I had a 78 year old woman patient, bunch of kids and grandkids in the room. The patient spoke only Spanish and the grandson was translating. As I was exiting the grandma patient said something forceful so I turned and asked the man what she'd just said, and it was exactly that: "People in Healthcare should speak Spanish."
I was, well, insulted, speechless, fill in the blank. The patient had not been much of a problem until then. I stared at the grandson and didn't reply, just left. As I thought about it, I started thinking. I'm not a foreigner, why should I learn another language? I'm in the middle of the country to boot! And, why are these people insulting their caregiver anyway?
Talking this out with other nurses, I guess I wasn't the first one to hear such stuff. Is this something I should get used to?
You know as snotty as the old lady statement was, she kinda makes a lot of sense
I mean there are SO many of those spanish speaking people living here in masses at all corners of the country. I'm totally surprised that their aren't many spanish nurses around if any at all.
That goes to show that a high percent of those immigrants are indeed illegal, so they are not qualify for work and have no green cards or work permits.
So why come to a country where you don't even know the language I mean that makes work even more harder to get. So I totally disagree that health care workers should be entitled to learn any language other than their own, but I do agree that the health care facilities should provide translators for people who don't know english , I mean when it comes down to it we are all human and we shouldn't be so hard one each other.
I believe everybody deserves the best health care english speaking or not.
We are mandated by law to provide a certified translator for patients who request one, but that doesn't mean 24-7. Talk about increasing the cost of health care! For our labor patienst we get one in for the labor (and hope it's not 12 hours long) but get all the admission paperwork (which is a mile high), as well as discharge teaching papers done at the same time. That seems to work well.
It's not unreasonable to expect nurses to learn Spanish and making that requirement is not unheard of. My nursing program was about as from from Mexico as you can get, yet one of the requirements for entry into the program was a minimum of 2 years of HS/College Spanish and to pass a Spanish placement test if you had not taken any Spanish in more than 5 years.
I realize there are plenty of enthusiastically ethnocentric people in this country, but I am a little surprised that so many are nurses. The number of posters who referred to "our language" and the use of the term "homogenization" as a basic American value displays a level of ignorance about what America is that is surprising for a group of nurses. If you think that by definition Americans can be different, but not too different, then I'm not sure you necessarily have a better grasp of what it means to be American than any immigrant does.
It's not unreasonable to expect nurses to learn Spanish and making that requirement is not unheard of. My nursing program was about as from from Mexico as you can get, yet one of the requirements for entry into the program was a minimum of 2 years of HS/College Spanish and to pass a Spanish placement test if you had not taken any Spanish in more than 5 years.
Two years of HS Spanish does not make you fluent, and especially if you delayed getting into nursing until several years after HS. I have 2 years of HS Spanish and 2 years of college Spanish, plus 30+ of using that Spanish in nursing with labor patients, and when I looked into becoming a certified translator in my state, I found that unless you spoke it as a native tongue or unless you'd spent several years living in a country where it was the native tongue, you don't qualify, period. Now, how shortsighted it that?
Two years of HS Spanish does not make you fluent, and especially if you delayed getting into nursing until several years after HS. I have 2 years of HS Spanish and 2 years of college Spanish, plus 30+ of using that Spanish in nursing with labor patients, and when I looked into becoming a certified translator in my state, I found that unless you spoke it as a native tongue or unless you'd spent several years living in a country where it was the native tongue, you don't qualify, period. Now, how shortsighted it that?
Not fluent no, particularly if haven't taken it in a while, which is why they require you to pass a placement test, and you still can't do consents, but it is enough to get by on once you add in some medical terminology.
i think you must have misread the original post. the poster was saying that the patient insulted her in spanish by saying that healthcare workers should speak spanish. that's an entitled attitude -- you move to a country where you don't speak the language and expect to accomodate you. if she's scared when her family leaves at night, i'm very sorry for her. that does not mean i need to speak spanish to make her more comfortable.
i'm confused, are you saying that as a nurse you don't need to make any attempts to make your patients more comfortable if they are scared?
Not fluent no, particularly if haven't taken it in a while, which is why they require you to pass a placement test, and you still can't do consents, but it is enough to get by on once you add in some medical terminology.
On the flip side a non-English speaker could learn a few English phrases that would make it easier for them to communicate when they are in the hospital.
