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 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."
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?
The grandson is such a dumbo-all of this could have been averted.Next time when he is asked to translate- it doesn't mean EVERYTHING!!!
My father came here from another country and adapted. He has lived here for over 40 years and though some consider his accent heavy he can speak english and speak it well. I have friends whose parents have lived here for equally as long and can not (or will not) speak a word of english...I don't understand it.
To be completely honest, I don't understand that phenomenon either. I know one lady who has been here 50 years... and can't speak English. Really sad. So I find it really ridiculous when those BORN here can't speak english.
I really don't think that anyone here is saying that those that come to America don't deserve better lives. God Bless them for doing so. We ALL have ancestors that came here to settle. I believe what is being said is that if you're going to come here to live and work and breed and enjoy the land of 'milk and honey' then you should learn to adapt to the environment. One should be able to communicate in the country they reside in, in that specific country's native tongue. I thought that it was english but from reading some posts here, I guess I'm mistaken.
My father came here from another country and adapted. He has lived here for over 40 years and though some consider his accent heavy he can speak english and speak it well. I have friends whose parents have lived here for equally as long and can not (or will not) speak a word of english...I don't understand it.
how do we know that she hasn't attempted to learn, and brought her son in to help because english is known as the most difficult language to learn? or because she doesn't feel that her skills are adequate to communicate something as serious as her health? it's not like she's ordering a burger somewhere.
there are a lot of assumptions running throughout this thread, and it's disheartening to learn that people don't make a little more effort to understand where their patients are coming from when they make such statements.
how do we know that she hasn't attempted to learn, and brought her son in to help because english is known as the most difficult language to learn? or because she doesn't feel that her skills are adequate to communicate something as serious as her health? it's not like she's ordering a burger somewhere.
there are a lot of assumptions running throughout this thread, and it's disheartening to learn that people don't make a little more effort to understand where their patients are coming from when they make such statements.
The patient of which you speak stated, "Everyone in healthcare should know Spanish." Where do you think she's coming from?
i never said any such thing. bringing in a family member to translate for her is an attempt to communicate in english, no? in my first post on here, i stated that she was obviously frustrated in her situation and was speaking, to her son and not the nurse mind you, from that place of frustration. i stated that i believe it is our job as nurses to not take such things personally, and to do what we can to provide comfort to our patients, as is our role.
not a hard concept to understand... or at least i thought. it's kind of the focus of nursing fundamentals. anyone ever heard of that?
If she was frustrated with her situation then she should look to blame herself as that is exactly who is at fault. Like I said, I have had patients that speak many different languages (we communicated with no problem using the language phone) and I never once got the impression that they had any irritation over the fact that I did not know their language. If anything, they seemed embarrassed that they didn't have better English-speaking skills. Those people I sympathize with and will go out of my way for. Patients like the one mentioned in the OP, I will not. I have no problem communicating with someone that speaks only broken English - it doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect for us to understand each other. As I said all of the documents that make this country what it is (which is why immigrants are flocking here, no?) were drafted in English and that makes English good enough for me.
When I read the OP I was reminded of yet another one of my favorite quotes, 'your failure to plan does not constitute an emergency on my part'. That is how I feel about the patient in the OP. If communication in this country is a problem for her, then it is just that - her problem. The only person that needs to take steps to remedy that problem is herself.
how do we know that she hasn't attempted to learn, and brought her son in to help because english is known as the most difficult language to learn? or because she doesn't feel that her skills are adequate to communicate something as serious as her health? it's not like she's ordering a burger somewhere.
there are a lot of assumptions running throughout this thread, and it's disheartening to learn that people don't make a little more effort to understand where their patients are coming from when they make such statements.
It's also disheartening to learn that NO one (including patients) makes an effort to understand where the NURSE is coming from. Roll over and take it, in every aspect of the job, because we're martyrs that also can't have any kind of opinion on anything. Patients can call us names, swear at us, and insult us (in any language) and we can't do anything but accept it. Not all right.
In a perfect world, anyone who came into the United States would learn perfect spoken English. But let's be real, this is far from a perfect world and this expectation is not realistic.
Most of the people coming into the US from Spanish-speaking countries are poor. They are coming here largely out of desperation...they need to feed their families and they cannot do this in their country. Let's put aside the legal versus illegal for a moment...when you are trying to put food on the table for your children and get them an education you do what you have to do, including break some rules. Can any one of us say that we would not do the same? If you have never seen the poverty that is rampant in Mexico...go there and see it. Then tell me that if you were in that situation you would not try to come over illegally to make life better for your children.
