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?
Exactly, so why should the patient be expected to learn English?
Because she is in a english speaking country obviously, well last time I checked the native language for americans was english and not spanish, just a lot of spanish speaking people living here.
We're not in her country speaking English she's in ours, so she should have made it her priority to learn english while she was here. Not us to learn spanish why are you people being so ignorant . Wow
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.
That does not, in any way, resemble a reason why the other 5/6 of the US population (some of which are from OTHER countries) should learn to speak Spanish. It just doesn't.
The problem stems from the fact that you have people from literally all over the world moving here, and for the most part every ethnic group has adopted English as part of their duty to become citizens of this country. So when you see one particular group that has not done the same, despite clear desperation in their desire (even risking their life to cross the border) to work and live here, one has to wonder, WHY? Is it stupidity in not being able to learn a new language? Or is it cultural arrogance? Or it is laziness? Or maybe something else? Clearly it is a growing problem, like the Tower of Babel, language differences only complicate matters. It is not a good thing, but I'm not sure what can be done. I do know of many employers that require English-only speaking while on the job, and this is actually a growing phenomenon. So perhaps the reaction to to this adversity will result in a more democratic way of establishing the single-language base in the US.
My girlfriends Dad went back into hospital a few years back to stabilise his Parkinsons. Well the next day when my gf & others of his family visited, he told her he'd had a terrible time cos he spoke very little English & couldn't get the nurses to understand him. There was no nurse/doctor etc there who spoke Spanish (or even any words of Spanish), & there were no translating services after hours.
Anyway my gf went up to the staff to have a word with them, & to 'sort of complain' (her words, not mine). She also asked me why we don't get trained in a few basic phrases in each language, or have language cards made up with pictures (the patient can even point at them if they can't speak due to trauma in the oral region). I told her we do use these for Aboriginal patients, and some other languages. But I was trying to explain to her management can't make it mandatory to learn different languages, and how would we get time to stand and do this? Who would pay for it, the government certainly wouldn't. And nurses in Aust pay enough for their CPR training, registration, etc. She wasn't very impressed and I can understand she was worried re her Dad but I was trying to explain to her we just simply don't have the time or resources to cater to every cultures' needs. I just don't think patients and their families understand our time constraints, & how busy it can be sometimes.
Maybe they don't realise that most countries are a melting pot of different cultures, and we can't possibly learn everything about each culture. Also, I have found from personal experience that each patient thinks their culture is more important than the other persons, and they should take priority and so does the famiy. Everyone is a bit selfish in their own way I suppose.
My suggestion next time is take the direct approach and explain this patiently to your client and family. Don't stay mute. And then if they don't like it, get your NM/NUM to go in and speak to them. I always tell patients and families they must make a formal complaint through medical administration (or whoever it is in your facility), and they won't but that is the patient's right. And personally I find no matter what you explain to people re the above, they will never be happy anyway.
You can't do anything else really. But don't take any abuse or derogatory remarks. I always answer them back professionally, explain the situation and document it in the notes and in handover.
The problem stems from the fact that you have people from literally all over the world moving here, and for the most part every ethnic group has adopted English as part of their duty to become citizens of this country. So when you see one particular group that has not done the same, despite clear desperation in their desire (even risking their life to cross the border) to work and live here, one has to wonder, WHY? Is it stupidity in not being able to learn a new language? Or is it cultural arrogance? Or it is laziness? Or maybe something else? Clearly it is a growing problem, like the Tower of Babel, language differences only complicate matters. It is not a good thing, but I'm not sure what can be done. I do know of many employers that require English-only speaking while on the job, and this is actually a growing phenomenon. So perhaps the reaction to to this adversity will result in a more democratic way of establishing the single-language base in the US.
I don't for a minute think they are too stupid to learn the language. I think we, as a society, have caved in to the pressure of making it easier for them to be here, but WITHOUT requiring them to learn English. There's no real incentive, after all. When I call my insurance office, there's an option to push two for Spanish, street signs, store windows and I even got a pamplet full of coupons the other day that had English and Spanish as instructions. We are doing everything possible so that they don't have to learn English. We are enablers (as a society.) Maybe we need a 12-step program.
