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?

[PatMac10,RN, RN]

A few people in my family know sign-langauge and they don't regret taking it. They taught me some basic signs so when we're together we can talk across a room (lolz!) Anyway it sounds likea good Idea. I tool spanish myslef and agree that it takes a long time to gain fluency. I've been learning spanish for the past 2 years and I am a intermediate speaker. I understand a lot more than I can convey personally. As I'm sure you know it takes continous dedication so stick to it when you start.

[franciscangypsy]

happy2learn said:

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?

I want to at some point and I had two patients who were deaf when I was an aide, but haven't since.

I guess it all depends on your floor and the prevalence of deaf people in your community. Apparently, in my area, not many deaf people get heart problems...

[happy2learn]

Interesting comments. Thank you everyone.

I am definitely taking the Spanish for Nursing class. No question about that.

I think I will wait a year before I decide on the ASL classes. That way I'll have over a year volunteer experience in the ED and Oncology floor and I should be able to better judge how large the deaf community is.

I obviously don't want to spend close to $900 on ASL classes if it won't be used, because I'll lose those skills.

[llg, PhD, RN]

happy2learn said:

Interesting comments. Thank you everyone.

I am definitely taking the Spanish for Nursing class. No question about that.

I think I will wait a year before I decide on the ASL classes. That way I'll have over a year volunteer experience in the ED and Oncology floor and I should be able to better judge how large the deaf community is.

I obviously don't want to spend close to $900 on ASL classes if it won't be used, because I'll lose those skills.

That sounds like a sensible approach to me.