Bi-lingual nurses, more pay?

elizabells, BSN, RN · Jun 20, 2008

Not in NYC. Our hospital uses a phone translation service at night, which is so incredibly stupid for a city with so many languages, and a neighborhood that's overwhelmingly Spanish speaking. You just always hope there's a nurse on who speaks your pt's language and isn't too busy to help out. But no, they don't get paid any extra.

WindyhillBSN · Jun 20, 2008

I wish, we certainly deserve it. I wish there was a foreign language speakers union. At one hospital that I know about, they pay .50 extra cents only if you get certified.

Faby · Jun 20, 2008

Is anyone here a bi-lingual nurse? Do you get paid extra for speaking two languages? If so by how much? I know it might depend on your area.

What? I don't. but if you know where, just let me know I'm fluent in 3 languages Spanish, English and Italian), and can understand other two(Portugese and French) Could you imagine how much money I could make?

Faby.

ONCRN84 · Jun 20, 2008

I know ours get paid more per month, but it's not that much.

smoke over fire · Jun 20, 2008

I work in Southern California and get .375 per hour up to 80 hours every two weeks for being bilingual in Spanish & English. Currently it is only for Spanish speakers, there is a test where you actually have a conversation on the phone with someone about medical conditions, how to take medications, etc. It's about 20 minutes and it covers basic conditions such as diabetes. There is another program where you get much more if you are certified as a healthcare translator. In that program there are several languages that are covered and I believe you must be reachable by phone during your work hours.

ProLogic · Jun 20, 2008

I take it you have to be certified then. I speak Spanish but not exactly fluently. I can hold a conversation.. I just can't speak professionally in Spanish. Never too late to take a Spanish course

smoke over fire · Jun 20, 2008

Well I learned a lot of vocabulary by taking home the Spanish teaching booklets. It was fun going around trying to pronounce 'Papanicolau'. Of course I had someone to critique me.

BlueRidgeHomeRN · Jun 20, 2008

in florida, there may not always be a pay differental, but it's a huge help in getting a job, especially in home health, case management, dialysis--out of hospital areas where it's tough to get a tranlater.

Mexarican · Jun 20, 2008

Where i am doing my externship the bilingual nurses will not translate because the hospital pays for interpretors to be on staff but they never staff enough for the hospital so staff doesn't want to enable the hospital to continue that practice plus they don't pay extra for bilingual nurses.

Mex

CHATSDALE · Jun 20, 2008

we had a nurse who could speak french and spanish but she was only literate in english,, she could speak to the acadian patients and i know that they felt better talking to her because even if they could speak a reasonable amount of english they would think in french and therefore could express themselves better

however, i know this is an old horse but you do not find many people who are no bilingual because the schools taught english and encouraged french to be spoken only at home

BlueEyedRN · Jun 20, 2008

They should get paid more. Translating is crazy important. I had a patient once who didn't speak a work of English and I didn't speak a word of Spanish and I was supposed to educate him on his newly diagnosed diabetes, give him a vial of insulin and discharge him at 7 pm on a Friday. He couldn't go to the clinic for more education until Monday. I was scared ****less. If I communicated something wrong, he could easily kill himself. Our CNA was bilingual and I asked her to help me and we spent about 2 hours in there (I had never done this teaching before--this was ICU!) He'd spent a little time with the diabetes educator, but I still wanted to make very sure that he understood. If I didn't have her to do this with me, I totally wouldn't have let him leave the hospital. Afterwards, the CNA got in trouble for neglecting her duties (one of the nurses had to check a blood sugar by herself!!!!--the CNA told me she wouldn't translate for a lot of the nurses we worked with because they were witches) and I got in trouble for using her to translate because she was a CNA and wouldn't understand the right way to say things. There was no way this could have been done over the phone and none of the other nurses spoke Spanish. What did they expect me to do? Muy muy importante to um pay attention to signs of low blood sugar. Muy malo. Understand? Teaching done! I was so steamed. We had one translator in the whole hospital who got off work at 4 pm. And this was in Phoenix, AZ.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. None of the nurses I know who speak other languages get paid extra, but the hospital did tell me that they would pay for me to take spanish classes.