Major Vent

Nurses Safety

Published

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?

My father and grandmother immigrated to this country in the 50s from Germany. They both spoke English fluently with no trace of an accent at all. Now if they can do it why can't everyone else? I tend to agree with the other posters who said they make it too easy these days NOT to learn English.

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

In Australian hospitals staff who speak someone else's language are not allowed to translate. We are supposed to use official translators but they cost too much and you can't get hold of them via phone, so what are we supposed to do as nurses when a patient is screaming (and I do mean screaming in a loud voice) and we don't know what is wrong? Usually it is a simple request but they could be in pain, could be having an MI - who knows, because we certainly don't!

When people come in for pre-anaesthetic appointments/surgery, only official translators are allowed to be used (for legal reasons). But after the translator leaves, the patient/s and their families (who don't speak ANY English either let alone basic words) think of more questions and we are stuck once again. What can we do to to fix this problem if people refuse to learn any English? Do they think that we can all speak basic Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, Greek, Italian, whatever? A translator told me one patient said we should all learn the basics for every major language in Australia, ie: Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Arabic. I said 'No way hose, you speak our language when you are around us!' He was not happy to say the least!

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Specializes in Surgical, quality,management.

In my area of Melbourne there is a LARGE Greek and Italian population and it is amazing how many of them refuse to speak the English they have because they are embarassed. They wait until their family comes in and their son or daughter will come up to me and say "you asked Mum/Dad if she would go for a walk? She would like to."

That was 2 hrs ago when I had the time. For the love of pete I'm sure Mum/Dad could of nodded their head and I would of understood. We have a few frequent flyers that could 'speak' very little English when they started presenting to the hospital but they soon realise they will get better care if they use what English they have.

I had to put an NGT down someone who had no English! Fun times but they knew what it was, had loads of them down. Just got out the equipment and he nodded and mimed for a drink to sip on while it went down!

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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.

well, it might surprise you to know that i agree with everything you said. but, it really has nothing to do with what i was trying to convey in my post.

what i saw in the post that i replied to, was an "attitude" of some nurses to refuse to help in situations where there was truly a need. granted, i was making the assumptions that the patients involved truly spoke no english and interpreting would be necessary to give care, not because the patients were being difficult. i made those assumptions out of necessity because the op didn't elaborate. in a case like this, i don't see it as any different from helping other patients with any other need. most of us help our fellow nurses with all kinds of things that take away from our own assignments, and they, in turn, help us. in your scenario where nurses aren't helping your husband, that is a separate issue that should be dealt with.

the patient you describe, to me, is no different than any other patient who chooses to be difficult except that he was choosing to use language as his "weapon." these kinds of patients need to be dealt with appropriately, and it sounds like your husband did that.

as for the people in this country who don't speak english, well, i really don't even want to get started because it just makes me angry. i'll just say that i totally agree with you and leave it at that.

however, i do feel that we need to do what is necessary to care for those patients who truly cannot speak any english when they come to us because our primary job is to care for their health in that moment. their lack of speaking english could be part of discharge planning when they are well enough to address it.

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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.

Right because there are no other resources to utilize other than this one nurse who must now leave his or her patients to deal with someone else's patient who would too inconvenienced to call a translator or use a language line.

Who cares about their patient load? This nurse should do the job of the translator without compensation because it's selfish of a nurse to reject taking on the responsibilities of another department who the hospital is willing to pay a yearly salary to.

Not to mention that if one hasn't been trained, or able to verify prior to taking on translation duties, that one is indeed fluent and is well versed in medical terminology (of that language), there could be legal implications. In fact, I would be willing to bet money that there ARE legal implications for acting in the capacity of an official translator when one is not an "official" translator.

But screw that, he shouldn't be compensated and should potentially risk his career to save the hospital a few bucks.

Nurses will continue to be poorly compensated and mistreated by their employers as long as they keep acting like doormats. There is nothing wrong with expecting compensation for taking on an entire new job in addition to the one you currently have.

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Specializes in LTC.
Nurses will continue to be poorly compensated and mistreated by their employers as long as they keep acting like doormats. There is nothing wrong with expecting compensation for taking on an entire new job in addition to the one you currently have.

Compensated for translating??? Are you kidding??? That's right up there with Bristol Palin being a teenager's role model. laugh3.gif (go ahead, delete it)

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
well, it might surprise you to know that i agree with everything you said. but, it really has nothing to do with what i was trying to convey in my post.

as for the people in this country who don't speak english, well, i really don't even want to get started because it just makes me angry. i'll just say that i totally agree with you and leave it at that.

however, i do feel that we need to do what is necessary to care for those patients who truly cannot speak any english when they come to us because our primary job is to care for their health in that moment. their lack of speaking english could be part of discharge planning when they are well enough to address it.

it does surprise me to know that you agree with everything i said! it may surprise you to know that i also feel we need to do what is necessary to care for patients who truly cannot speak or understand any english . . . what is necessary for their health care. i lack patience for trying to communicate things like "your doctor ordered a carb controlled diet; you can't have pudding" or "you cannot smoke in the bathroom" more than three or four times, even if the patient speaks no english. that may be a flaw in my character. i'll bend over backwards to find a translator for things like "you need a valve replacement" or "what would you like us to do if dad's heart stops?" or "you had a sternal incision, so don't use your arms to pull yourself up".

