Is this discrimination?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello haven't posted in a while. quick background before the meat. So I work at a fairly large health system, they currently own 95% market share so options here are not many. If you look at the pictures of the board of directors, they are all white. All my charge rn, the dept director, and her four clinical supervisors are all white. I happen to not be white, and I am bilingual. I have heard comments from physicians like: "they get off the plane and want us to fix all their problems". "That pt doesn't pass the smell test, hispanics are too emotional." The second comment was about my pt who came in with acute head pain worst of her life. History of Htn among other things and geriatric. I wanted to get her cleared for a stroke...the md never even came to the room. Waited and hour. Cat wouldn't take her stat cause it wasn't ordered stat. Well I gave report went home. Next day was told she ended up having a bleed. Now md won't even make eye contact with me. So I'm asked to translate all the time and now I'm told by triage and the charge and the clinical sups that I get certain PTs cause they only speak Spanish. My one year review is coming and I'm thinking of asking for a nice raise because speaking Spanish and translating are not in the job description...I checked. If they don't give it to me is it discrimination? Should I keep my minority mouth shut and just be happy I'm getting a paycheck? I was born in the USA. Technically I'm not a minority...right?

Specializes in MCH,NICU,NNsy,Educ,Village Nursing.

The most disheartening thing I hear is when people say your in America learn English. That has to be the most ignorant comment I've ever heard. I guess racism is alive and well.

Well, it is expected when I live overseas in a primarily non-English speaking country that I learn the language of the majority people group. Why should it be different here in the U.S.?

Specializes in Public Health, TB.

There's a lot to unpack from the original post. There does seem to be a lot of stereotyping taking place "A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image" ( from The Free Dictionary), by both the staff and the OP.

This is different from racism : "1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.

2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race".( Also from the Free Dictionary).

In the case of the patient with the severe headache, this may have been a case of racism and deserves to be reported and investigated.

As for being asked to interpret, as previous posters have stated, it is the law that a trained interpreter is to be used. So in my opinion, the OP cannot be assigned or expected to act as a medical interpreter, and has every right to refuse. But being assigned to care for a patient who shares your language looks like an act of kindness to the patient. I have always asked a staff if they are comfortable in that situation, and sometimes the answer is no and that is respected. This has happened in the case of a very young female caring for an elderly male, and vice versa.

As for that "your in America, speak American" cr@p, that's exactly what that is. We are a country of immigrants and English is a difficult language to learn. And many of the "speak American" yahoos don't speak it very well themselves.

I think the OP's facility could do with a little cultural humility training. As for me, when I hear a coworker same something prejudical, I call them on it.

Specializes in L&D, OBED, NICU, Lactation.
? No you arent.

In nursing, how am I not a minority? Given that the Oxford dictionary definition of minority states "the smaller number or part, especially a number or part representing less than half of the whole" and men in nursing represent ~10% of nurses (which is less than half of the whole for those of you keeping score at home), I am, by definition, a minority in this context.

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Specializes in NICU.

First of all only those that have taken a qualifying exam should be interpreting medical data etc. No you will not get more money for interpreting,any more than the Asian,or Russian ,Filipinos ,Nigerians,Greeks,etc get .You are not a minority so quit using the minority card,you are a professional so act as such.

They do not hold a gun to your head,so be happy ,count your blessings.What you over hear are comments from all over the USA due to the system being over stressed by non payers and government regulations requiring the provision of certain services to all but then cutting back on the actual reimbursement the hospital gets.

Do your job well,represent the nursing profession to the best of your ability.Use your intelligence not a chip on your shoulder.If your desire is to be appreciated and standout wow,forget it,welcome to the real world .In a Spanish speaking neighborhood you would be nothing special.Most of the new doctors speak a second or third language so they can handle things themselves.

Welcome to nursing.

Specializes in Critical Care.
Do you even understand the legislative process? Trump cannot unilaterally "delete" anything out of a law validly passed by Congress and signed by any President. Amendment would have to take place through that same legislative process.

The translation requirements brownbook were referring to come from an HHS administrative rule that clarifies section 1557 of the ACA. The ACA only specifically states that covered entities should not discriminate. As is the case with most laws, the specifics of the law that define compliance come from interpretive rules by agencies of the executive branch, and those agencies are free to change their own interpretive rules at any time.

"That pt doesn't pass the smell test, hispanics are too emotional." The second comment was about my pt who came in with acute head pain worst of her life. History of Htn among other things and geriatric.

What is your relationship with your supervisor? Do you feel comfortable talking to him/her about this? I think, if anything, there is at the very least a lack of cultural competency with regard to the physician dismissing the patient's symptoms as just being too emotional. I personally think you should continue to provide translation services, not for the sake of the other hospital staff, but as an advocate for the Hispanic patients. Think about it from their perspective, sick, likely frightened, and surrounded by people they can't understand and who can't understand them. Honestly, if I was the the manager on the floor and a Spanish language only patient was admitted, I would probably want to assign them to you too, just thinking common sense. Now if that bothers you, then you need to take a step back and think about why that is. However you decide to handle this, please don't go with the "not my job to translate" route, because ultimately it will only hurt those patients. You might also consider sharing some key Spanish terms and phrases to help your coworkers learn to communicate with these patients.

