Specializes in Home Care, Primary care NP, QI, Nsg Adm.
I think its agreed that patients (and staff) must be able to fully understand their providers as the providers must be able to understand their patients. It is a logical conclusion, therefore, only staff with appropriate communication skills should be employed.
My question is not the right of the patient, seems clear but, are negative responses about an inability to understand or personal dislike of the individual based on ethnicity, etc. I believe that can be easily assessed by asking a complaining patient or staff member in open ended questions why they are upset or unhappy with a nurse or doctor, hoping to distinguish if its communication or other professional issues or personal issues.
Remember the old woman who said to McCain that she would not vote for Obama because he's Arab. I doubt she holds a singular view. Understanding that and to be fair to patients and staff, complaints about accents, etc, if and when they occur need to be properly assessed by objective, responsible managers in order to prevent injustice to patient and staff.
Specializes in trauma, ortho, burns, plastic surgery.
Stanley is easy.. be yourself, laugh like you use to laugh, love like you did always, sing ....Keeeen LEEEEEEEE, keen lee udibudapto...", loooooooool, give warm hugs from all your heart to ....your big boss, when your supervisor is stoneshit.... pass the barriers..... make a oldy to fell his heart beating.. again... and eyes to sparkles...hehehe.... I beat that he never will fell the same, looool, ......... give wings to the people down..... fill their dreams....... stay in a room with 10 drags and you only gurl and fell safe and admire them OMG so beauties......, lool, be able to pray inocent now, and think dirty in 10 minutes after (just a little, hot cores...what can I do, lool...IS ME), be you....just be YOU like you fell that you really are insiede. Laugh about yourself instead of others, love more even if they don't deserve it, hug more, sing more, fly more (be carefull with wich plane, lool), be open, and LOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEE!
Wear colorfull clothes and sparkling jewels, perfumes, opend your car windows on the rain and listen noise songs . LIVE! Talk with people, much more listen them, each of them have a story.....
To be nurse is just a little piece of you.... BE YOU, like you are insiede.
Now you are still scared of my boots, loooool! or you like my other english?
Happy Valentines Day Stanley... don't forget.... if you will love people you could communicate with them....LOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEE...out from the closet...looooool
I think its agreed that patients (and staff) must be able to fully understand their providers as the providers must be able to understand their patients. It is a logical conclusion, therefore, only staff with appropriate communication skills should be employed.
My question is not the right of the patient, seems clear but, are negative responses about an inability to understand or personal dislike of the individual based on ethnicity, etc. I believe that can be easily assessed by asking a complaining patient or staff member in open ended questions why they are upset or unhappy with a nurse or doctor, hoping to distinguish if its communication or other professional issues or personal issues.
Remember the old woman who said to McCain that she would not vote for Obama because he's Arab. I doubt she holds a singular view. Understanding that and to be fair to patients and staff, complaints about accents, etc, if and when they occur need to be properly assessed by objective, responsible managers in order to prevent injustice to patient and staff.
saifudin, I don't recall anybody making this about ethnicity. The entire thread is about UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER.
Personally, I've been to a doctor that was completely incomprehensible and I looked for one I *could* understand. I have nothing against foreign-born doctors (my GI doc is from India and I LOVE him) as long as they speak English that I can understand.
Bottom line is if you can't understand what your provider is saying many will ask for someone they can understand. I would. It's imperative you understand what your provider is saying and that you can communicate effectively. Period.
For God's sake people! LOL What more can possibly be said on this topic??????........I can't believe this thread is STILL continuing!
Well it will keep going and going... The thread is about ACCENT.. Just mainly ACCENT.. It did'nt say anything about GRAMMAR and COMPREHENSION... It's ACCENT..
It's like a patient asked the Foreign nurse, "Hey nurse, What's this medication for?", then the foreign nurse answer, "thet midecation ez for yur exesting enfection.(translation: that medication is for your existing infection" and the patient says "WHAT?" the nurse uttered the same ACCENT.. Then the patient asked for another nurse to take care of her...
Cant you see where this going... It's the ACCENT for crying out LOUD!!
I dont stand with the rest of the Foreign nurse here but, Before any foreign nurse could practice there in the US they have to take an ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAM from which each and everyone of them will be assessed and evaluated based on 4 categories, their ability to LISTEN, SPEAK, READ and WRITE.
ACCENT is there and I must admit that it will be a hindrance.. But in months time or depending on how actively that foreign nurse communicate with a native staff, that accent will not be totally be diminished but somehow improve.. SO, we are COLLEAGUES here, help Foreign nurse diminished that accent, instead of complaining..
the healthcare workforce and patient population in silicon valley are diverse. diversity enhances the work environment and is even thought to increase access to medical care for certain populations, but can present unique challenges to employers with regard to communication in the workplace. during employer interviews, all employers stressed that clear communication between employees, patients, and outside healthcare professionals is essential for patient safety and satisfaction.
to gain employment, all employers indicated that applicants must be proficient in english, but the degree of proficiency clearly varies by facility and even by department within a healthcare facility. nursing, laboratory and pharmacy departments tend to have more employees with communication challenges, primarily because shortages in these areas have garnered international attention. food service, central service and environmental service also have a high number of employees with communication challenges but these employees do not have regular patient contact and therefore their communication challenges should not negatively affect patient safety.
because communication challenges are an issue in every healthcare facility, some healthcare employers provide in-house english language learner (ell) training and accent-reduction courses, and several healthcare employers contract with local community colleges or private instructors for special courses. if an employee receives a patient complaint or is identified by coworkers or department management as difficult to understand, s/he may be sent through an accent reduction program that is taught by a speech therapist or speech language pathologist. these programs are often successful if the individual invests a tremendous effort in the sessions and completes the assigned work at home. the accent reduction programs are most difficult for individuals who speak their native language at home and only speak english while at work. the program may vary in length, and may involve individual and/or group training. if an employee does not have a good understanding of english or does not have a sufficient vocabulary to communicate adequately with patients or coworkers, s/he may be sent through an ell program designed for healthcare professionals.
many individuals improve with esl and accent reduction training, but a number of healthcare workers are displaced because they have been sent through ell and/or accent reduction training and have been unable to improve their skills. employers that terminate employees based on the grounds of communication challenges do so only after a documented history of communication error and coworker or patient complaints is in place, and they feel patient safety is at risk. according to several individuals interviewed, this has happened within several health organizations.
due to the cost of training and the effects of displacement on employer image and staff morale, employers are hesitant to hire applicants with heavy accents. individuals with communication challenges should enroll in an accent reduction program or esl course prior to applying for jobs as a heavy accent or poor english vocabulary is likely to be a substantial barrier to employment in a tight job market.
most community college training programs will make students aware of the challenges that individuals with less than perfect english skills will face in the healthcare workplace and concurrent enrollment in a community college course designed for non-native english speakers is available. however, these courses are not always offered in vocational college programs and students are not always told about realities of pursuing healthcare employment from vocational college instructors so it is essential that career advisors give clients information about accent reduction resources and esl courses. a course entitled "esl for healthcare professionals" is offered quarterly at deanza. this class is valuable because it teaches vocabulary related to anatomy, healthcare practices and delivery systems, and provider/patient interaction training that is not taught in traditional esl classes....
.....if an individual has completed an esl program but is still having difficulty with accent reduction, and he or she has the resources to pay for a consultation with an accent reduction specialist, contact the american speech language hearing association for a referral to a trained professional, www.csha.org or (916) 921-1568.
watch the mouth movements of native speakers. observe the mouth movements of native american speakers. repeat what they are saying, imitating the intonation and rhythm of their speech.
slow down. until you learn the correct intonation and rhythm of english, slow down your speech. if you speak too quickly with the wrong intonation and rhythm, native speakers will have a hard time understanding you.
use your dictionary. become familiar with the phonetic symbols of your dictionary and look up the correct pronunciation of words that are hard for you to say.
ask someone. make a list of frequently used words that are difficult for you to pronounce and ask a native speaker to pronounce them for you. record these words, listen to them, and practice saying them.
listen to books on tape. listen and read at the same time. record yourself reading some sections of the book. compare the sound of your english with that of the speaker.
pay attention to word endings. pronounce the ending of each word. pay special attention to “s” and “ed” endings.
read aloud. read aloud in english, such as a novel or the newspaper, for fifteen to twenty minutes each day. this will help you strengthen the mouth muscles that you use when you speak english. research has shown that it takes about three months of daily practice to develop strong mouth muscles for speaking a new language.
listen to yourself. record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes. this is an excellent exercise because it will help you become conscious of the mistakes that you are making.
be patient. you can change the way you speak but it won’t happen overnight. people often expect instant results and give up too soon. you can change the way you sound if you are willing to put some effort into it.
or you like my other english?
Atheos
2,098 Posts
Zuzi! You always have a wonderful attitude and insight into life. Can you lend us some of that joy???