anyone who works with a foreigner registered nurse?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

I work with a few IENs (internationally educated nurses, a.k.a. 'foreign nurses'). In my opinion they all read, write and speak the English language with good proficiency.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

I work with a few and most are great and I have no issues with them what so ever. One nurse I work with has an extremely heavy accent. I can't fault her for this, but then on top of it she mumbles, tries to yell something to you from across the unit, talks with her mouth full, or looks down when she's talking to you. This takes an accent that would be doable, and makes her impossible to understand. If you have an accent, please speak slowly, as clearly as possible and look at the person you're speaking too. Heck, everyone should do this regardless of accents.

NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

I couldn't help laughing about the above comment "if you have an accent...." Because to anyone with an accent, YOU are the one with the accent, not them.

I agree though. If you feel like people are asking you "what?" all the time, then speaking slowly is better.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jul 30, 2013

I have personal experience working in multi-cultural environments. There are significant issues with failure to understand heavily accented English. This can be especially problematic in situations when the two (non-native English speakers) individuals have different primary languages - difficulty is ramped up if it's a phone conversation rather than face-to-face. It has very real and serious repercussions for patient safety.

I applaud the OP's awareness and effort to overcome problems related to speaking with an accent.

motherof3sons · Jul 30, 2013

I work with an excellent RN that is Japanese and her accent is more difficult to understand when she talks fast. She works very hard at talking more slowly....we joke about it....she often says "I don't talk good" and I come back with "I don't listen fast enough". So speak slowly, and look at people when you talk. You will be fine.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

Another thing that might be good to do is look into what phrases are used in English that aren't translated literally. I remember telling the Chinese NP that my patient was, "balling her eyes out" and she almost put in for an ophthalmology consult for exophthalmos. When I explained to her what I meant and the consult was canceled we had a good laugh. I'm more careful with what expressions I use now.

sssT · Jul 30, 2013

I recently moved from the west coast to the south and I can understand my coworkers from Mexico, Tibet, and Kenya better than I can understand those who are US born and have heavy southern accents!

BloomNurseRN, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

I have worked in healthcare for 10+ years and worked with MANY ESL physicians and nurses. I think one of the best things to do is understand that it may be more difficult for people to understand you (which you seem to already recognize) and to make accommodations for that. Not speaking quickly, making sure you're looking directly at someone as you speak, and asking questions when things aren't understood are excellent ways to help communication. I graduated with a woman who was ESL from China and when a phrase didn't make sense she was very careful to ask about it and make sure she understood it before moving on. She wanted to make sure she was communicating as best as possible.

I also think reading and speaking as much as possible in English for an extended period of time is helpful. My friend in nursing school would speak and write medical words in English, then in Chinese, and then in English again. She wanted to make sure she really understood what was being said and that she was absorbing it. Yes, not being native and struggling with English may make things more difficult for you but it sounds like you care very much about doing the best possible and that's a GREAT step in the right direction. Good luck!

BloomNurseRN, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2013

Another thing that might be good to do is look into what phrases are used in English that aren't translated literally. I remember telling the Chinese NP that my patient was, "balling her eyes out" and she almost put in for an ophthalmology consult for exophthalmos. When I explained to her what I meant and the consult was canceled we had a good laugh. I'm more careful with what expressions I use now.

Excellent point! I graduated with a woman from China who she asked about several phrases during nursing school that we just found hilarious. One of them was "dropping a deuce". Someone said that in passing (vulgar I know but I'm not the one that said it - LOL) and another one of my good friends could barely keep a straight face as she tried to interpret that phrase for her. She got a good laugh out of it though and never hesitated to ask about other phrases.

sarahlee23, LPN · Jul 31, 2013

I worked with a nurse who was from Korea for awhile. She spoke English well, but when she first started working she struggled with the charting. As she gained experience and got better with written English, her charting improved quite a bit. She was always asking questions, writing things down, and looking things up so that she could improve her English. I never had trouble understanding her, and neither did the residents we cared for. The only time we had an issue with someone having trouble understanding her was the first time she had to call the on-call MD, but fortunately the MD that night was very patient with her.