Including language proficiency

[essT]

Hey all,

I'm currently applying for an inter-hospital transfer from adult ICU to NICU. I live in an area with a fairly small Spanish speaking population and very few Spanish speaking nurses. I'm trying to decide if and how to include my language skills on my updated resume.

I am by no means fluent, but I know enough to explain basic ideas and make a patient and family feel more at ease. In my current 30 bed unit, I am the only nurse on nights who speaks ANY Spanish. I don't want to over inflate my ability or misrepresent myself, but I do feel like I've been an asset to the unit in this way -- I almost always take the Spanish speaking patients.

Do y'all think something like "basic conversational proficiency" be appropriate? And where in my resume should I put this?

I don't think "studied some in school, likes telenovelas, married a Puerto Rican, sometimes practices at home and with patients" would really fly, so...

Thanks!

[scaredsilly, BSN, RN]

Put it in the skills section. Either basic conversational Spanish, or say bilingual (not fluent)