Anyway, regardless of how they got here, these people are here, and they speak Spanish. To say, "they chose to come here, they should speak the language" is arrogant. It's like saying those homeless bums should just go out and get a job, when we know there are so many barriers to that happening. Most of the Spanish speaking populaion I work with would LOVE to learn English...who wouldn't? But how are they going to do it? They cannot afford schooling, tutoring, or classes. They are working sometimes two jobs trying to provide for their families. Even if they could find free classes, where is the time? Many of them are barely literate in their native tongue, how can they learn a second?
In general, we are the ones with the education, and many of us (not all of course) have led relatively privledged lives. I do not think it is asking much for us to learn a few words of Spanish if we work with a predominantly Spanish-speaking population. The families I work with try very hard with their English, despite numerous barriers. And yes, they may understand more than they would admit to, but they are most comfortable communicating in their native tongue and I understand that. If I was in a Spanish speaking country, but had the option to speak with someone in my native English, of course I would be more comfortable with that too, especially where something as important as healthcare is involved.
I just wish that we as a country would be more understanding about the plight of these people before judging them so harshly. If we could walk a mile in their shoes, we might see that they are just doing what they have to do to provide a life for their families.
Their plight is not that different from immigrants who have come to the US before them.
My grandparents (all 4 of them) immigrated here in their late teens, between 1920 and 1930. None of them spoke a word of English when they arrived. None had more than a grade school education. All were dirt poor, even by the standards of their native countries. When they arrived in the US, Social Security, disability compensation, workers compensation, labor laws limiting full time work to 40 hours/week, overtime pay, ESL classes, and many other social support systems that we now take for granted did not yet exist.
There was little to nothing in the way of public service agencies to offer support or guidance, such as there is today. They would not have expected it, as nothing like it existed in their native countries either.
They immigrated anyway, found work, gradually improved their lives, and eventually thrived. They are not unique in their success -- it has been repeated tens of millions of times.
It is the attitude of certain members, such as the one the OP encountered, of certain immigrant groups today that is unsettling. My grandparents successfully assimilated while retaining their native language and traditions (at my family's holiday get-togethers to this day, 3 languages are spoken). They had no need to demand accomodations for their immigrant status. What is different today?
It is the attitude of certain members, such as the one the OP encountered, of certain immigrant groups today that is unsettling. My grandparents successfully assimilated while retaining their native language and traditions (at my family's holiday get-togethers to this day, 3 languages are spoken). They had no need to demand accomodations for their immigrant status. What is different today?
The same situation applies in my house, where two languages are spoken during family get-togethers. An aunt and uncle that emigrated here DEMANDED English to be spoken in the household to assimilate quickly, but they also managed to retain all the traditions of their native country, as evidenced by the unusual choices of dishes during T'giving that would make a non-immigrant American go, "Huh?"
I wasn't assuming that she wasn't scared or didn't feel as if she didn't know enough english to comfortably communicate. It was the original post I was going by, that everone in health care should know spanish. My dad is at the age where he is visiting the hospital a little more often than I'd like and HE is so self conscious that they don't understand him and will plead with one of us to translate for him. Absolutely not. And guess what? His nurses and Doctor understand him just fine.
It just seems like an awfully one sided relationship. If everyone would take an honest inventory-well I won't say everyone. I have taken an honest inventory and we as a country are verrry accomodating, which is fine. I guess that's what makes this country of ours so great, but it isn't just in the hospitals or health care offices-it's everywhere. And no we're not talking about that but when you mentioned that it wasn't like she was ordering a burger that reminded me of something. I was in McD's one day and when I stepped up to order, the girl couldn't speak english to take my order. So the manager told me to step into another long line to make my order there because that young lady spoke english..???
I left hungry, annoyed and puzzled. All I wanted was a burger...and maybe some fries:lol2:
Specializes in Telemetry, Oncology, Progressive Care.
I would rather spend my time going to a nursing convention or obtaining specilization in my field of nursing and learn more about the excellent care I can provide to ALL of my patients than learning a language so I can communicate to the patients who refuse to learn the language and live here.
Kind of off topic, but, I also hate when I see a bumper sticker that says the xxx country is so awesome. Really, then why are you living in the US? I'll never get that one.
they also managed to retain all the traditions of their native country, as evidenced by the unusual choices of dishes during T'giving that would make a non-immigrant American go, "Huh?"
Katie5
1,459 Posts
The grandson is such a dumbo-all of this could have been averted.Next time when he is asked to translate- it doesn't mean EVERYTHING!!!