FTR, the ignorance displayed in this thread (IMO) comes from the patient mentioned in the OP. The entire health care worker population in the USA should learn Spanish simply to accommodate her because she has decided to grace us with her presence? I don't know whether to roll my eyes or laugh, so that is why I did both. IMO you can't get much more self-centered, ethnocentric, and ignorant than the patient mentioned in the OP.
On the flip side a non-English speaker could learn a few English phrases that would make it easier for them to communicate when they are in the hospital.
FTR, the ignorance displayed in this thread (IMO) comes from the patient mentioned in the OP. The entire health care worker population in the USA should learn Spanish simply to accommodate her because she has decided to grace us with her presence? I don't know whether to roll my eyes or laugh, so that is why I did both. IMO you can't get much more self-centered, ethnocentric, and ignorant than the patient mentioned in the OP.
You make it sound as though it's unreasonable because she is the only Spanish speaking patient out there, when there are actually about 40 million people in the US who speak Spanish as their primary language.
While it's not unreasonable to expect some give and take, we do need to take at least part of responsibility to adapt to the changing needs of our patient population, rather than just expecting the needs of the patient population to adapt to our shortcomings without any meaningful effort on our part.
I realize there are plenty of enthusiastically ethnocentric people in this country, but I am a little surprised that so many are nurses. The number of posters who referred to "our language" and the use of the term "homogenization" as a basic American value displays a level of ignorance about what America is that is surprising for a group of nurses. If you think that by definition Americans can be different, but not too different, then I'm not sure you necessarily have a better grasp of what it means to be American than any immigrant does.
i don't believe it has anything to do with us being "ethnocentric".
i honestly do not feel superior to anyone...ANYONE.
relative to the topic of this thread, i maintain the pt was indeed, arrogant and imperious.
had that pt been american, and expressed the very same sentiment in a hospital in italy, i would have said the very same thing.
i cannot speak for anyone else, but if i'm going to be truthful with myself, it gets very old (and expensive!!) to pay for illegal immigrants healthcare, welfare, food and overall living expenses.
i'm not saying that this particular pt was illegal, but i am making that association...
between the ubiquitous sense of entitlement that seems to accompany many of those folks, and those who choose to live in a generous country, yet choose not to learn the language.
so, i do think that some posters are reacting to the larger mentality of, 'what can you do for ME?' (race, irrelevant)
it's not about ethnocentricity.
it's about seeing the bigger picture for what it is...and what it's not.
you just don't reside in a country (legal or illegal), reap any/all benefits, and snub their language.
i don't do well with rude, presumptuous, and ungrateful.
While it's not unreasonable to expect some give and take, we do need to take at least part of responsibility to adapt to the changing needs of our patient population, rather than just expecting the needs of the patient population to adapt to our shortcomings without any meaningful effort on our part.
again, that would be our employers criteria.
if they require bilingual, then we'll be the first to know.
our "meaningful effort" i hope, would be reflected in our job description...
above all, i have to say i appreciate these posts as a general survey of the misunderstandings of basic american history, level of xenophobia, and lack of understanding and caring for patients that run through our society.
may all of you never have to flee to another country because you are denied the tools you need to provide for your family, or denied the healthcare you need to save your or your children's lives. i personally cannot imagine the magnitude of those situations, am thankful that i don't have to, and am more than willing to assist those who do.
Again I find myself saying "Oh dear GOD" on this thread, for entirely different reasons...
I don't know whether to roll my eyes or laugh, so that is why I did both. IMO you can't get much more self-centered, ethnocentric, and ignorant than the patient mentioned in the OP.
Ackeem, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN
381 Posts
You know as snotty as the old lady statement was, she kinda makes a lot of sense
I mean there are SO many of those spanish speaking people living here in masses at all corners of the country. I'm totally surprised that their aren't many spanish nurses around if any at all.
That goes to show that a high percent of those immigrants are indeed illegal, so they are not qualify for work and have no green cards or work permits.
So why come to a country where you don't even know the language I mean that makes work even more harder to get. So I totally disagree that health care workers should be entitled to learn any language other than their own, but I do agree that the health care facilities should provide translators for people who don't know english , I mean when it comes down to it we are all human and we shouldn't be so hard one each other.
I believe everybody deserves the best health care english speaking or not.