Suggestions - Best Pocket Translator

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

Looking for advice on the best English/Spanish - Spanish/English pocket tool.

Not looking for anything too thick or heavy since I want to carry it in my scrubs.

Thanks!

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The google translate app on my samsung note 4 works really well. I'd say especially for clinical situations it should be more than adequate. If you're concerned about the subtleties or nuanced colloquialisms then you're going to be hard pressed to find an app that covers everything. Spanish is spoken in so many countries and with so many differences between each. Trust me, google translate is fine.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

The only issue I have with using my phone at bedside or while in front of patients/families is the unprofessional "appearance". Some people assume there is not a lot of "helpful" stuff on a phone.

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What I do is I interact with patient and family using my limited Spanish and if there are any words I can't figure out on my own or by asking (I preemptively tell them I'm learning Spanish) directly, then I excuse myself, saying I'll return in a minute and I go and use Google translate on my phone in a discrete place and come back. Just my opinion but I'm not sure how professional it would appear (in comparison to the speed and efficiency of a phone app) to whip out a book and fumble through a bunch of pages to find a single word here and a single word there. The best part of using a translator is being able to glean more from the context by inputting small phrases. And it can also make corrections for you, by prediction, if you entered the wrong word, saving a lot of trouble.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

ok, I think I will give it a try! Thank you!!

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