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.

[pedsmariposa]

Hi All-

What a lot of varied responses..I truly had no idea this was such a "hot" topic. Nor that there was so much seeming resentment - both ways???

I am bilingual and worked in Southern CA with a patient population that was MAINLY Spanish - speaking. I did most of the translation for the physicians, other RN's, patients (yes even when they were not mine), families of pts, the PNP. I did NOT get extra $$ for it. I even had physicians from other units come and have me translate.

I do feel there should be a pay differential - it's another skill after all.

I actually felt very good about being able to communicate with my patients/families and they in turn were so very appreciative.

So - bottom line - I guess I felt lucky to be able to communicate and help others to do so.

I agree - we all bring varied levels of skills to the table and in order to work as a team we all contribute.

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

I'm going to judge them with a "you're in America, learn English" attitude??

Not me. I'm going to do my best to get them through the injuries.

But when they are in the hospital, it's not time for me to judge them for not knowing English by making it difficult for them or myself.

The above part of your response surprised me.

I, too, do my best for my patients. I do my best to make things better for them, not more difficult.

The fact that I get frustrated with pts who do not try to learn english, in no way indicates otherwise.

Yo hablo poquito espanol.

i.e.-

Me llamo XXXXX, yo soy la emfermera de usted esta hoy/noche.

Tienes dolor? Donde? Es su dolor poquito o grande? Nessesita medicina por dolor?

Su azucar es muy alta- nessestia insulina.

Nessesita el pato/agua/comida?

No plantanos, no papas, no anranjado (wrong orange) para los patientes con dialysis.

Su pression es muy alta. Nessesita medicina para su pression.

Respira profundo, por favor.

El telefono por usted- esta su esposo/mija/mijo/tia/abuela- etc.

I don't speak or write spanish very well, but I do make an effort. I'd be very appreciative if pts would all do the same.

[EmmaG, RN]

I recently cared for a Spanish-speaking patient who knew I could not speak his language. He would speak to me in Spanish, then become angry that I couldn't understand him. When I'd dial the interpreter phone, he'd just roll his eyes, yell, and wave me off. Fine. I simply walked out of the room. I figured if it was important enough, he'd pick up the phone. But it was frustrating.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I recently cared for a Spanish-speaking patient who knew I could not speak his language. He would speak to me in Spanish, then become angry that I couldn't understand him. When I'd dial the interpreter phone, he'd just roll his eyes, yell, and wave me off. Fine. I simply walked out of the room. I figured if it was important enough, he'd pick up the phone. But it was frustrating.

Now, see, in his case, he needed to take responsibility for himself to at least try!! If a person is cognitive, and is aware that he is basically in the hands of a facility where the majority of employees speak another language, he either should have taken advantage of an interpeter, or take the time to learn the language...period. I would have walked off, eventually as well.:angryfire

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I had a patient today who spoke fluent Spanish, and I had to (again) call an interpeter. This time, it took over 20 minutes to get someone on the line that was able to help me. I went over all of the medications, dosages, possible side effects, times and what they were for. Must have been at least 12 meds. After I went through all of them, the patient then asked if I can write them down. I asked the interpeter if there was someone at his home or a neighbor that would be able to read it for him or to re-write it for him in Spanish, and the guy tells the interpeter that I should be able to write it down for him in Spanish. Now, come on...sorry...that PISSED ME OFF.

[truern]

Whew!! What a hot topic!!

Babblefish.com

Works great when you just don't know the language :)

[WindyhillBSN]

I am also bi-lingual, my first language is English. It took 2 years of work and embarrasment to learn Spanish, and after 7 years I'm still learning. Translating is a big responsibility and a skill. I don't mind doing it, but I think I and others who are bi-lingual should get paid for what we do. It's just not fair.

[jojotoo, RN]

Do you know exactly how hard it is for people from Latin America to 'apply for legal citizenshp'? It is not an easy, short, nor cheap process, and it is much different than the one my ancestors who came here from Germany went through at Ellis Island.

My husband came here illegally from Mexico (and this is not a secret - we have filed paperwork with ICE) and more than five years after being married to me - a US citizen - he is still considered an illegal immigrant. If it is that hard for him - who is married to me, owns property, has paid his taxes, and speaks English, and has never used one cent of your tax dollars - can you put yourself in the shoes of someone who doesn't have any of those advantages? Can you? Will you?

I'm not asking anyone here to be a bleeding heart or to agree with me. But conversely, do not attempt to judge these people for doing what for them, in their situation, may be the best (or only) option available.

