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?
I'm sure they HAVE picked up on a few phrases. Most of them would have to do with their everyday lives, though... OUR everyday lives involve medical phrases. Most people's don't, though.
As for all of those custodians, kitchen workers, switch board operators... um, you obviously have never lived in AZ. Most of the people holding those jobs in our hospital spoke Spanish as fluently or more fluently then they spoke English!
I live in NY, the self proclaimed epitome of the melting pot. I see it everyday.
Not everyone is bi-lingual, so I'm not sure how they will get by. How I will get by.
They aren't many jobs in the paper that don't require being bi-lingual except
paper flyer technician...and newspaper boy. So, I'd better start sending out
Here's another wrinkle: once we all learn Spanish to satisfy the "needs" of 1/6 of the US population, and then the Chinese or the French, or the Germans get on the bandwagon and demand that we all learn their language, do the Hispanics have to learn their language, too? And of course, the Chinese, or Germans, or French will have to learn Spanish to make the lives of the Hispanics easier. They will also be learning English because that's what they do. How ever will they have the time?
The sheer silliness of this is making me chuckle.
My L&D nursing knowledge is limited, and only having an L&D patient maybe once every 2 or 3 years, it's not really worth it to me pursue opportunities to increase my L&D skills to an extensive degree. But I do make time to pursue continuing education on topics I see on a regular basis. Even though it is not required by my employer or to maintain my license, I still choose to invest the energy and time because it makes it easier for me to do my job well given the frequency that I am presented with these topics.
The same is true for Language. If you never have a Spanish or Russian speaking patient, then it wouldn't make much sense to learn either language. But since I do have a Russian-only speaking patient at least once a month, it does make it worth my while to improve my comprehension of Russian.
If you were suddenly overrun with laboring German-only speaking patients for the foreseeable future, it might be worth your while to learn some German, not so much because the patients say you should, but because it would make it much easier for you to do your job, (which is particularly nice since you are already dealing with the unpleasant sound of a floor full of women screaming in German). If you only have the very rare German-only speaking patient, then you're probably not going to get an adequate return on your investment of time and energy. Although being overrun with German-only speaking patients is unlikely since China, Germany, France, and even Mexico require English by high school and often start in grade school. (Unfortunately, the same Mexican residents who are unable to finish school due to socioeconomic conditions, are often the same ones who look for a better life here).
So are all of our Chinese, Ukrainian, Ethopian, Tibetan, Vietnamese, Pakistani, Cambodian, Korean, Somali and East Indian support personnel supposed to quit working on their English so that they can learn Spanish instead?
My L&D nursing knowledge is limited, and only having an L&D patient maybe once every 2 or 3 years, it's not really worth it to me pursue opportunities to increase my L&D skills to an extensive degree. But I do make time to pursue continuing education on topics I see on a regular basis. Even though it is not required by my employer or to maintain my license, I still choose to invest the energy and time because it makes it easier for me to do my job well given the frequency that I am presented with these topics.
The same is true for Language. If you never have a Spanish or Russian speaking patient, then it wouldn't make much sense to learn either language. But since I do have a Russian-only speaking patient at least once a month, it does make it worth my while to improve my comprehension of Russian.
If you were suddenly overrun with laboring German-only speaking patients for the foreseeable future, it might be worth your while to learn some German, not so much because the patients say you should, but because it would make it much easier for you to do your job, (which is particularly nice since you are already dealing with the unpleasant sound of a floor full of women screaming in German). If you only have the very rare German-only speaking patient, then you're probably not going to get an adequate return on your investment of time and energy. Although being overrun with German-only speaking patients is unlikely since China, Germany, France, and even Mexico require English by high school and often start in grade school. (Unfortunately, the same Mexican residents who are unable to finish school due to socioeconomic conditions, are often the same ones who look for a better life here).
I happen to have been in L & D for 34 years, and most of our patients get epidurals. We have a very quiet unit! BUT, I had a Japanese patient once upon a time who spoke perfect English. When she got to about 6 cms, however, she apologized to me and said, "I'm sorry, I cannot do this in English now." And she reverted back to Japanese.
