This past 2 weeks, the patients i have opened up cases for in HH speak not a work of English. They have social security numbers, Medicare benefits, and Medicaid benefits. Live in the U.S. But do not speak a word of English. Getting a family member who does or a translator at a certain time, or even to make a simple phone call and to get someone to answer the door is an utmost challenge.
I know this topic is controversial, but why am I struggling to hard to understand some Spanish so I can do my job in America?
Most are quite lovely patients. Some are just shocked that I don't speak Spanish!
My rant of the day. And these days, there are a lot of rants for me in this field, I admit it.
Jewels, thank you, that was exactly the point I was getting accross.
I don't know what is so sickening about what I said. If someone was vacationing here, or just came to this country to live, or has not been here long enough to learn at least the basics of English, I completely understand. These are people who have been here long enough to receive benefits of our government. 5 years to recieve medicaid, right? 5 years and when I make a phone call and say "hello is so- and so there" and the people on the other line can't even understand THAT, well, that aggrevates me.
If I were to move to another country to live permanantly, or even for more than a vacation, I am going to make an effort to learn the basics before going, and will work on becoming fluent once I am there.
And what does having a BSN have to do with anything? There are so many languages you can learn with a 4 year degree. I am not only talking about Spanish speaking folk, even though that's who I mostly deal with. Here, in the US, we should not be expected to learn every other countries language so that the people who move here from other countries don't have to learn ours.
And yes Jeweles, I give equal care to all my patients. The ones who sparked this question are wonderful people. They even told me I am a good nurse with a good heart and we hug when I come in and when I leave. I am genuinely concerned for these people because I am worried about the wife truly understanding what is going on and the med regimine. I brought a translator, but not everything gets properly translated or is more confusing. I care about these people, it's not simply something I find to be a hassle for me. If I want to make an end of day call, or off hours call like I do, because I worry about these patients, I can't get a simple instruction through over the phone.
If I fall sick in another country and need home health care, that means I live there, and I will know that language.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
imo there is quite a difference between receiving medical care on vacation and not knowing the language, or living in a country, having been there for years, and not being able to communicate. and even there, when ive travelled to spanish speaking countries, i bring a little handbook that has basic spanish, from how to get directions to a restaurant, to basic medical issues.
america is not alone in this problem. most of the western world has become everybody's pushover. we are so concerned about offending that we put our own culture, values, and language aside. in canada there is the same problem, although i am from quebec and they do everything in their power to promote french speaking. they give preferential immigration to french speakers. if you do not know french at the time of immigration, they provide you with a free french class that is mandatory. it also extends to the population, with a lot of hard-core quebecers being rude to non-french speakers in the customer-service setting. although this is excessive, i think it has gotten this bad because of the state of other countries.
if people need to take an american history test to get their green card, i think it also definitely should include an english test....
a few years ago, there was a big push to let spanish-speakers take the nclex in spanish in pennsylvania. the dmv in my state lets spanish speakers take the written test in spanish, and spanish speaking schoolchildren in arizona got their math and science education in spanish because it would be "too embarrassing" to have them take remedial math and science in english until they could catch up. that may still be going on, but my friend in arizona has retired from teaching.
usually it's not the vietnamese, german or russian immigrants refusing to learn english or refusing to even attempt to use the english they do know. it's the spanish, including members of my own extended family. i, too think that people ought to take an english test to get a green card. it needn't be too complicated, but when i have to call the housekeeping supervisor to come to the icu to tell the housekeeper that we need room 2 cleaned immediately for an admission in the housekeeper's preferred language (spanish, wouldn't you know), that's ridiculous. in order to work in the us, one ought to be able to understand the directions.
We have these blue phones at my job that when we call the number we can get a translator. I personally don't care what language my patients speak. I'm there to care for them and make out the best way I can. Yes, it is a challenge but this is life.
Ruby, I vacationed in Quebec and very distinctly remembered the attitudes of the natives had towards us because we did not speak french. We were vacationing and asking stores for the price of something or asking where something was or an item on a dinner menu, we got very bad attitudes and no attempts by anyone to speak English.
I was 19 years old it was for Y2K new year and I had gotten lost at night trying to go back to the hostel we were staying at. Not one person I asked understood a word of english. i was scared and frozen, luckily I found some american torists who were able to help me. i swore from there, I would learn the basics of the language of the country I was travelling to.
Onlybyhisgrace: I have worked in the hospital ICU, where I was the one administering care, only had to really give updates, help get consents and the such when I worked bedside. That could be done by a translator or the language line.
Now in HH, trying to teach and not DO for a patient who does not understand the language is signficantly more challenging, even with a translator. Concepts do not get translated well. It's a different ballgame. If I was just doing for these patients it would be much easier and safer.
As of right now the only official language in the USA is English so until that changes I think that staff should not be held to know more than one language.