I don't for a minute think they are too stupid to learn the language. I think we, as a society, have caved in to the pressure of making it easier for them to be here, but WITHOUT requiring them to learn English. There's no real incentive, after all. When I call my insurance office, there's an option to push two for Spanish, street signs, store windows and I even got a pamplet full of coupons the other day that had English and Spanish as instructions. We are doing everything possible so that they don't have to learn English. We are enablers (as a society.) Maybe we need a 12-step program.
The "enabling" has added to the snowball effect, BUT the enabling is a result of the initial problem - ie reluctance in learning the language. This enabling is in many cases businesses noticing that they can make money by communicating to a large audience in a language other than English. They are simply responding to the initial problem (and perhaps adding to it). But this enabling is not the reason for the problem.
Lets not forget that historically this country belongs to the native indians/spanish people. United states has a short history comparing to other countries.
Lets not forget that historically this country belongs to the native indians/spanish people. United states has a short history comparing to other countries.
Yes, but conquering/nationalizing, and immigrating/assimilating, are two VERY different things. The United States, as the language of the constitution, and of virtually all public signage/property, is English speaking. The fact that people speaking other languages lived here before the Europeans moved in and nationalized it, is pretty much irrelevant.
Thank you for proving that an immigrant becoming proficient in English is in their own bests interests.
There are many controllable factors such as language that can improve a patient's outcomes; people with asthma have better outcomes if they don't live in urban areas, people don't get coccidioidomycosis if they don't live in desert areas, everyone is better off if they don't smoke, poor people would have better health outcomes if they just ate healthier (and more expensive) food.
I'll definitely try to educate patients has to how they can improve their outcomes, but I'm not going to refuse to expend any energy doing things that wouldn't have to be done if the patient just took the initiative. I don't choose to not control that which is in my control just because the patient chose not to control something that is in their control, that would be petty and childish of me.
Yes, as has been pointed out, you still get paid if you don't speak spanish, and if your only goal is to get paid, then you're meeting your goals. My goal is to provide the best patient care I can, and when I have 2 or 3 spanish speaking patients a month for about 8 months of the year, it's worth the effort to lean spanish in order to provide good care, this may not be true where you live. It would be nice if my patients spoke English, but considering they spend about 14 hours a day picking berries, 7 days a week, and many don't read or write even in Spanish, I've come to realize that it is far more practical for me to learn medical spanish than it is to expect that they learn english, particularly since English is not our national language and there is no requirement that they learn english.
People can bemoan it all they like, but in our lifetimes 40% of the US population is going to be Spanish speaking and the jobs are going to go to professionals that can communicate most effectively with the most people. Patients/clients/customers will go to providers and facilities that go the extra mile, and those businesses and individuals will reap the rewards for their extra effort (which is the American way, after all). Conversely, I suspect English only speakers will encounter a lot of difficulty. I do not live in an area known to have a large number of Spanish speakers, yet perhaps 1/3 of the NP jobs advertised in the vicinity require the NP to be Spanish speaking. It can't be far behind for others in health care. You don't have to capitulate, but in the end it will be to your own detriment.
FWIW, I do not speak Spanish, but I intend to learn as soon as I finsh my present course of study.
Lets not forget that historically this country belongs to the native indians/spanish people. United states has a short history comparing to other countries.
If you want to get technical, no, it never "belonged" to the Spanish people as you're implying. Spanish people weren't indigenous. Spain conquered the native indians too, long before the Brits ever did it in the northern part of the continent. Spain and the US were the ones who established the Mexican-American border with a treaty. The US fought an independent Mexico for California, Texas, and New Mexico.
By the way, Mexico is younger than the US, getting independence from Spain in 1821.
Ackeem, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN
381 Posts
Because she is in a english speaking country obviously, well last time I checked the native language for americans was english and not spanish, just a lot of spanish speaking people living here.
We're not in her country speaking English she's in ours, so she should have made it her priority to learn english while she was here. Not us to learn spanish why are you people being so ignorant . Wow