Zounds! Figured it would come to this ... notice the idiot suits are threatening the Doctor ... suits not at all medically-oriented with concern for standards and safety -- or common sense
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Surgeon halts operation over foreign nurses' poor English
A surgeon at a leading hospital has said he had to stop halfway through an operation because foreign nurses could not follow his instructions. As a result, he said he has been threatened with disciplinary action for racism.
David Nunn, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals, in London, told The Telegraph that he was unable to complete the operation last week without certain instruments.
When he asked the nurses, all of whom were foreign, to find them, "I was met with a selection of bemused reactions," he said. "They were produced only when the scrub nurse de-scrubbed and went to find them herself."
Mr Dunn, 48, said his superiors had accused him of racism and threatened him with being disciplined. "But we should not allow political correctness to prevent these problems from being aired."
Half of the nurses newly registered in the year to March - 15,000 - came from overseas. Ten years ago foreign nurses accounted for only a tenth.
Mr Dunn said: "The world has been scoured for nurses to shore up the health service and to achieve arbitrary targets set by the Government.
"All are without doubt well-trained and dedicated professionals, but if medical staff cannot communicate effectively then patients' care may be put at risk."
A spokesman for Guy's and St Thomas's said the matter was being investigated. He expressed surprise that "the media has been involved before it is concluded".
He said that nurses from abroad went through an "adaptation programme" and had to pass a clinical test involving "an assessment of their written and verbal communication skills".
All hospitals offer induction courses for nurses from abroad, but these concentrate on clinical and professional competence, not on English.
A Department of Health spokesman said there were no mandatory tests for nurses' ability in English.
ever have one of those days when you feel like you're going crazy because you can't get your co-workers to understand a single fricken word you're saying? you have to spend the rest of your shift checking up after them to see how well they've interpreted your instructions. patience is patience. problem is i only have enough time to explain something once, nevermind be constantly breaking into impromptu games of charades. oh the challenges of nursing!
Pebbles, I know EXACTLY what you're talking about (we live in the same city after all). As if things aren't complicated enough at work, the place is like a cultural minefield. There are so many cliques, if you pizz somebody off, all of a sudden you've got a whole unit with a chip on their shoulder. And godforbid you should open your mouth and say something, you have to worry about whose cultural taboo you might be breaking or whether your words could be seen to contain even a hint of racist undertone. I'm a nurse dammit, not an anthropologist!!!
Specializes in burn, geriatric, rehab, wound care, ER.
area.
What is with this Doc being called Mr. Dunn. IS that common in England??? [/b]
Doctors of surgery (e.g. general surgeons, orthopods etc. ) are adressed as Mr for some reason, whereas doctors of medicine (e.g. cardiologists, pulmonologists) are addressed as doctor. I'm not sure where this originates from.
I think the surgeon did the right thing stopping the surgery. I haven't met a physician yet that would not repeat something that was not understood due to their accent. The PATIENTS come first
Specializes in burn, geriatric, rehab, wound care, ER.
Originally posted by adrienurse
I'm a nurse dammit, not an anthropologist!!!
Actually, the two are not mutually exclusive - Madeleine Leininger is a nurse who holds a Ph.D in anthropology and developed the Culture Care theory which aims to provide culturally specific nursing care. There are several US nursing courses that prepare nurses to be transcultural nurse specialists. Do you show the same intolerance to patients from a different culture than yours? We need to accept that a cultural mix is just a fact of life in this age of geographical mobility - it can be a life enriching experience to learn about other cultures if approached in a more positive manner.
The fact remains thet our country is home to many cultures who may or may not speak english. It only seems reasonable to try to learn other languages in order to care for our patients. Come on, what's the worst that can happen, you might learn something?
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adrienurse, LPN
1,275 Posts
ever have one of those days when you feel like you're going crazy because you can't get your co-workers to understand a single fricken word you're saying? you have to spend the rest of your shift checking up after them to see how well they've interpreted your instructions. patience is patience. problem is i only have enough time to explain something once, nevermind be constantly breaking into impromptu games of charades. oh the challenges of nursing!