Speaking foreign languages

whereslilly · Nov 29, 2011

I think it is rude to speak in a different language if you are on the floor, as family members and patients are able to overhear conversations and some of them may feel as if they are being spoken about (have had a couple patients mention it). However, if you are in the breakroom, I do not see a problem w/different languages. It is your break...enjoy it. I personally do not care whether I am part of the conversation or not. Usually, I will be eating as fast as I can chew to get back to my patients, anyway, so not interested in talking.
English is my mother tongue; Spanish and French I can understand and speak a little.

I too..but can you speak pig Latin??

maelstrom143 · Nov 30, 2011

I too..but can you speak pig Latin??

Oh, LOL. No. Hubby tried to teach me, but I told him to leave me alone :))

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Nov 30, 2011

It's against the regs in every long term care facility I've ever worked in. English is what the residents speak and English is what the staff should speak in all resident areas. Frankly I don't care what any one speaks in the break room since I usually tune everything out, but on the floors it's ENGLISH or else.

allnurses Guide · Nov 30, 2011

Ehhhh, when you're an MD, RN, LPN, or Resp Tech taking care of patients, you really shouldn't habitually talk in a foreign language, if you're within earshot of your clients. It'll just cause anxiety in the patient and probably a bit of friction in your patient-provider relationship--sad, but true.

Why is it sad that a patient should be disturbed about caregivers conversing in a foreign language while they provide care? The feeling of isolation the patient experiences when this happens is much sadder.

If you're just around other healthcare providers, then meh, what the hell? I say have at it, and let the non-speaker learn a few new things here and there about your culture. I always love it when someone who speaks a language I don't speak teaches me about their language and their history.

I can honestly say I've never learned a damn thing about somebody else's culture by listening to them speak in a language I don't understand. If they were inclusive "teaching me about their language and their history" I would be more than thrilled. I love it when people do that. It is the opposite of rude. It doesn't happen very often, unfortunately.

Engaging in activities like those is how people become more cultured--and the best nurse is an experienced, worldly one, is she not? :)

The best nurse is a person who notices someone is sitting in the corner of the break room looking glum while I'm chatting away with my friends in our native language and attempts to include them. The best nurse is one who understands that what we do requires teamwork and cohesiveness, which are very fragile commodiities in a high-stress environment like nursing. If I want worldly I'll watch the Kardashians. (not really )

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Nov 30, 2011

Policies are only as good as their enforcement. Where is management when this is happening?

Well yeah. That is a problem, and not just in relation to languages.

DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN · Nov 30, 2011

I think there needs to be flexibility and understanding on both sides here. I've been on both sides of this coin, being an Englishman who worked with foreign nurses in England and is now the foreigner himself in France.

In England it never bugged me if foreign nurses spoke to each other in their own language, provided they addressed me in English and didn't speak over the patients in a language they didn't understand. It goes without saying that report should be in the official language of the country you're in. Nurses station chatter and coffee breaks however - really, who cares?

There is a certain level of ignorance displayed in some threads here, for example when people refer to nurses speaking in Filipino. There is no such language. Really, educate yourselves before you comment. Others have quite correctly referred to Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines which exists along with many other regional and minority languages. Some people have expressed very genuine gripes here about unnacceptable situations, reports given to them in languages they don't understand etc., but some posts above do just smell of a little touch of xenophobia.

I now work in France and I take it as read that I need to communicate with French collegues and patients in French. Normal. We once had an Anglo-Greek doctor who spoke better English than French, although her French was very good, and between ourselves we spoke in English for ease - nobody minded. In front of the patients, of course it was French. If an anglophone nurse were to join the team tomorrow of course we'd speak in English at coffee time etc. Normal. I don't see why anybody should be offended. People who would be rude enough to talk about you in front of you will equally do so behind your back anyway, so why worry about what you don't understand? Most are probably not discussing you - some posters here flatter themselves.

I have occasionally come accross English or American patients here, and even if they're fluent in French, they are delighted to speak with me in English. Your mothertongue is a great comfort when you're ill, hospitalised and feeling vulnerable in a foreign country. Nobody should object to patient/nurse conversations in a foreign language if it's the patient's native tongue.

Issues similar to this have been discussed in other threads, and I would always say that if you've never known what it is to work and function in a foreign language, please just be a little lenient. Sometimes at the end of a frustrating shift I just want to swear in my own language. Let's just say my French colleagues have picked up some pretty choice English words beginning with the letter F.

agldragonRN · Nov 30, 2011

there is a certain level of ignorance displayed in some threads here, for example when people refer to nurses speaking in filipino. there is no such language. really, educate yourselves before you comment. others have quite correctly referred to tagalog, the national language of the philippines which exists along with many other regional and minority languages.

just f.y.i.

the national language of the philippines is actually called filipino. it used to be called tagalog but it was changed to filipino.

RN58186 · Nov 30, 2011

A friend and I made a point one time quite well. My mpom is in LTC, and almost all of her PCA's and nurses are Filipino. They speak their own language all the time, in front of the patients, yelling it across the dining room. My friend and I were visiting, and we are both fluent in American Sign Language. So the two of us quit speaking, and signed back and forth between ourselves. We made a point of looking directly at some of them and signing something then laughing. It had nothing to do with them, but we were trying to make a point. But they thought we were talking about them. (We were actually "talking" about how funny it was that they were so concerned, when mostly we were talking about the weather, our families, whatever. The laughing was to make a point.) And if they asked me a question, I answered in ASL. When I could tell they were really frustrated with me for not speaking to them, I told them that is how their patients feel when they don't speak English. They still speak their own language among themselves, but not in my mom's room and not in the dining room any more.....

Zen123 · Nov 30, 2011

There is no excuse whatsoever to speak in your native tounge while at work-giving a report-break room- etc..

People ought to know their place. It's pathetic that people have to resort to putting signs up just to remind/enforce employees!

If people fear of being called racist-ignorant- when trying to address this issue

how about someone of that foreign descent step up to say to their people "enough of that".

I am a filipino. Although there aren't many of us at work- WE communicate in ENGLISH. No one should should tolerate having to listen us converse as if we're at home let alone give report in our dialect! Seriously?!

We don't go to work to make friends. Say something and don't ignore it.:igtsyt:

RanieRN, MSN, RN · Nov 30, 2011

Policy at my place is English only in patient care areas. The majority of the CNAs and several nurses are Haitian and do slip into Creole often. Fortunately, they respect me enough that a quiet "Guys/ladies, English only" gets me a smile and "sorry Snf" and an apology from them to the patient/visitor if necessary.

While I do find it a little rude, I don't much care what language is used in the break room.

DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN · Nov 30, 2011

just f.y.i.
the national language of the philippines is actually called filipino. it used to be called tagalog but it was changed to filipino.

thank you i stand corrected. big mouth acknowledged! this passed me by.

i found this very interesting:

http://tagaloglang.com/the-philippines/language/filipino-tagalog-pilipino.html

magnum68 · Nov 30, 2011

What do you think about hospitals where there is a strong majority of filipino nurses and they primarily speak that language to one another in the hospital environment. Around the nurses station, on the phone, in the break room, etc.. Indifferent? Wrong? Am I being racist? Thoughts? The patient population is mixed.

It's not just filipinos only, here in Miami, FL there are a ton of cuban nurses that speak spanish all the time in front of everyone. I've seen some of these nurses ask the doctor to give them their orders in spanish because they couldn't understand english that well. :eek: