With the world growing smaller every minute, and our exposure to all sorts of languages, accents, and dialects, we ALL should be cognizent of the fact that we will come across people who do not understand us, as well as we not understanding them. My mother is German. She is asked if she is German, by strangers, yet when she has visited Germany, her homeland, she is told she has an American accent. So no matter where you go or live, there will always be someone that complains about how you say something. As long as the nurse is able to do her job, and by speaking slower than in his/her native tongue, then he/she should be allowed to practice. I can understand Spanish if it is spoken slowly, but at a rapid rate of speaking, I can only understand a few of the words spoken. English is a required subject in many foreign countries. We are required to take a foreign language in America, too. Who hasn't been taught Spanish or French, or German, or Latin, or Italian, or Russian (with an American pronunciation of the language and also by an American)? The "foreign nurses are also taught English by someone in their native tongue. Many hard-nosed Americans decide ahead of time that if there is one hint of an accent, they won't be able to understand anything their nurse tells them. Well, as someone who lives in the center of the USA, I say, go to Arkansas, and answer the question that is asked by them: "Keen I hip yuh?" (Can I help you?). I know, I lived there shortly after I was married, and had a hard time understanding what people were saying. But that didn't mean I wouldn't let them take care of me if I was hospitalized. Many of our 'foreign nurses, are also graduates of our American Nursing Schools, not necessarily trained overseas. They couldn't get out of school if they couldn't communicate. So encourage these "foreign nurses". They are like you and me.
ECKpowers: As a patient if you have to constantly ask someone else to help you because you cannot understand your care provider that will only exacerbate the existing nursing shortage (and short-staffing) in healthcare facilities.
ECKpowers: As a patient if you have to constantly ask someone else to help you because you cannot understand your care provider that will only exacerbate the existing nursing shortage (and short-staffing) in healthcare facilities.
We have hired foreign nurses on my unit. Two of the three were trained in the USA. Just because they are trained in a foreign country, doesn't give them automatic rights to practice here. There are state and national guidelines they have to follow. It is also not unusual to require the foreign trained nurses to take additional courses here before they can take American boards. By working with them, we have encouraged them to speak slower, and it has worked. Pt complaints are greatly reduced when the nurse speaks slower. The same is true when I speak Spanish. If I speak slower, the patient and family will understand me, because I speak Spanish with an American accent. However, if I try to speak Spanish rapidly, they say "huh, what did you say?" So it works both ways.
first of all i want to say that i strongly believe that all health care staff should be able to speak and understand english with certain level of competence. there is no way around that. impressive resumes or nursing shortages should not bypass this point under no circumstance. it is reckless and disrespectful towards the patients (and other members of the staff) when a nurse, doctor, cna or clerk can not understand the patients or can not make him or she understood. i see examples of this everyday and it is really unfortunate.
on the other hand, proficiency and accent are not interchangeable terms. some staff members have accents, but so do some patients. it is not the patient fault or problem having to deal with any accent from a staff member but the same work the other way around. we as nurses, usually, try to go beyond these language barriers and make sure we understand the patient and that the patient understands us. that is (or should be) also a given. but, when we talk about accents, what type of accent are we talking about. the strong brooklynite accent, the nasal accents from new england, those singing-like southern accents, etc. which one? what really makes me a little uncomfortable about this topic is that the accents some people seem to talk about are foreign accents. these are the same people that mention things like "foreign nurses" should learn and adopt (like it is so easy to do) an american accent (again, which one?). i live in brooklyn and work in new york where literally 50% of the population has an accent. my neighbors go through their lives speaking chinese, russian, italian, polish, hebrew, creole , spanish and probably dozen of other languages and can be (at least some of them) very proficient in english when they have to, most of them with an accent. i am not bothered by their accents and they not seem to be bothered by mine. so when some people seems so offended by those accents ,my brooklinite paranoia tells me that the accents they talk about are not from peggy sues, jimmy bobs or donnas (using some other post example), but pedros, rashids, kwon lees and mohammeds. and the fact that those accents usually are attached to skin colors other than the european standard one, put me totally on guard.
this is america. the land of the diversity and multiculturalism. the land of tolerance, freedom of choice and cult. this is what i believe and that is what i work for. if some people think that everybody that comes to america should change and adapt to the domestic norm (like there is only one) maybe should check their understanding of america and american values. yes if you move to this country you should obey these laws and accept this constitution as yours and yes you should learn english as a way to integrate better in the society. but the language you speak in your home, the food you eat, the clothes you wear and the temple or church you go to pray is entirely up to you and nobody should have anything to say about that. there are other ways to understand societies that value more the uniformity. the one language, one culture and one set of social values. we fought one of those cultures in world war ii and their social norm did not seem to work that fine for a part of that population.
accents should not be an issue more than when people talk fast or low. that is the way the talk and they just need to be sure the have been understood. patient care should not have to be compromise by that.