To the OP - I am bilingual. And I do get pulled to interpret sometimes, but it is usually only in an emergency that I drop what I'm doing to interpret. And it's only on my unit. If it's not emergent and someone asks me to interpret for them, I tell them, "If you'll go do XYZ for me, that would give me time to go talk to your patient." If they can't do that, I don't go interpret. Usually the message gets across.

We do get bilingual pay at our facility after passing an oral & written exam, but I haven't done it simply because I don't feel like taking the test.

My personal feeling is this: people do need to make an effort to learn English. But how do I know that they are not making their best effort to do just that? And is being in the hospital the time for me to tell them they should learn English, since they are, after all, on my turf?

Tell that to the Cherokees.

Yes, a century ago the immigration process was easier. If it's harder now for Spanish speaking immigrants, it's also harder for English speaking immigrants.

Your husband is considered an illegal alien - because he is! That's by your own words. I'm sure you love him very much. As do the spouses and children of other illegal aliens. I too married a national of another country. But instead of him coming here, I went to live in his country. And I had to jump through a whole bunch of hoops to be a legal resident there.

And as far as the Cherokees. They didn't speak English and they were displaced by another culture. The Cherokee Nation were not the first people on this land mass. I wonder who THEY displaced, and what language those people spoke. (And I am of mixed heritage - partly Cherokee.)

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

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.

.

so you think i should learn to speak spanish to talk to my non-english speaking patients who have been in this country for 49 years and still haven't learned to speak english. (my spanish-speaking mother-in-law brags that she never has to speak english -- she just goes to the mexican market, the puerto rican dry cleaner, the cuban physician and the nicaraguan dentist. she does speak english -- when it's important enough to her!)

should i also learn to speak ukrainian for the little old man who had an mi while visiting his son who lives here? korean for the lady with the pe in the next bed? mandarin for the man in 2a or cantonese for the woman in the next bed? (someone put them in the same room because "they both speak chinese.") should i learn to speak german for the cleaning lady who understands english but cannot speak it? tagolog so i can communicate with the lab personnel who don't seem to speak english? iranian for the physician whose english is so poor we sometimes have to get his nurse to translate?

where do we draw the line?

i'm finding that it's only the spanish-speakers who expect us to accomodate them, and perhaps they need to learn to speak the language of the country they've chosen to live in.

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

I find it refreshing that many posters here are expressing their real feelings- and not being nauseatingly PC and phony, like so many people seem to be now days. There is nothing wrong with expecting every capable adult to take some personal responsiblity for themselves and their families. No one likes to deal with people who show no initiative and have a sense of entitlement.

Well, I suspect this thread will be closed soon.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

This has also been a hot topic on CNN, where they recently had several shows about situations such as this; people speaking Spanish and never taking the initiative to speak English.

As health care providers, this is a MAJOR challenge with the additional other burdens we have. I do go out of my way to try and get the telephone interpeters, or a live person (which is EVEN HARDER to obtain). However, I have to vent and say that this is very overwhelming to me. I have to wrestle with my conscience daily, because I wonder if my annoyance was clearly demonstrated by my non-verbal communication. I have seen some of them bring in school aged children to our clinic to interpet for them. How much of a burden is this to their kids, who have to miss school each time their loved one has to see the doctor? What if the family member has to be admitted to the ER? How will this child be accomodated?

Many of the Spanish speaking nurses are also highly frustrated by being called from their own work to help us, and few nurses go and do them a favor by helping them. I remember once, a Spanish clerk told a patient in Spanish to learn English. Sure, I grant you, that comment was highly inappropriate, but, I can understand how they feel as well.

I can appreciate a nurse that is venting here. What this shows me is that we are frustrated because these situations are clearly not always within our control, even under the best of circumstances. Most of us wish we can do more, but are limited. Mandating us who live here to learn Spanish is not the answer, either. It takes a great deal of time to actually master a language efficent enough to meet the high demands of our already stressful jobs? Why should I, who lived here all of my life suddenly be made to speak another language at the age of 43 or worry about losing the job I worked so hard to remain at?

We HAVE to place some of the responsibility on the patient. If they wish to function here safely, they should make an attempt to learn the language. We CANNOT do everything for them.

[SharonH, RN]

i'm finding that it's only the spanish-speakers who expect us to accomodate them, and perhaps they need to learn to speak the language of the country they've chosen to live in.

historically the first wave of immigrants into a country do not learn to speak english; they tended to stay within their own communities so they can maintain their own cultural traditions, speak their native language etc. they chose not to learn the language or even the customs of this country. despite the assurances of so many on this board that their ancestors bucked the trend and did everything possible to assimilate and learn the language, that was not always the case thus communities like little italy, chinatown, germantown, little poland etc. it's usually the second generation who become more "american" and there is no reason to think that it will not happen with recent hispanic immigrants.