People in healthcare should speak Spanish, she said

[Paulie G]

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?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I have deleted multiple posts that discuss skinheads. This is considered hate speech and will not be tolerated.

Per our terms of service:

"...racial vilification and offensive generalizations targeting people of other races, religions and/or nationalities will not be tolerated."

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Several people have made comments along the lines that because past generations of immigrants were able to learn English and assimilate, the current group should also. I understand that logic, but what we fail to realize is that the transition that took place generations ago was not instant, it took time. No one is going to convince me that their relatives moved to this country and learned the language "immediately". Give me a break. Yes, the previous generations had barriers similar to those faced today, and the succeeded in assimilating, many over the course of several generations. There is no such thing as instant assimilation. Let's give these people a break, for goodness sake!

Who are we to impose our own timeline on our patients? "Well, you've been in this country 6 months? You should already know English!" My whole point is that we need to to judge our patients for not speaking the language because we DO NOT KNOW what barriers they face. In many instances, we make assumptions about an individual based on our own bias or bad experiences or based on the actions of other members of the same racial group. This is dangerous ground we're treading on, my friends.

Political views aside, when we are dealing with an individual patient, are we not supposed to meet them where ever they are, leaving behind our own bias and judgements? I'm not saying that we should be required to learn Spanish, but we SHOULD be required to be more understanding. I have a feeling that patients like the one described in the OP become bitter due to instances of discrimination. This whole thread smacks of it.

[Motivated grandma]

Several people have made comments along the lines that because past generations of immigrants were able to learn English and assimilate, the current group should also. I understand that logic, but what we fail to realize is that the transition that took place generations ago was not instant, it took time. No one is going to convince me that their relatives moved to this country and learned the language "immediately". Give me a break. Yes, the previous generations had barriers similar to those faced today, and the succeeded in assimilating, many over the course of several generations. There is no such thing as instant assimilation. Let's give these people a break, for goodness sake!

Who are we to impose our own timeline on our patients? "Well, you've been in this country 6 months? You should already know English!" My whole point is that we need to to judge our patients for not speaking the language because we DO NOT KNOW what barriers they face. In many instances, we make assumptions about an individual based on our own bias or bad experiences or based on the actions of other members of the same racial group. This is dangerous ground we're treading on, my friends.

Political views aside, when we are dealing with an individual patient, are we not supposed to meet them where ever they are, leaving behind our own bias and judgements? I'm not saying that we should be required to learn Spanish, but we SHOULD be required to be more understanding. I have a feeling that patients like the one described in the OP become bitter due to instances of discrimination. This whole thread smacks of it.

Learning to live in a new country generally takes a couple of generations, at least. However, in the past, although German Grandma or Chinese Grandpa or Columbian Grandma may not have spoken English their entire lives, they were very proud that their children spoke English and insisted on it! That really isn't the case with many immigrants coming here, now, and it is all due to a political agenda being thrust upon them by a few "leaders."

Our school district is very, very mixed (English speaking, Asian, Filipino, Indian, Hispanic, etc.). With the exception of Hispanic children, all non-English speakers enter ESL classrooms where they are immersed in an English speaking environment. They learn English very rapidly this way. Hispanic children, however, are automatically enrolled in a bilingual classroom (all spanish speaking children with a bilingual teacher) unless the parents "request" an ESL classroom. You can all guess what their command of the English language is like after six years in elementary. There is a political agenda going on that is willing to sacrifice the futures of these kids, and it sickens me. I volunteered in the bilingual classroom for three years until I just realized that my time was mostly being wasted. I loved the kids, but I really couldn't help them.

By the way, having adopted two children internationally, I know how quickly young children can pick up a second language and I also know how very difficult it is for many adults (like me ) to learn a second language, so I don't expect first generation immigrants to have even a mediocre command of the English language. However, I do expect that they will encourage their children to learn English if they come to this country.

Anyway, this issue is a lot more complex and nuanced than "discrimination" would suggest, with much of the seemingly nativist attitudes really just a push back to a political agenda that has been thrust upon us. It "is" affecting us all and especially in certain careers like nursing where there will be more expectations of "natives" meeting "immigrant" demands.

[anonymurse]

The limitations placed on use of the Language Line at my facility was based on the Standards of Care for non-English speaking patients. Language Lines, utilizing certified Medical Interpreters, are the standard of care for an initial assessment and are a legal requirement for obtaining consent. If you use the Language Line for all your other patient interactions (which according to standards of care is at least hourly) that's great, but most nurses severely underuse Language Line resources much less use it hourly and unfortunately just tend to avoid the patient altogether, similar to an isolation patient and with the same resulting level of poorer outcomes, even though they may have unlimited access to Language Lines.

Yup, I put the blue phone in the room and leave it there.

[elkpark]

What? Where?!

Any place that a cup of coffee costs $1.00 ...

[rkitty198, BSN, RN]

Working in west Texas I had times where patients refused me as their nurse because I couldnt speak fluent Spanish. It was hurtful and insulting. The patient would speak perfect English and then say "can you speak Spanish?" I would say "no," and then they would ask for another nurse.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

After much staff discussion this thread will remain closed. We recognize that this can be a volatile subject and welcome debate. However generalizations and hate speech will not be tolerated.