Some of the very nurses about whom I speak were educated in U.S. nursing schools but cannot speak the language with the proficiency required to deliver quality healthcare to their patients; this issue is a matter of degrees and invoking a Southern U.S. accent to make your point is not very persuasive. I am sure that those of you not from the South all speak the King's english and can be understood everywhere, however, I repeat, it is a matter of degrees. I have not heard a patient complain about not understanding a Southern accent but I have heard them complain about foreign-born nurses and I do not assume the patients are automatically prejudiced when they make such a complaint but assume the patients have a genuine interest in knowing they can understand their caregiver and be understood by him or her. In addition, a nurse who does not speak understandable english often undermines a patient's confidence in his or her ability to deliver quality care irrespective of that nurse's compentency.
No, I am not suggesting that patients should not speak up, I am suggesting that they should not HAVE to do so because they cannot understand the caregiver.
I was trying to get across that all of us have an accent. No matter where we live or come from. My sister, who lives in another area of the country, is very noticeably heavy accented after living in the same area for 30 plus years. There are, however people in our great nation, that decide that, based on a person's color (including African-American and Native American), that the person cannot be understood no matter what they say. That is an issue in itself, because very few people will be able to make them happy. They will always find something to complain about, because that is who they are. And that is unfortunate. We can learn alot from everyone if we only try.
Iantueno: I am not suggesting that you or anyone else assimilate anymore than you want to as members of the U.S. workforce; what I AM saying is that care providers and patients must be able to communicate period. All of the other issues you cite are not important. The only issue here is CAN YOU COMMUNICATE with your patients and vice-versa? If you do not speak the english language well enough to communicate with your patients then you need to remediate or risk degrading the quality of care you and your facility are providing to the patients. You can speak however you want to outside of work but when you are providing care you owe it to your patients to provide the best care you can.
I was trying to get across that all of us have an accent. No matter where we live or come from. My sister, who lives in another area of the country, is very noticeably heavy accented after living in the same area for 30 plus years. There are, however people in our great nation, that decide that, based on a person's color (including African-American and Native American), that the person cannot be understood no matter what they say. That is an issue in itself, because very few people will be able to make them happy. They will always find something to complain about, because that is who they are. And that is unfortunate. We can learn alot from everyone if we only try.
True, we can learn from everyone, but patients who are sick, scared, worried; don't think they are in the learning mood.
I have seen patients unable to communicate with nurses due to heavy accents, and they were scared.
I have written down the wrong information during report due to that very accent, and have watched Doctors frustration trying to communicate with these nurses.
These nurses were wonderful, caring, competent people, but the lack of communication brought chaos, confusion, and was very detrimental to patient care.
Administration had to pull a few of these nurses from the floor and they spent days trying to improve their English.
It isn't about being politically correct. It is about communication.
This whole discussion has drifted from its original topic and apparently the salient point of the discussion is getting lost. Let me put it this way, for example, were I to go to work in France I would not expect everyone to learn english to accomodate me. I would expect that the burden would be on me to learn French proficiently enough to be able to effectively communicate with those in my care. We are a multicultural country, thank God, but we are an english-speaking country and thus it is necessary to competently speak english. It is unfortunate that some people have to trot out the "race" card in order to deflect the conversation from the topic at hand. Simply put, the patient has the right to understand and be understood relative to his or her caregiver as that is an essential part of delivering good and safe care to the patient. If you want to work in this country (or reside here) do as our ancestors did and learn english because if you do not you are putting yourself at a disadvantage in general, and specifically, in the workplace.
true, we can learn from everyone, but patients who are sick, scared, worried; don't think they are in the learning mood.
i have seen patients unable to communicate with nurses due to heavy accents, and they were scared.
i have written down the wrong information during report due to that very accent, and have watched doctors frustration trying to communicate with these nurses.
these nurses were wonderful, caring, competent people, but the lack of communication brought chaos, confusion, and was very detrimental to patient care.
administration had to pull a few of these nurses from the floor and they spent days trying to improve their english.
it isn't about being politically correct. it is about communication.
altus bulldog
17 Posts
With the world growing smaller every minute, and our exposure to all sorts of languages, accents, and dialects, we ALL should be cognizent of the fact that we will come across people who do not understand us, as well as we not understanding them. My mother is German. She is asked if she is German, by strangers, yet when she has visited Germany, her homeland, she is told she has an American accent. So no matter where you go or live, there will always be someone that complains about how you say something. As long as the nurse is able to do her job, and by speaking slower than in his/her native tongue, then he/she should be allowed to practice. I can understand Spanish if it is spoken slowly, but at a rapid rate of speaking, I can only understand a few of the words spoken. English is a required subject in many foreign countries. We are required to take a foreign language in America, too. Who hasn't been taught Spanish or French, or German, or Latin, or Italian, or Russian (with an American pronunciation of the language and also by an American)? The "foreign nurses are also taught English by someone in their native tongue. Many hard-nosed Americans decide ahead of time that if there is one hint of an accent, they won't be able to understand anything their nurse tells them. Well, as someone who lives in the center of the USA, I say, go to Arkansas, and answer the question that is asked by them: "Keen I hip yuh?" (Can I help you?). I know, I lived there shortly after I was married, and had a hard time understanding what people were saying. But that didn't mean I wouldn't let them take care of me if I was hospitalized. Many of our 'foreign nurses, are also graduates of our American Nursing Schools, not necessarily trained overseas. They couldn't get out of school if they couldn't communicate. So encourage these "foreign nurses". They are like you and me.