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?
Actually my example was not intended to relate the two, although your assumption that the two were related is a good example of how they probably are related to at least some degree, but again, that wasn't my point.
There was a premise asserted that if it's not in our job description then it's not our responsibility as nurses. My job description, does not include any mention of my role as a patient advocate. My point being that even though my job description doesn't mention, I still consider acting as patient advocate to be one of my responsibilities.
So now in order to be patient advocates we have to learn to speak the patient's native tongue, even though THEY have made the CHOICE to seek medical care in a predominantly English speaking country? I don't follow you, and I am glad that I don't. Your line of reasoning makes no sense to me.
If you have the time, money, and concern to learn every language that any of your patients might speak, go right ahead. I won't stop you, nor will I care. Don't automatically assume that the rest of us are ignorant fools that don't advocate or care for our patients simply because we choose to speak English in a country where English is the predominant language.
As another poster already stated, much of our extra time would be better spent gaining clinical knowledge that would better outcomes for all of our patients, even the English speaking ones that no one cares about.
Because unless they are here on vacation and arrived yesterday, that would be the right thing to do in a country that they came to for a "better life." There are responsibilities on both sides of this equation.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I grew up with Hispanics and have spoken passable Spanish all my life, so working with patients or staff of this ethnicity has never been a problem for me personally. (At least, as long as they're Mexican, because Mexican Spanish is the only kind I speak or understand. I can, however, curse in five different languages.)
But I would balk at being mandated to learn a foreign tongue because a) English SHOULD be the official language of this country and all immigrants should learn it if they want to become citizens, vote, and drive here; and b) If we start doing this, where does it stop? Would we also have to learn Chinese, Japanese, Farsi, Russian, and every other language we might encounter? Madness!
As nurses, our responsibility is to provide the same kind of quality health care we provide to all our other patients. If, because of their unwillingness or failure to have learned English along the way, part of that care is to get in a translator. And that can be done very caringly and with a smile.
I am sorry but do you all notice that the Europeans coming over here busted their butts learning English while the other ethnicities not from Europe come over here and expect us to accommodate them?
Funny how that happens. You think they would accommodate us if it was the other way around. Uh no.
Actually, LOTS of other countries outside of Europe use English as a "common language". Just thought I'd throw that out there
As nurses, our responsibility is to provide the same kind of quality health care we provide to all our other patients. If, because of their unwillingness or failure to have learned English along the way, part of that care is to get in a translator. And that can be done very caringly and with a smile.
Period.
Having a translator available does not "provide the same kind of quality health care we provide to all our other patients."
The absence of language concordance between patient and provider and consequent reliance on ad hoc interpreters may impede disclosure of sensitive information (Marcos, 1979). It also negatively impacts comprehension of instructions and other treatment information necessary for adherence to and continuity of treatment (Wilson et al., 2005). Flores and colleagues (2005), for example, found that LEP patients who need but lack access to an interpreter have a poorer understanding of their medical diagnosis and treatment (Flores et al., 2005).
Language also appears to impact health outcomes by influencing the quality of the patient-provider relationship, including the development of trust, adherence to treatment, and follow-up (Rivadeneyra et al., 2000). LEP patients are more likely than those with good English-language proficiency to report inaccurate diagnoses, inadequate treatments, or negative health outcomes (Phelan and Parkman, 1995). Thus, if language barriers exist, diagnostic assessments, symptom disclosure, confidentiality, and treatment adequacy may be compromised (Baker et al., 1996b; Carrasquillo et al., 1999; Perez-Stable et al., 1997) and health outcomes suffer as a result.
Having a translator available does not "provide the same kind of quality health care we provide to all our other patients."
The absence of language concordance between patient and provider and consequent reliance on ad hoc interpreters may impede disclosure of sensitive information (Marcos, 1979). It also negatively impacts comprehension of instructions and other treatment information necessary for adherence to and continuity of treatment (Wilson et al., 2005). Flores and colleagues (2005), for example, found that LEP patients who need but lack access to an interpreter have a poorer understanding of their medical diagnosis and treatment (Flores et al., 2005).
Language also appears to impact health outcomes by influencing the quality of the patient-provider relationship, including the development of trust, adherence to treatment, and follow-up (Rivadeneyra et al., 2000). LEP patients are more likely than those with good English-language proficiency to report inaccurate diagnoses, inadequate treatments, or negative health outcomes (Phelan and Parkman, 1995). Thus, if language barriers exist, diagnostic assessments, symptom disclosure, confidentiality, and treatment adequacy may be compromised (Baker et al., 1996b; Carrasquillo et al., 1999; Perez-Stable et al., 1997) and health outcomes suffer as a result.
Having a medically certified translator is the best we can do. You don't really think that we all can be fluent in all languages! That is so unrealistic. And if language is an impediment, what is the alternative? Tell them to go home where the language problem is not a problem.
How many languages are in the world? Probably thousands. By your arguments, we all should be fluent in all of them. I ask again, how many are you fluent in? And by fluent I mean as if it were your native language, but including medical knowledge.
If someone in America chooses not to learn English that is their choice. They shouldn't expect people to learn their native tongue as that is our choice. Typically family will translate or we can get a hospital translator to help out. If that is a prob they might want to take classes to learn English but again that's their choice not mine.
Having a translator available does not "provide the same kind of quality health care we provide to all our other patients."
The absence of language concordance between patient and provider and consequent reliance on ad hoc interpreters may impede disclosure of sensitive information (Marcos, 1979). It also negatively impacts comprehension of instructions and other treatment information necessary for adherence to and continuity of treatment (Wilson et al., 2005). Flores and colleagues (2005), for example, found that LEP patients who need but lack access to an interpreter have a poorer understanding of their medical diagnosis and treatment (Flores et al., 2005).
Language also appears to impact health outcomes by influencing the quality of the patient-provider relationship, including the development of trust, adherence to treatment, and follow-up (Rivadeneyra et al., 2000). LEP patients are more likely than those with good English-language proficiency to report inaccurate diagnoses, inadequate treatments, or negative health outcomes (Phelan and Parkman, 1995). Thus, if language barriers exist, diagnostic assessments, symptom disclosure, confidentiality, and treatment adequacy may be compromised (Baker et al., 1996b; Carrasquillo et al., 1999; Perez-Stable et al., 1997) and health outcomes suffer as a result.
Thank you for proving that an immigrant becoming proficient in English is in their own bests interests.
Having a medically certified translator is the best we can do. You don't really think that we all can be fluent in all languages! That is so unrealistic. And if language is an impediment, what is the alternative? Tell them to go home where the language problem is not a problem.
How many languages are in the world? Probably thousands. By your arguments, we all should be fluent in all of them. I ask again, how many are you fluent in? And by fluent I mean as if it were your native language, but including medical knowledge.
There are many languages in the world yes. How many of them other than language are the primary language of approximately 1/6th of the US? Just one. Not too hard to narrow down.
MunoRN, RN
8,058 Posts
Again, I wasn't relating the two.