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Right because there are no other resources to utilize other than this one nurse who must now leave his or her patients to deal with someone else's patient who would too inconvenienced to call a translator or use a language line.

Who cares about their patient load? This nurse should do the job of the translator without compensation because it's selfish of a nurse to reject taking on the responsibilities of another department who the hospital is willing to pay a yearly salary to.

Not to mention that if one hasn't been trained, or able to verify prior to taking on translation duties, that one is indeed fluent and is well versed in medical terminology (of that language), there could be legal implications. In fact, I would be willing to bet money that there ARE legal implications for acting in the capacity of an official translator when one is not an "official" translator.

But screw that, he shouldn't be compensated and should potentially risk his career to save the hospital a few bucks.

Nurses will continue to be poorly compensated and mistreated by their employers as long as they keep acting like doormats. There is nothing wrong with expecting compensation for taking on an entire new job in addition to the one you currently have.

see post #75

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see post #75

Right. It starts with the urgent situations (and I agree if it's urgent and there's no time to call the translator, those who can speak the language should help. HOWEVER, you did not address the legal risks. If the patient claimed any sort of miscommunication, the nurse has just assumed A BIG, possibly career ending, liability. Not worth it. Translators will respond quickly if you tell them it's dire.) then it progresses to issues that need to be dealt with in timely matter, then it goes to "Well, you did it for so and so, why are you refusing now? Then, you get complaints and write ups for "not being a team player."

And, when you demand more money for taking on an additional job, you get accused of being selfish and a "bad nurse" and someone with a bad attitude....

Yeah. You give an inch, they'll take a mile and will not pay for the gas.

(Also, in emergent situations, the nurse should only provide reassurance, imo, but should never involve themselves in obtaining verbal consent or being responsible for translating risks/benefits and procedures. The person who is trained and sanctioned by the hospital as being qualified for that should be doing it. "Helping" out should not result in the suspension or revocation of one's license. Period.

I'm a team player, but I'm not breaking the law, practicing outside my scope of practice or deviating from hospital policy so people won't think that I'm not a "team player."

But honestly, if I spoke spanish, I'd go tell someone's patient that they couldn't smoke or have caffeine or whatever. I'd still be ****** when I started doing that for EVERYBODY. And, once you've started, it's hard to stop.

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it does surprise me to know that you agree with everything i said! it may surprise you to know that i also feel we need to do what is necessary to care for patients who truly cannot speak or understand any english . . . what is necessary for their health care. i lack patience for trying to communicate things like "your doctor ordered a carb controlled diet; you can't have pudding" or "you cannot smoke in the bathroom" more than three or four times, even if the patient speaks no english. that may be a flaw in my character. i'll bend over backwards to find a translator for things like "you need a valve replacement" or "what would you like us to do if dad's heart stops?" or "you had a sternal incision, so don't use your arms to pull yourself up".

i figured you'd agree once i elaborated a bit. ;)

when it comes right down to it, i think most nurses would do whatever it takes to get their patients actual needs met, but we all get frustrated with the bs. it's understandable when some patients are so demanding and we have so little time to get everything done.

it's also frustrating when you work with nurses who refuse to get off their behinds to help with anything that doesn't involve their own patients, and sometimes not even then. so while i truly understand what it's like to have more responsibility piled on for no more compensation, i also believe--and this is not as a result of anything that you said--that it's short-sighted to ignore a patient's needs when it might result in poor care.

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Right. It starts with the urgent situations (and I agree if it's urgent and there's no time to call the translator, those who can speak the language should help. HOWEVER, you did not address the legal risks. If the patient claimed any sort of miscommunication, the nurse has just assumed A BIG, possibly career ending, liability. Not worth it. Translators will respond quickly if you tell them it's dire.) then it progresses to issues that need to be dealt with in timely matter, then it goes to "Well, you did it for so and so, why are you refusing now? Then, you get complaints and write ups for "not being a team player."

And, when you demand more money for taking on an additional job, you get accused of being selfish and a "bad nurse" and someone with a bad attitude....

Yeah. You give an inch, they'll take a mile and will not pay for the gas.

(Also, in emergent situations, the nurse should only provide reassurance, imo, but should never involve themselves in obtaining verbal consent or being responsible for translating risks/benefits and procedures. The person who is trained and sanctioned by the hospital as being qualified for that should be doing it. "Helping" out should not result in the suspension or revocation of one's license. Period.

I'm a team player, but I'm not breaking the law, practicing outside my scope of practice or deviating from hospital policy so people won't think that I'm not a "team player."

whatever, see post #81

If you have any further problems with my opinions, have it your way. I've been involved in two separate threads on this same topic at the same time and I'm done with it.

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whatever, see post #81

If you have any further problems with my opinions, have it your way. I've been involved in two separate threads on this same topic at the same time and I'm done with it.

I'm sorry you are offended that I disagreed with you.

Good luck finding a place where no one thinks you may be wrong.

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