Rampant Racisim in Hospitals!!

[goodkittie395]

I am from California where many classified ads for nurses state "bilingual is a must!" Well I am trilingual, but since I do not speak spanish I do not qualify as bilingual. What is the rationale behind this? This is rampant, overt, disguisting racism. It should not be happening inside hospitals. Bilingual implies two languages. It is not another word for spanish. Something has to be done.

Yes, I am trying to learn spanish and know a few phrases and nursing related questions, but my problem is with the hospitals trying to hide the fact that they only want to hire spanish speakers.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

The hospital I worked in before the one I'm at now had a solution that worked really well. The staff there was a real salad bowl of ethnicities as were the patients. When a translator was needed urgently, the hospital page operator would announce overhead, "Anyone who speaks fill in the blanks please contact the hospital operator." Most of the time there was someone who could provide simple translations until more formal arrangements could be made. The prevailing wisdom was life over limb over privacy concerns and I can't recall anyone ever complaining about confidentiality issues.

[Sheri257]

I think it says a lot about a person who is unwilling to try and learn a second language that would be of benefit to their patient.

Well ... I'm going to be honest with you. My future employer does pay extra for learning Spanish and I am willing to do that. But, I'm also interested in pursuing my bachelor's and master's for better career opportunities.

Since I will, more than likely, have limited time for extra studies as it is while working ... the degrees are going to take priority over another language.

If that makes me a bad nurse, so be it. Sorry but, my degree goals are more important.

:typing

[KellNY, RN]

Well ... I'm going to be honest with you. My future employer does pay extra for learning Spanish and I am willing to do that. But, I'm also interested in pursuing my bachelor's and master's for better career opportunities.

If that makes me a bad nurse, so be it. Sorry but, my degree goals are more important.

That's one thing.

But I have a co-worker (an RN) who refuses to learn or use one single word in Spanish. Won't even learn the OB basics (contractions, fluid, pain, etc). How she completes her assessments is beyond me, and I truly feel bad for her patients.

[kcalohagirl]

That's one thing.

But I have a co-worker (an RN) who refuses to learn or use one single word in Spanish. Won't even learn the OB basics (contractions, fluid, pain, etc). How she completes her assessments is beyond me, and I truly feel bad for her patients.

:yeahthat:

I speak quite a bit of Spanish. I'm not fully fluent, and carrying on an intelligent conversation with someone about a complex medical condition is a whole different matter than trying to ask for (and follow) directions in Mexico City, or even socializing with my Mexican friends on a Friday night. But I can't imagine trying to take care of my Spanish-speaking-only patients without even a remedial knowledge of words and phrases.

The charge nurse on my unit makes an effort to give me the Spanish-speaking patients when she can, however I have also put together a "cheat sheet" with some useful phrases on it (as well as possible responses to the questions and what they mean).

[Myxel67]

Well, when we're talking about places that may have equal or higher percentages of spanish speaking than English speaking pts, that's a big difference than the occasional Tagalog speaking Pt you might come into contact with. So that's not really a relevant comparison unless you worked at the UN or something.

:monkeydance:

The hospital I worked in before the one I'm at now had a solution that worked really well. The staff there was a real salad bowl of ethnicities as were the patients.

I live and work in a city with probably the highest percentage of Spanish speakers in the USA. There are parts of the city here you might not hear the first word of English.

But I absolutely love the Spanish language. I was fortunate enough to be a part of an experiment in which public school kids were given classes in Spanish starting in 7th grade, rather than 9th grade. This was a

L....O....N....G time age in the deep south.

Although I love the language, I believe those who live here should make an effort to learn English. There are thousands of people who have lived here 40 - 45 years and still don't speak English. When I speak to them in Spanish, they tell me how important it is to be able to speak 2 languages.

Some of our doctors actually forget sometimes and start to chart in Spanish. A patient from Columbia, SA who moved here from Chicago spoke fluent English. He complained he was in danger of losing his English because when people heard his name, they automatically switched over to Spanish.

The Hispanic activists/community leaders here go to great lengths to promote the idea of the "salad bowl" as opposed to the "melting pot." They choose to maintain their language and most of their customs & be a part of the salad, rather than to assimilate and become part of the melting pot.

While I am proud and grateful for my ability to speak and write Spanish, I do not think it should be a requirement for getting a job. I enjoy seeing the surprise on patients faces when I take a nursing history and provide diabetes education entirely in Spanish. (they are surprised to here ny slight southern accent disappear.)

My being able to speak Spanish means that the other RN in the department does not need to. Because about half of our patients/students speak mostly Spanish, if we want to serve the community, we must be able to communicate effectively.