I agree the doctor's comments are garbage, and you have a right to find them offensive. Nothing wrong with you mentioning that in the moment, or maybe at some point recommending to your HR personnel that some cultural training would benefit the hospital staff.

I hope you get your raise.

eacue10,

How can you automatically assume everybody is "white" on your board? If you are judging them just based on their skin appearance, perhaps what you are accusing them of, is also what you are doing a bit of as well?

I am 100% Mexican and while yes, I know nobody is ever 100% any ethnicity, both my parents were born and raised in Mexico and migrated here to the USA back in the late 60's. I am very fair-skinned with golden brown/reddish hair. In fact, I burn if I"m out in the sun more than 15 minutes on an 80 degree day. My cousins are also very light skinned with green eyes! There are many other Latinos who are blonde, blue-eyed, and only speak Spanish (Spain, Argentina, etc.) People always assume I"m "white" as well, until I start speaking fluent Spanish.

You cannot automatically assume everybody is "white" above you. You may be basing it on names and appearances, but you never know. My other cousins are Japanese-Mexicans and they only speak Spanish! We also have a family friend with the last name of Johnson, the reason for her last name is due to marriage.

I just want to caution you about being quick to judge the board of directors and everybody above you with a blanket statement of "they are white," because in this day and age you would be surprised of people's background! It's not easy to look at somebody and their name and know immediately their backstory.

Hispanic/Latino is not a race, it's an ethnicity. One can be white and Hispanic, one can be black and Hispanic, etc. I am Hispanic and I'm white. A Hispanic person with very light skin, red hair, and green eyes is most likely a white Hispanic. Their race is white, their ethnicity is Hispanic, their nationality is another thing as well. Speaking Spanish and being a Mexican citizen (or having Mexican ancestors) while having white skin doesn't mean that that particular individual isn't "white."

I don't think they can require one nurse to do a job that other nurses don't have to do, even if the reason is that the others don't have the skills. OP should be compensated for having more skill, just as a BSN get more pay than an ADN.

He is rightfully shoulder-chipped, BTDT.

I've never gotten paid a penny more than an ADN for having a BSN. .

I am amazed that so many educated professionals can read a post and pull only what they want to see out of it. I usually read all comments to a thread of interest, but I stopped on the second page. Some of 'you people' are disgusting, and at the very least you should return to the op and take another look.

Specializes in ICU.
I've never gotten paid a penny more than an ADN for having a BSN. .

Me, either. Most of the hospitals around here do not pay any more for holding a BSN. They pay for you being a registered nurse; the actual degree doesn't matter.

Specializes in Critical Care.

OP,

Before approaching your manager, I would strongly suggest checking your hospital's policy in regard to who is allowed to translate medical information.

Not sure where you are located, but in CA, hospitals are required to provided certified interpreters. For instances, at my facility, we use video monitor, phones , and live interpreter services (8-5pm) for certain languages. Once we use their services, we are required to document their ID interpreter number.

Hello haven't posted in a while. quick background before the meat. So I work at a fairly large health system, they currently own 95% market share so options here are not many. If you look at the pictures of the board of directors, they are all white. All my charge rn, the dept director, and her four clinical supervisors are all white. I happen to not be white, and I am bilingual. I have heard comments from physicians like: "they get off the plane and want us to fix all their problems". "That pt doesn't pass the smell test, hispanics are too emotional." The second comment was about my pt who came in with acute head pain worst of her life. History of Htn among other things and geriatric. I wanted to get her cleared for a stroke...the md never even came to the room. Waited and hour. Cat wouldn't take her stat cause it wasn't ordered stat. Well I gave report went home. Next day was told she ended up having a bleed. Now md won't even make eye contact with me. So I'm asked to translate all the time and now I'm told by triage and the charge and the clinical sups that I get certain PTs cause they only speak Spanish. My one year review is coming and I'm thinking of asking for a nice raise because speaking Spanish and translating are not in the job description...I checked. If they don't give it to me is it discrimination? Should I keep my minority mouth shut and just be happy I'm getting a paycheck? I was born in the USA. Technically I'm not a minority...right?

According to the Joint Commission, unless you are a certified medical translater, you should not be doing any translating. You can speak in a language you are fluent in when you are directly taking care of a patient, but you cannot use co-workers to translate between a patient and the provider even if Spanish is your native language.

Sounds crazy? Kinda...but, this is why. Certified Medical Translators have been trained in the ethics of medical translating. It is a word for word translation, not summaries, no opinions, no further explanations. It's word for word. This eliminates any miscommunications that can take place if a thought process was summarized.

It's not discrimination for them not to give you a raise, but it is a hostile work environment if slams against Hispanics are happening in your presence. Before you go to HR, the next time someone makes a comment like that...I don't care if it is the MD or not, say, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your comment about 'them' getting off the plane. Exactly which group of people are you referring to." Say it loud enough for others to hear and stay dead silent after you ask the question. Make the squirm.

Call....them....out.

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