Do you get extra work cause your bilingual?

[CyndieRN2007]

I always have to deal with my patients, +plus other nurses patients because most of our patients are spanish speaking. This gives me extra work and puts me behind. It takes away from time I could be charting and dealing with my own work I could be doing.

Due to the demograhics of the population were I work, I think it should be mandatory for the nurses to take at least a medical spanish class. I dont want to open the can of worms of immigration/non english speaking people. Im just venting. Thanks for listening.

[APBT mom, LPN, RN]

I don't necessarily think that the nurses should learn to speak Spanish. I use to work at a doctor's office where 80% of the patients spoke Spanish. Most did speak English but knowing that I was the only one who spoke English they would constantly speak Spanish to me. I would have to go and get someone to translate for me but there were times where the girl fron Cuba and the girl from Puerto Rico would both be trying to translate aother type of Spanish because just like different parts of this country have different meaning for words so do people who speak Spanish. The major hospitals in my area have a number that you can call and they will translate for you. This is not only for Spanish but just about every language spoken. It works the same way that they use for people who are deaf. Maybe there is something similar that your hospital could use for patients who can't speak English.

[MNmom3boys]

As a student, we knew the day before which patient(s) we would be caring for the next day making the following easier:

I carry a small Spanish medical phrase booklet, and you can be darn sure when I had a deaf patient I went home and brushed up on my ASL. (American SIgn Language)

So, to answer the OP I think that there are certainly times when I create extra work for the bilingual nurses (Spanish and Russian) But, I have attempted to not be dependant on them. There are many other options also available - ie phrase books, language lines, keys phrases on patient's white board, utilizing the family, cop (!) for non-privacy laden issues.

However, as someone else indicated there does need to be a give and take: if extra assistance is needed, I think some should be offered!

ETA - one patient had an interpreter provided during therapy, so we worked real hard to get other questions dealt with during that time as well (While waiting for OT to arrive - not during session!)

[anonymurse]

There are so many idioms and nuances of inflection that can change the meaning of a phrase that I refuse to learn a smattering of Spanish or any other language just for the convenience of not having to dig up a translation phone set. If I want an order, do I wing it myself or page however many doctors it takes to get the order, however long the wait? Same deal here. Speaking a language that's not native to me is outside my scope of practice, and I refuse to endanger my patients and my license by showing off where lawyers fear to tread.

[LydiaNN]

I agree 100%. I'm an aide on med surg in a small community hospital so we don't have much of a Latino population but it has surged in the past couple of years. Because none of the nurses or aides speak spanish, and I had taken 3 years in hs I went to the local cc and took a medical spanish course. I am still the only one who is able to translate. I don't have the problem that you do since I'm an aide, but I do get called at all hours at times being asked to come in to translate a new admit. I don't mind - it's extra money BUT I think I should get premium pay for getting out of bed at 0300. That falls on deaf ears.

It would be well worth it to have the hospital send it's nurses to a spanish class for medical professionals. If you're having such a large population it's likely that they won't lose their speaking ability - you know, use it or lose it.

I think it would be hard for the hospital to make it mandatory. Some people are of the thinking that if they're here they need to speak the language. I don't think that way - afterall, my great grandparents emigrated from Germany and didn't speak english.

Maybe try to talk management into a small incentive for those who take the class or offer their services? Maybe a small bonus every year or a small hourly raise. I know that will probably fall on deaf ears too.

I agree that it would be hard, if not impossible, for a hospital to make learning medical Spanish mandatory. In the first place, if they did it for Spanish speakers, why wouldn't they have to do it for Vietnamese (or whatever other language may be common in a given area) patients? In the second place, what would you do with the outstanding nurses who were just unable to grasp the second language? I also took Spanish in high school, but I never had an ear for it and I know it would be even harder for me to learn now than it was then. So, what, I'm going to get fired??? In the third place, hospitals should have the medical interpreters required by law available to explain medical procedures and yes, patients who don't speak English should just have to be a bit inconvenienced by having to find their own translators for information that isn't medical! Is nobody accountable for anything any more? Sure, your grandparents didn't speak English when they got here, but did they actually expect everyone else to drop what they were doing to provide services in English, or did they use the resources they had until they learned English?

[Crux1024]

Im surprised at the "anger" and lack of compassion for people that dont speak English. While I agree they should try and learn, if it hasnt been achieved, yes people that speak all languages should try and be accomodated, so that way informed decisions can be made and so forth.

My hospital has an "Offical List" of translators, that you are supposed to call and ask for help if you need it and a wide variety of languages are covered, including ASL. Realistically though, it takes a long time for them to show up and until then you are on your own. We also have the cyraphones for translations available on all units.

Also, since there is no extra pay involved (at my facility), ALOT of people will flat out, just refuse to translate. They offer a "spanish for medical workers class" free of charge also, you just have to take the time to do it.

[meri29]

I think the hospitals should provide more QUALIFIED interpreters (human ones - not language line) whose only job is to interpret. My learning a little medical spanish does not qualify me to admit a pt or explain POC or side effects of medications. My other vent is that language line is slow, and often the phones do not work well. It is very difficult for me to admit a multip spanish pt, who's 6cm on admission, and going natural before all of our forms and consents are signed. Not to mention how this can impede actual pt care. Very often, we are back-charting after delivery....