Based on that, I again say, that according to your thought process, we all should be fluent in all languages of the entire world. That would mean the Spanish speaking countries MUST be fluent, completely fluent, in Englishg also, so that when we are in their countries, WE can feel just like we are at home.
Like I said before, this is getting silly.
And we get floated far more often than we like to areas that are like another world: Med/Surg; Acute Rehab; Gero-Psych; Just going there once in a while doesn't help us feel more competent, and going there more often would mean we've left
L & D. There's no reason in the world for me to become proficient in ICU stuff. I am not an ICU nurse. So I find that long bit above unnecessary. If YOU feel better about yourself and want to do all of that, go for it. But please, don't fault any of the rest of us, for making the choice to forego it.
I thought all MunoRN was just saying is that it does make life a bit easier learning a little of each language, or the main language most of your patients speak, but it is hard to take the time to learn a language properly when we all have so many other things to do.
I have learned little phrases in Greek, Italian, etc but I certainly couldn't carry on a conversation and to tell you the truth, if you do learn another language an interpreter told me people call you all the time to translate, and at all hours too. Can you imagine being a nurse who knew several different languages & the patients and families found out about it? You would never ever get your work finished.
I happen to have been in L & D for 34 years, and most of our patients get epidurals. We have a very quiet unit! BUT, I had a Japanese patient once upon a time who spoke perfect English. When she got to about 6 cms, however, she apologized to me and said, "I'm sorry, I cannot do this in English now." And she reverted back to Japanese.
Based on that, I again say, that according to your thought process, we all should be fluent in all languages of the entire world. That would mean the Spanish speaking countries MUST be fluent, completely fluent, in Englishg also, so that when we are in their countries, WE can feel just like we are at home.
Like I said before, this is getting silly.
And we get floated far more often than we like to areas that are like another world: Med/Surg; Acute Rehab; Gero-Psych; Just going there once in a while doesn't help us feel more competent, and going there more often would mean we've left
L & D. There's no reason in the world for me to become proficient in ICU stuff. I am not an ICU nurse. So I find that long bit above unnecessary. If YOU feel better about yourself and want to do all of that, go for it. But please, don't fault any of the rest of us, for making the choice to forego it.
I'm actually saying that we shouldn't have to be fluent in all languages of the entire world. We also agree that we don't all have to be equally proficient in all areas of Nursing. I'm not proficient in L&D and I'm OK with that, it's not something I see often enough and when I do, we have an L&D nurse round on the patient for the between the legs stuff, although that doesn't mean I'm immune to those situations.
What I'm saying is that communication is a proficiency just like any other tool nurses use to care for patients, and the need for that proficiency is related to the degree that you are confronted with situations that would benefit from those tools. Sometimes that might mean a class on a new LVAD, sometimes it might mean a medical spanish class, or neither if those aren't situations you are normally confronted with.
Here's another wrinkle: once we all learn Spanish to satisfy the "needs" of 1/6 of the US population, and then the Chinese or the French, or the Germans get on the bandwagon and demand that we all learn their language, do the Hispanics have to learn their language, too? And of course, the Chinese, or Germans, or French will have to learn Spanish to make the lives of the Hispanics easier. They will also be learning English because that's what they do. How ever will they have the time?
The sheer silliness of this is making me chuckle.
And I feel like I am picking on this particular group but unfortunately this particular group pulls this language crap extensively! Not all of them mind you, but most of them. Sadly I don't ever hear "why don't you speak _______(insert any other language other than Spanish)" from anyone except this group.
As I said I am not picking on this group as I have friends and family of this group, but when I hear this alot from other people, it makes the group as a whole look bad, hence stereotypes.
So are all of our Chinese, Ukrainian, Ethopian, Tibetan, Vietnamese, Pakistani, Cambodian, Korean, Somali and East Indian support personnel supposed to quit working on their English so that they can learn Spanish instead?
Now just imagine if you were one of them working hard to learn English cause they came here for better opportunities and they hear a pt say " why don't you speak Spanish?" Not only would I be greatly offended but insulted that these people abuse our country and culture like that.
tntrn, ASN, RN
1,340 Posts
No, you should be studying Spanish!