understandable english

[susyn153]

I do not want to give the wrong impression, but, I get complaints on a DAILY basis from my patients that they can not understand word one from some of the nurses. Please, please please can you practice your english in south florida so that the patients can understand you. I even have a very hard time making out what they are saying myself and I have no hearing problems. Slow it down, enunciate and do not use a ton of slang in your speech. This population (Geriatric) is usually a little hard of hearing to begin with. Have some compasion and polish your english. And for heavens sake, wear a watch and learn what it means to come to work on time.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

I don't care personally how anyone 'perceives time' as long as they get to work on time. The United States is a nation run by the clock, we aren't living in a little village where everyone barters and rises with the sun. We are a punctual nation and if people want to immigrate here they need to adapt to this reality.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

I know a lady, incidentally (Born and raised in the United States) who is a school teacher. She was chronically late to work, and got herself diagnosed with ADD, then tried to claim an exemption to being on time to work under the Americans with Disabilities Act. I thought that was pretty creative. I didn't hear the outcome, but she still has her job.

[CHATSDALE]

in florida you do have a lot of elderly who move after retirement from snow/sleet states..you also have a lot of native born elderly many as has been noted don't always hear as well as they use to a lot of the boat people and other viet came to gulf coast because fishing had been their way of living in their native land and the cuban population is sizeable

all this adds up to communication problem and all must strive to conquer it..family members should encourage older members to be able to communicate needs when they [younger and possibly more verbal] are not there to act as a bridge

however has been noted it is imperative that the health care workers strive to find a way meet the needs of their patients

and about the watch it never hurts t throw that in...i have worked with people who felt that getting to work on time was only for everyone else except them

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

I did a goggle about punctuality and came up with this interesting article. The United States rates highly in the punctuality department. It has some interesting analysis regarding punctuality. It appears to me that punctuality is more important in economically successful nations, therefore I think it must be related to economic success.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6405379.stm

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

It appears to me that punctuality is more important in economically successful nations, therefore I think it must be related to economic success.

Correlation causation.

The various "western" cultures value traits that lead to punctuality. It would be difficult to say which comes first.

[prmenrs, RN]

Speech Therapy can be very helpful in diminishing strong accents. The problem can be an inability to distinguish phonemes (an elementary unit of speech that distinguishes one utterance from another). A therapist who's familiar w/phonemic awareness is particularly good @ this.

The accent problem can be dealt w/, if desired.

[nurz2be]

Speech Therapy can be very helpful in diminishing strong accents. The problem can be an inability to distinguish phonemes (an elementary unit of speech that distinguishes one utterance from another). A therapist who's familiar w/phonemic awareness is particularly good @ this.

The accent problem can be dealt w/, if desired.

huh? So, I as a person who is in the health care industry and also have a southern accent, should go to a Therapist to remove this? There are not many Americans who don't have some type of accent.

If this OP has issues she needs to have her PATIENTS fill out patient survey forms indicating their issues....they don't have to put names it can be anonymous, as MOST facilities have these. Let your patients tell the management what the problem is. You can then take these to your management. And I am sorry, but if anyone thinks they can go into medicine, in any aspect, thinking everyone should speak without some type of accent, I think that is VERY short-minded for any of us. The US is a melting pot of people with MANY accents. We all do the best we can with what we have. Obviously the patients are being cared for or this OP would be complaining about the lack of knowledge of her coworkers. Having an accent, IMO,has nothing to do with someones capabilities as a caregiver.

[prmenrs, RN]

I did NOT say you should do anything. I said, IF YOU WANT TO, there is a way to diminish accents. There are many people, esp those for whom English is a 2nd language, who would like to do just that.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

During my google search I found this extremely interesting article on cultural differences as they relate to business negotiations. It has a wealth of information that we nurses can learn from.

http://www.henkbotha.com/inter1.htm

[kanzi monkey]

I don't care personally how anyone 'perceives time' as long as they get to work on time. The United States is a nation run by the clock, we aren't living in a little village where everyone barters and rises with the sun. We are a punctual nation and if people want to immigrate here they need to adapt to this reality.

Sorry, I don't think I was clear with what I was saying. The OP is obviously frustrated about nurses "with accents" that are difficult to understand. S/he doesn't specity which accent (southern? British? French-Creole? Latino?). Then s/he makes a generalized comment about people getting to work on time.

Since s/he isn't addressing one person, or even one group in particular, are we supposed to make the connection between the "people with accents" and the "people who don't get to work on time" and _know_ who s/he's talking about?

I'm not saying it's not important to get to work on time. I'm just saying that the OP is making an assumption based on a stereotype that us readers will understand that the accent she's referring to belongs to a certain group--and honestly, I'm not sure who s/he's referring to.

[kanzi monkey]

I don't care personally how anyone 'perceives time' as long as they get to work on time. The United States is a nation run by the clock, we aren't living in a little village where everyone barters and rises with the sun. We are a punctual nation and if people want to immigrate here they need to adapt to this reality.

Do you know JlsRN? Are the people she's referring to from a village where people "barter and rise with the sun?"

[Reno1978, BSN, RN]

For me, it is a fact that there are English speaking persons in the world that I cannot understand very well or at all. However, I don't have a problem asking them, if they're speaking to me, to repeat or clarify what they're saying when I don't understand them.

I think for patient care, it is important for our patients to understand what we are saying. I wouldn't see anything wrong with either alerting the nurse(s) to the fact that patients are having difficulty understanding them, or empowering the patients to ask them to repeat themselves until they understand what is being said.