There is no official language in the U.S. English is the predominant language, but the percentage of citizens and residents for whom Spanish is the primary language is increasing. What language(s) we have to speak at a particular institution or company depends on the market. If a company can make more sales by having bilingual employees, then that company will seek to hire bilingual employees.
If a hospital is in an area with a large Spanish-speaking population, for instance, then they'd better have some Spanish-speaking employees.
Major difference in "on vacation" and staying here for a lifetime and making no effort.
You can be upset about the social implications of immigrants not understanding the language well, but once the patient is in a bed on your floor, as far as his care is concerned, it's a moot point. Somehow the medical staff and the patient have to communicate.
Political correctness will be the undoing of this nation. As an American Citizen I have a right to voice that opinion.
You have the right to say a lot of things. You have the right to say things that, though not illegal, will get you fired. As an American citizen you have the right to say on your Facebook wall that your hospital stinks and your boss is an idiot. The constitutional right of free speech, though, applies to what the government can do to you. It has nothing to do with other people expressing opposition to your opinions, or how much they're supposed to like what you say.
I get concerned when I see the phrase "political correctness." It's generally a matter of perspective.
Now in HH, trying to teach and not DO for a patient who does not understand the language is signficantly more challenging, even with a translator. Concepts do not get translated well. It's a different ballgame. If I was just doing for these patients it would be much easier and safer.
The bottom line is that people who can't speak English well have to be served, regardless of how we feel about it. I'll bet that withing 10 or 15 years there will be electronic devices that will be able to fluently translate between common languages. Until then, we'll just have to make do.
Where I live, barely speaking Spanish puts me at a competitive disadvantage. I'll have to figure out how to deal with it.
I could not agree more with this statement. I am an American nurse working in America and we speak ENGLISH here. This is MY culture; if you are alien to it and come here, it is beyond hubris for you to expect ME to adapt to YOU. You are in MY culture now. You will be taken care of competently by an English-speaking American. If that is not acceptable to you, then you should have stayed in your own culture and no adaptations would be expected on either side of the bed.
all those culture classes in school.... the whole time I kept thinking how yes, there are different cultures but there is a main one........................................ not pc to say or think. but oh well.....I know even in the US there are differences depending on areas and race but for the most part they ARE similar enough
I could not agree more with this statement. I am an American nurse working in America and we speak ENGLISH here. This is MY culture; if you are alien to it and come here, it is beyond hubris for you to expect ME to adapt to YOU. You are in MY culture now. You will be taken care of competently by an English-speaking American. If that is not acceptable to you, then you should have stayed in your own culture and no adaptations would be expected on either side of the bed.
all those culture classes in school.... the whole time I kept thinking how yes, there are different cultures but there is a main one........................................ not pc to say or think. but oh well.....I know even in the US there are differences depending on areas and race but for the most part they ARE similar enough
I can't help but think of September 12 2001 when my coworker, originally from India, came to work in a T-shirt that had big bold letters on the front "USA". When I commented on the shirt, she replied "I'm here because I choose to be here and in doing that I choose to show support to the USA".
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the the mix of culture. The differences can be so interesting and I have been fortunate enough to meet some amazing people. But, if I was in Rome, I would do as the Romans do.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
Patient is not paying out of pocket, all this services are being paid by their insurance company, and it is discrimination not to provide available resources. Insurance company is the only one who is loosing money, but in some states it is a law. Patients can file lawsuit against the firm if they are made unclear interpretation and during clients visit occur some kind of mistake or miscommunication. It is that serious! Hospitals or medical offices can loose a lot of money.
Not true for MD offices. The insurance does/did not cover translation services in the office. The physician had to pay for it.................
all those culture classes in school.... the whole time I kept thinking how yes, there are different cultures but there is a main one........................................ not pc to say or think. but oh well.....I know even in the US there are differences depending on areas and race but for the most part they ARE similar enough
Do you really feel this way? You feel that American culture is the main one in the world? Or do you mean in the U.S. specifically?
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MomRN0913
1,131 Posts
Jewels, thank you, that was exactly the point I was getting accross.
I don't know what is so sickening about what I said. If someone was vacationing here, or just came to this country to live, or has not been here long enough to learn at least the basics of English, I completely understand. These are people who have been here long enough to receive benefits of our government. 5 years to recieve medicaid, right? 5 years and when I make a phone call and say "hello is so- and so there" and the people on the other line can't even understand THAT, well, that aggrevates me.
If I were to move to another country to live permanantly, or even for more than a vacation, I am going to make an effort to learn the basics before going, and will work on becoming fluent once I am there.
And what does having a BSN have to do with anything? There are so many languages you can learn with a 4 year degree. I am not only talking about Spanish speaking folk, even though that's who I mostly deal with. Here, in the US, we should not be expected to learn every other countries language so that the people who move here from other countries don't have to learn ours.