[MelodyNelson, LVN]

That isn't a can of worms...it is a can of ASPs.

Only Spanish I acknowledge is um...potto...um...caca...

So we don't force them to learn English, you want to force ME to speak a language I HATE???????

UM..if I want to learn Spanish I WILL MOVE TO MEXICO....gracias

I am sorry, but you sound full of prejudice. I thought nurses were supposed to take cultural diversity classes to learn to respect those that are different to us, and to be compassionate and to put the needs of our patients first.

If our patients need someone who speaks Spanish, that is what they should get, as communication is one of the six principles of care.

For the record, I speak 6 languages, and Spanish is my first language, and it is extremely helpful.

So what if it takes some time for me to go and check on someone else's patients? I am making someone feel good and understood. In the end that is all that matters.

[ragingmomster, BSN, MSN, RN]

To the OP...

Please take the time and bounce some polite phrases off people that you trust, in other words learn how to say NO.

I found myself in this position about 2 years ago. My Spanish is very limited and my verbs stink and I found myself pulled into translating situations that could be dangerous. Not only to my co-workers patients but to me and my own patients.

I have stoped offering to try to translate anything, and will ask a co-worker to be specific if he/she has a short question. Sometimes I help, sometimes I tell them I have to care for my patients and cannot, so an interpreter or the language line will have to be called.

I am also careful to always either BE busy or LOOK busy

[LydiaNN]

Im surprised at the "anger" and lack of compassion for people that dont speak English. While I agree they should try and learn, if it hasnt been achieved, yes people that speak all languages should try and be accomodated, so that way informed decisions can be made and so forth.

My hospital has an "Offical List" of translators, that you are supposed to call and ask for help if you need it and a wide variety of languages are covered, including ASL. Realistically though, it takes a long time for them to show up and until then you are on your own. We also have the cyraphones for translations available on all units.

Also, since there is no extra pay involved (at my facility), ALOT of people will flat out, just refuse to translate. They offer a "spanish for medical workers class" free of charge also, you just have to take the time to do it.

I didn't say that I don't think patients have the right to make informed decisions. Of course they do. That's why there are laws requiring hospitals to provide these patients with trained interpreters.

As we all know, anything is available if the price is right. Why should I be expected to try to master a language that I don't understand, just to save a facility the $ it would cost to keep official interpreters on the payroll? I pity the patient that I would try to translate for, because I just don't understand the nuances of Spanish well enough to do an accurate job. and as far as "just taking the time to do it", just how far over backwards are nurses supposed to be willing to bend? Lots of them are already working 12 hour shifts with mandated OT, and it's considered reasonable to expect them to sit through a class instead of going home and spending time with their own families?

[donsterRN, ASN, BSN]

I certainly do not support the idea that nurses should be required to learn another language; passing English the first time is challenge enough! But I, too, wonder about the negativity shown to clients who do not speak our language. Isn't it our responsibility as nurses to find ways to communicate with all of our clients? Communication is so much a part of what our role and responsibility is. If that means devising new ways to get our messages across to people who do not understand, then isn't that what we should do? Finding someone to interpret, using books and pictures, and sometimes even learning a few phrases in another language, are all methods we can employ to do just that.

[LydiaNN]

I certainly do not support the idea that nurses should be required to learn another language; passing English the first time is challenge enough! But I, too, wonder about the negativity shown to clients who do not speak our language. Isn't it our responsibility as nurses to find ways to communicate with all of our clients? Communication is so much a part of what our role and responsibility is. If that means devising new ways to get our messages across to people who do not understand, then isn't that what we should do? Finding someone to interpret, using books and pictures, and sometimes even learning a few phrases in another language, are all methods we can employ to do just that.

I guess I have to disagree with the idea that anyone is saying we shouldn't try to communicate with patients to the best of our ability. It isn't that I'd turn my back and walk away from a Spanish speaker. I'd use the methods you suggest to find out what they need and how I can help, and have, in fact, done that many, many times.

I thought we were talking specifically about medical interpretation, though. I understood the OP to be expressing frustration at being expected to continue all her own duties while also providing a service which the hospital or facility is required by law to provide. IMHO, using a staff member that is already stretched thin and making no accommodations for the time and effort that this requires, does a disservice not only to the nurse, but to patients as well.

I still maintain that it is not unreasonable to expect speakers of any foreign language to also make some effort towards being understood. Of course, if they're rushed to the ER without warning, they wouldn't have time to bring someone along to help them understand the questions they're being asked and ensure that their needs are understood. OTOH, if an appointment is more routine, I do think that patients have some responsibility for bridging the language barrier by trying to learn some basic English or asking a friend or family member for help.

Bottom line, the OP is providing an essential service to her facility. It is bad enough that she isn't being paid extra for it, but in effect, she is being penalized by the fact that her own workload isn't being reduced to reflect the time she spends doing this.

[donsterRN, ASN, BSN]

I do understand and agree with what you are saying. I think I missed something in the OP's message about the expectation of her availability, etc.

I was more concerned with the post showing a particular disdain for those people who do not speak or wish to speak our language.

I do not disagree with your post; you speak much more eloquently than I do! And it's wonderful to see you here.