down, they put certain 'tags' on these machines with a written explanation so other workers don't use them accidentally and hurt themselves. Well my dad tagged a machine one day & this foreign worker went to use it, (cos he couldn't read the tags & didn't know what they meant), luckily my dad caught him in time - the guy could have been seriously injured. My dad told management but they could not care less. Also my dad found out this foreign guy had a driver's license and the only sign he could read in English was STOP!

Many people have escaped persecution, I understand that. But when you can't explain medications & treatments to them, that leaves us open to litigation. Also people can become seriously ill and die, or extremely agitated because they don't understand what is happening to them.

I too would be p****d off if I had to call an interpreter 15 times a shift. I just wouldn't do it. Tell management to learn 5 different languages, then call them to interpret or get them to call the interpreter - I am serious, not joking. Make a written complaint and MAKE SURE you write in the nursing notes if a patient is confused because they can't speak the language.

Always cover yourself!!

Specializes in Home Health.

Honestly, I am often more frustrated with my inability to communicate this very important information with them than I am about them not speaking English. I put myself in their shoes and think how scary this time must be for them.

Bilingual RNs will replace all of you.

LOL, have you guys ever assumed that an RN spoke spanish because they looked Hispanic. This poor guy in ICU would always get the Hispanic patients and was confused as why.

I have also encountered people who were fluent in Spanish and would REFUSE to speak it because there was no pay diff ("Hell no I can't translate. I don't get paid to interpet.")

I have also encountered people who were fluent in Spanish and would REFUSE to speak it because there was no pay diff ("Hell no I can't translate. I don't get paid to interpet.")

Great attitude. They must be sweathearts to work with. :rolleyes:

Great attitude. They must be sweathearts to work with. :rolleyes:

It is a great attitude. With all the extra duties they're piling on, and all the resources they're taking away, why should this nurse add yet another job title and not be at least minimally compensated for it?

It is a great attitude. With all the extra duties they're piling on, and all the resources they're taking away, why should this nurse add yet another job title and not be at least minimally compensated for it?

I dunno, maybe because a patient might not get the care that he or she needs if they don't? But what the heck, why care about what the patient needs, right? It's definitely more important to get paid an extra buck or two than to take five minutes to translate.

Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

What irks me is that the masters program I want to get into gives preference to those that speak Spanish...so I have to learn a second language in my own home country to accommodate to those that refuse to learn the language of a foreign country that they are benefiting from. I am not against foreigners, I have several friends from other countries, some that still have thick accents, but they still speak English. Yes, maybe they tried but failed; but some of these people do not even have a little bit of English to get you by and I end up looking like a monkey try to explain the most basic things.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i dunno, maybe because a patient might not get the care that he or she needs if they don't? but what the heck, why care about what the patient needs, right? it's definitely more important to get paid an extra buck or two than to take five minutes to translate.

dh's first language was spanish and he often gets asked to translate. he takes time away from his assignment to go help someone else attempt to converse with her patient -- and often it's nothing more earth shattering than the patient wanted eggs instead of cereal for breakfast. or they're throwing an absolute fit because they want real coke instead of diet coke and they want it now! meanwhile he's getting behind in his work while trying to satisfy a patient who often understands english perfectly well whether or not they're willing to speak it. now assume that happens four or five times a shift for five minutes (and it's never just five minutes) -- dh may be half an hour late with his charting at the end of his shift. or his meds will be late. or whatever. not only does he get no extra compensation for that, but he won't get overtime for the charting. and somehow, the nurses who need the translation don't step up and take out an art line or start an iv while he's off trying to translate their patient's demands.

it's not nearly as much about "patient needs" as it is about "patient convenience." as dh and his siblings have told me often, if you live in this country, you need to speak english. not to speak english is just lazy and rude. i once heard him telling a patient (in english) "i don't care if you want real eggs instead of artificial. this is on your diet, that isn't. and if you want to argue about it, speak english. if you don't want to speak english, bring in someone to translate for you because i have too much to do to keep coming here because you're screaming in spanish and scaring the nurse." miraculously, the patient instantly discovered a fair command of the english language.

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