To all you experienced nurses - Do you think learning Sign Language would be useful?

[happy2learn]

I have time over the next 1 1/2 - 2 years to take a few extra classes that I want. I am already going to take Spanish for Nursing, but what about sign language?

The girl I work with as a volunteer is majoring in interpreting for sign language. I never really thought I would need to know it, but sure enough, 2 people came in and used sign language. The only thing I could do is offer a pen and paper, but what if it were an emergency and they were signing like crazy?

She said if I took 3 courses in sign language, I would know the basics enough to understand the major points of what someone is saying. Obviously I couldn't engage in a conversation, but I could help out more in an emergency instead of running to get a pen and paper.

What do you think? Do you run across enough patients that are deaf to support the idea of taking some sign language classes?

[bigmona]

I know the alphabet and basic words in ASL and have only had to use signing once with a patient in my 4 years as a nurse. I think it depends on where you live, though. Some areas have a larger Deaf community.

I know that people who are deaf or have a profound hearing loss greatly appreciate when you're able to communicate with more than writing or relying on reading lips, especially when it comes to their (or a loved one's) medical condition. So even if you rarely get to use it, I still think it's very much worth it to know some basic sign.

[SitcomNurse, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN]

Not only for patients, but more hearing impaired are working in HCF's.

I think any second language is a great idea, and you have to be interested in it to retain it. The spanish nurses where I work, plus the spanish aides have that ball feild covered. The french/creole nurses have that ball feild covered, but I dont see anyone covering the hearing imapired feild.

I think considering the culture of Nursing, and the abilities of the nurses around me, Id go for sign language.

[happy2learn]

bigmona said:

I know the alphabet and basic words in ASL and have only had to use signing once with a patient in my 4 years as a nurse. I think it depends on where you live, though. Some areas have a larger Deaf community.

I know that people who are deaf or have a profound hearing loss greatly appreciate when you're able to communicate with more than writing or relying on reading lips, especially when it comes to their (or a loved one's) medical condition. So even if you rarely get to use it, I still think it's very much worth it to know some basic sign.

Yes. I did get to see that. When the girl came back from the restroom and saw they were signing, she started signing (after I had handed the paper) and you could clearly see a sense of relief on their face. They were very excited when they saw her and every time they saw her.

I don't know how large the deaf community is here, but we do have a large school for the deaf here.

[chloecatrn]

Chances are that if you have a large school for the Deaf, you probably have a large Deaf population. I'm not sure where you are, but especially near the largest schools for the Deaf, like Gallaudet/MSSD/Kendall in Washington, DC, American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, CT, National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, NY, and Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick and Columbia, MD, there tends to be a gigantic Deaf population, because the community adapts to the Deaf culture, making it a more comfortable place to live.

Imagine going to the hospital in your own country, but no one speaks your language. That's what happens every day for a Deaf individual. If you have the interest and the time, absolutely study ASL. It's an amazing, dynamic language, with a lot to learn.

[dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I]

I took the course, never used it and am no longer much good at it. It's pretty intuitive to learn and I'd recomend it to anyone. If there's a place where you can work or volunteer part time and use it, outstanding. Or get a family member or friend involved so you can practice it.

[xstarsfallingx]

i took sign language in high school instead of spanish. seemed like a fantastic idea at the time. now, i am working in a hospital where the largest demographic is spanish-speaking and i feel as though i am at a huge disadvantage. i would recommend that you take whatever interests you, but focus on what is most prevalent at your facility. sure, a few semesters of ASL will probably make you more fluent in signing than the equivalent time in spanish or italian, but how often will you really utilize it? in addition, you wont have medical signs, so you will rely on a lot of fingerspelling, which from an efficiency standpoint will be less productive than just having them write things down. even after 3 years of ASL, my perceptive skills are quite bad. i require a lot of slowing down to read fingerspelling...it is frustrating for the signer.

ultimately, take what interests you...but if you are looking specifically to take a language to help daily in nursing, go with a spoken one.

[2CareerRN]

Like any other language, if you don't use it after studying it you lose it. I took 3 ASL courses plus deaf culture for my own benefit and have only used ASL 2xs since then in my nursing career. Since I don't sign regularly with the Deaf I would need go back again to refresh and learn again. What ever you decide it's a beautiful and difficult language to learn but worth it for your own knowlege.

[happy2learn]

Good points. They offer a sign language course about medical related things, but you have to take like 10 sign language courses before you can do that. I'm not going to take that many.

I wish they had Sign Language for Nursing like how they have Spanish for Nursing.

I took French in middle school for 2 years and I took German in high school for 4 years. Never used it. Couldn't really tell you how to really say anything except the bare basics.

[llg, PhD, RN]

If it's something that really interests you -- and you have a sufficiently large population of Deaf patients to give you enough continuous usage to keep up your skills -- then I say "Go for it." However, as others have pointed out, you need to use it regularly to retain your skills.

So, unless you have a large Deaf population in your area, you might be investing a lot of time and effort for very little actual benefit. If you are not going to get much chance to use it, you might be better off investing in classes that will give you additional career options for later. (though that could be ASL if you take enough classes to become a professional interpreter, of course.)

[mskate]

I am also an ASL interpreter and have only used it once in my career. Frankly, most Deaf people can read and write without a problem, many have taken formal lip reading education and depending on the school of thought they grew up around - they can also speak.

Now, SPANISH - that is a skill that is very useful!

[Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN]

I know some very basic signs and currently have a deaf/mute/blind pt. Both the daughter and grand-daughter (caregivers) are deaf/mute. We sign some, write some, and once a month our company contracts a professional sign language specialist to make a vist with me. The grand-daughter wants to go into nursing, but none of the schools around here will accept her even with her 4.0 gpa. Very sad.