Minoring in Spanish VS. learning it on your own

MunoRN, RN · Mar 30, 2018

College level Spanish is somewhat limited in terms of learning conversational healthcare Spanish. Basic conversational Spanish can often be achieved in 3 years of high school Spanish, or a combination of 3 to 4 years of HS/college level Spanish, beyond that you're better off focusing on healthcare-specific Spanish.

kaylee. · Mar 30, 2018

You don't need a degree, for sure you can learn on your own!

However If you do have one it will be very helpful. I have a BA in Spanish from 2007 and I am a fully functional speaker in healthcare because of it. Of course if I dont practice it becomes quite rusty. So my degree is more useful than I could have dreamed! I also lived in spain for half a year so that probably cemented things beyond what the degree gave me...but if you need a minor and really want to learn spanish, i would do it. At the time I didnt really choose my spanish major for any specific use in work, so it was a just a happy finding later in life that it was so useful. Of course you can learn anything on your own. But if you are so inclined and want to major or minor, it will definitely have use value in your career.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Mar 30, 2018

You need conversational Spanish. But to really use it in healthcare you need an interpreter credential. A minor is not likely to cover the level of conversational & healthcare Spanish to be a benefit when working

Jedrnurse, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2018

You need conversational Spanish. But to really use it in healthcare you need an interpreter credential. A minor is not likely to cover the level of conversational & healthcare Spanish to be a benefit when working

I disagree with part of this. To be an interpreter, you need credentials, but as a nurse you will be caring for Spanish speaking patients on your assignments. You need the language ability, not the extra credential for that. Granted, consents and things like that may require a designated interpreter, but day-to-day patient care, not so much.

Orion81RN · Mar 30, 2018

I have some experience in this. I took 3 years of college Spanish (about 9 classes) after 4 years in h.s. My plan was to major in it, but I changed majors. It has been absolutely invaluable in healthcare speaking Spanish. However, employers for nursing positions don't care about a minor. Save time and money on the classes you specifically need to become bilingual. Conversational classes (maybe 2) and Advanced Grammar. Medical if available, but you can learn that on your own.

Id save taking extra college courses toward advancing your nursing degree. 8 semesters is 4 years!!! Imagine what you could accomplish in that time.

Ddestiny, BSN, RN · Apr 1, 2018

I've seen job listings where bilingual candidates are wanted (not just in nursing). Usually the ad will mention something about fluency, but nothing about degrees, minors, etc. I don't know if it has anything to do with my area, here in KS we have a lot of immigrants. It doesn't make sense to require coursework in Spanish for someone that has grown up speaking it everyday in their household. Consider also that, depending upon where you decide to work, being bilingual may open up new doors for you but I wouldn't expect an employer to pay you more for an additional degree. Between that and the fact that it will tack on several more years of study, I'm not sure how helpful it really is to go that extra mile just to be able to add an additional line on your resume. At least where I am, saying that you're fluently bilingual is enough.

I definitely wish I knew more Spanish, I pretty much forgot the 2 years I took in HS. With each Spanish-speaking patient I have a end up refreshing myself a little more, which is helpful but also hit-and-miss depending upon how long I go between patients. But Hospitals can't expect to fill their ranks with professionals that also speak every possible language they might encounter in their patients (I had one patient that was 100% Arabic speaking and she never had family around). When I first started at my hospital they had Interpreter Lines where both you and the patient could speak to an interpreter on the phone. More recently we have an Ipad designated purely for interpreters where we can see each other and there are dozens of languages from which we can choose. Definitely beats having to wait for an appropriate interpreter to have to be called in to help.

The point being, there are resources. Since hospitals are investing in those, they're probably going to be less concerned about seeking out specifically bilingual nurses. It doesn't mean that being bilingual isn't useful or a great goal to have (especially if you want to travel or work in areas with high spanish-speaking populations), I just don't know that it's worth adding so many years to your coursework and delaying your work as a nurse. If it's important to you to meet the goal of being bilingual, you can do it on your own time while saving both time and money.

Good luck with your decision. :)

Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 1, 2018

If you are really good then just clep it,saves time ,cheaperup to 12 credits.

dbuy3, LPN · Apr 6, 2018

If you are really good then just clep it,saves time ,cheaperup to 12 credits.

Actually, I took Spanish clep and transferred it to New Mexico Junior College, got 16 credits for it. I taught myself Spanish, had never taken a class before, so I was a little nervous about how it would turn out. However, 16 years of speaking it and being around the community really paid off.