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.

[Adenium]

OK, I haven't figured out the quoting-other-posts thing yet, but...

I just wanted to say to CyndieRN that I understand where you're coming from - and in your case what you're asking for seems appropriate. I get more concerned when people want to apply that to all hospital environments, which of course have more diverse and quickly changing populations. Sorry, didn't mean to seem like I was jumping on you!

And ArwenU, yes I do realize Zimbabwe has a lot of English speakers. :) I lived there for a term in college and worked with a lot of folks in rural areas who spoke Shona only. So, while I appreciate people trying to learn English here, I also know very well what it's like to be in an unfamiliar place struggling to communicate. I didn't want people to think I'm just sitting in my isolated bubble saying "Everyone has to speak English because I do and it's really not that hard....." I try to see where people are coming from.

Anyways, this thread has gotten a little unwieldy so I'll bow out. Lots of good valid points have been put out there. Gracias, danke schon, merci beaucoup.

[EmmaG, RN]

For the most part we are... when it comes to reading comprehension/language skills. Our literacy rate is 99% but that's not great when you consider the fact that that makes us ranked at 21 along side a lot of other countries. (OMG thats a lot of thats... am I a hypocrite? HAHA... have you ever used a word so often it looks alien after a while?) And when we talk about 1% of the population, it represents aprox. 3,033,200 people that are illiterate.

Literacy Rate

US Population

IF

x=us pop

illiterate pop=.01 or 1%

y= total number of pop that is illit.

THEN

(x)(.01)=y

(303,319,958)(.01)=3,033,199.58

My calculations are far from perfect, but I was just trying to give a general idea. I'm actually interested in what [user]Emmanuel Goldstein[/user] has to say.

Eh?

[MQ Edna]

Eh?

Reading some other posts you seem to be up and up on statistics. That's all. I was wondering what your opinion was on the iliteracy rate in the US.

[TrudyRN]

Mixed feelings. Immigrants should try to learn English. But, would Jesus refuse to help someone who didn't speak Hebrew or Aramaic?

There should be extra pay for extra work. Also, the nurse who needs the translating could do something extra, maybe, to help the nurse who is pulled to translate for her.

If you hate immigrants and those who can't yet speak English, if you refuse to learn a few words of their languages, just picture yourself or your loved ones in their countries and no one there speaks English. And your loved one is sick and alone and in need of lifesaving medical care but no one is able to help or even willing to try.

To the one who lets herself be called out of bed for insufficient pay - just stop answering your phone. Period, amen.

The illegal immigrant, who is generally non-English speaking, has little time to go to class to learn English. These people usually work a very long day as gardeners, housekeepers, babysitters, roofers, other construction, agricultural, and factory workers, for pretty low pay. They are tired after working 10 or 12 or even just 8 hours, still have kids and home to care for, might be commuting long disances to work in sweltering fields or buildings, and also are fearful of being involved in certain classes, like classes.

Read "Mexifornia" to get a grasp of the illegal immigrant life. Also, "Huelga" by Cesar Chavez and "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. There is also a lot of literature on child labor, poverty, and related topics.

Yes, to those who get called to translate, just say no if you can't afford the time and/or you don't get paid enough or anything.

[EmmaG, RN]

Reading some other posts you seem to be up and up on statistics. That's all. I was wondering what your opinion was on the iliteracy rate in the US.

Oh, lol. I just read alot and look stuff up that interests me... I think that 99% is a bit inflated, though. You got the calculations right, according to that source, but keep in mind it says for population 15 years and older. So you wouldn't figure it on the total US population, but rather whatever it is above 15. Not sure how you'd find that out.

I'm going out here soon. I'll be back later; you've piqued my interest :)

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

mixed feelings. immigrants should try to learn english. but, would jesus refuse to help someone who didn't speak hebrew or aramaic?

(snip!)

the illegal immigrant, who is generally non-english speaking, has little time to go to class to learn english. these people usually work a very long day as gardeners, housekeepers, babysitters, roofers, other construction, agricultural, and factory workers, for pretty low pay. they are tired after working 10 or 12 or even just 8 hours, still have kids and home to care for, might be commuting long disances to work in sweltering fields or buildings, and also are fearful of being involved in certain classes, like classes.

.

i snipped a lot of your post, trudy, so i could reply to these two points.

first, i don't see anyone here advocating we not help patients who don't speak english. so i'm not sure what your first sentence is implying. have you seen nurses walk away from a patient because he or she didn't speak english?

walking away from a patient who does speak english but won't do it at this particular moment may well be something different.

and as far as illegal immigrants being too tired to learn english -- i don't feel particularly sorry for them. they chose to come to this country, and they chose to come here illegally. illegal is -- well, it's illegal.

and as far as legal immigrants being too tired to learn english, i fail to see how that is different from a nurse who is exhausted from working her 12 hour shifts, caring for small children or elderly parents and working overtime to support an eating habit or pay the mortgage being too tired to learn spanish. except that the nurse in question already speaks the language of the country in which he or she is living, and the immigrant has chosen to come to a country without learning the language.

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

and as far as illegal immigrants being too tired to learn english -- i don't feel particularly sorry for them. they chose to come to this country, and they chose to come here illegally. illegal is -- well, it's illegal.

for most of them, there is no line to get in to come here legally. i have seen it over and over in my work and it's not that cut and dry.

some other really good books to read:

enrique's journey by sonia nazario

the devil's highway by luis alberto urrea

with these hands by daniel rothenberg

coyotes by ted conover

all very easy to read, but if i had to pick just one, it would be the first. there are no easy answers, but it did a lot for me to put myself in that person's shoes.