I went to this hospital in Boston to see a friend of mine who just had a baby. In the room, there were 2 nurses talking and they had the tag on them that indicated that they were RNs.
They had a heavy accent and probably from Africa, they were speaking French between them for some reason. So my friend was out for a test and I was sitting in this chair in the room, I asked them where they were from and how long they have been in the states, etc.
I swear to god, I was not able to understand their responses. I mean, one of them have been in the US for over 10 years and I had to ask 3 times to understand what she was saying.
She saw me having hard time understanding, she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and wrote down what she meant. This is what she wrote (remember she is a RN)
Piliiz tel your frenid to full the form after she cames
Now, I can understand having an accent, but I mean how do these people pass NCLEX with this level of English?
Maybe NCLEX used to be much easier 10 years ago?
How does the US Govt allow all these foreign workers when thousands of nurses are unemployed? Or maybe there is abig nurse shortage that we can not see with our eyese? I am reading in other forums that lot of American nurses are working for less than $20/hr.
I sincerely understand that is very hard for you to see.
1. Because they have an accent they are not considered American.
2. Because they are black with an accent they are assumed to be from Africa.
3. Because they have an accent, they are unable to speak Standard English.
4. Because they are black, with an accent and knowledge of a second language, they are not American. Therefore they do not deserve their job. The white girl who is unable to speak a second language and says she is Amercan should have gotten the job instead. Even though she didnt apply for it.
I suppose the next step is to demand a birth certificate.
in reference to number 3, i believe the OP was referring to the nurse's inability to speak and write in a way that she could understand. the nurse's sentence written on paper as quoted by the OP was very unclear and didn't make much sense at all. the written word doesn't have an accent attached to it.
as for number 4, it seems like a reach to me. i believe the OP was saying that it's ridiculous for ANY person working in healthcare to be:
a) unable to write a simple comprehensive sentence with adherence to basic, widely taught and accepted American grammar (in an American healthcare setting) and
b) unable to communicate with patients (the majority of whom are American English speaking as English is the primary language in America) verbally, as clear communication with pts is imperative for everything from pt compliance to the patient generally feeling comfortable with the care they're receiving. i.e. i would never move to France and get upset that patients didn't want my service because my French speech and comprehension was so poor.
i could be wrong; the OP might have been intentionally putting down all brown-skinned nurses from far away countries who talk funny. but that is not how i read the OP, and if the OP means it the way i interpretted it, i agree. i don't care if my nurse is a purple polka-dotted creature from mars or a blond-haired, blue eyed, fair-skinned native of my own zipcode as long as they know their stuff and can communicate clearly with me and other members of their care team. but IMHO, healthcare is not a field with that can afford to have many miscommunications due solely to a person's simple inability or decision not to have a firm grasp on the language spoken in the area in which they practice medicine.
i would be very annoyed if i had to have a nurse repeat something to me 3 times, then write it down, and after all that STILL not understand what she was trying to say to me. speech therapy can help with things like accents, and yes i believe that's not absurd to ask if a significant part of a person's job involved verbal communication.
caliotter3
38,333 Posts
I don't see what age has to do with this topic.