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.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I'm seeing a ton of defensiveness in this thread, and not really sure why it's there.

The OP said that her patients have a difficult time understanding some of their nurses. Apparently, they have enough difficulty in understanding the English that is spoken around them that it may very well impair their ability to learn from staff, or receive appropriate care. How is this offensive to some of you?

The OP didn't say what the dialect (spoken in English) or original language may be. She didn't say whether the poorly-understood English was an American dialect or a second-learned language from a foreign nurse--or an American nurse whose primary language is something other than English, either of which is pretty common in South Florida. As an observation, I've spent a goodly amount of time down there (vacationland!) and found that I came across Cuban, Jamaican, Haitian and Northeast accents FAR more than American Southern.

She didn't say that nurse with Southern accents need to eliminate their dialect. She said they need to be understood. And, honestly, if the population that is receiving the care can't understand the nurse, what difference does it make why?

*I* have a miserable time understanding some of the accents of some of our foreign-agency nurses. I manage. But when it comes to the patients, if the patients can't understand them, we have to fix that. Reassign the nurse, have another nurse or the aide translate, whatever is needed.

If I were not able to be understood by my patients, it's MY responsibility to figure out how to fix that.

It isn't about the nurse. It's about the patient.

[TazziRN, RN]

I'm seeing a ton of defensiveness in this thread, and not really sure why it's there.

The OP said that her patients have a difficult time understanding some of their nurses. Apparently, they have enough difficulty in understanding the English that is spoken around them that it may very well impair their ability to learn from staff, or receive appropriate care. How is this offensive to some of you?

The OP didn't say what the dialect (spoken in English) or original language may be. She didn't say whether the poorly-understood English was an American dialect or a second-learned language from a foreign nurse--or an American nurse whose primary language is something other than English, either of which is pretty common in South Florida. As an observation, I've spent a goodly amount of time down there (vacationland!) and found that I came across Cuban, Jamaican, Haitian and Northeast accents FAR more than American Southern.

She didn't say that nurse with Southern accents need to eliminate their dialect. She said they need to be understood. And, honestly, if the population that is receiving the care can't understand the nurse, what difference does it make why?

*I* have a miserable time understanding some of the accents of some of our foreign-agency nurses. I manage. But when it comes to the patients, if the patients can't understand them, we have to fix that. Reassign the nurse, have another nurse or the aide translate, whatever is needed.

If I were not able to be understood by my patients, it's MY responsibility to figure out how to fix that.

It isn't about the nurse. It's about the patient.

Okay, I went back to read the OP, and you're right, it doesn't specify the who. I, along with the others, took it to mean Florida natives, rather than nurses from outside of Florida or even the US.

However, I disagree to some extent about it being my responsibility to fix the problem. If the problem is a foreign-born or -raised nurse, then it's the nurse's problem. If the nurse is from another state, then it's the nurse's problem. If the nurse is a south Florida native and the pts are not, then why is the burden on the nurse???

[leslie :-D]

no matter who is from where, it is always the burden of the hcp to communicate articulately and coherently.

patients need (and have the right) to understand the directions of their provider.

if the nurse is unable to do so, then it is his/her responsibility to obtain someone who can.

a patient's right.

leslie

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

If the nurse is a south Florida native and the pts are not, then why is the burden on the nurse???

Because it is the responsibility of the nurse to make herself understood, not the patient to learn her dialect.

[TazziRN, RN]

I guess I'm having a problem with this because of the area where I'm from.......I'm so tired of having pts who were born and raised here and don't speak English, and their parents have been here long enough to raise children and see grandchildren, and they don't speak English.

[rn/writer, RN]

I guess I'm having a problem with this because of the area where I'm from.......I'm so tired of having pts who were born and raised here and don't speak English, and their parents have been here long enough to raise children and see grandchildren, and they don't speak English.

I definitely see your point, Taz.

But the reality is that the burden is on the staff, whether it be in my hospital where I, a native English speaker, need to accommodate non-English speakers (even those who have lived here many years and would certainly benefit from acquiring bilingual skills) or in a hospital in Florida where the patients are the native English speakers and the staff might need to go the extra mile to be certain they can be understood.

The issue isn't who speaks what language. It's the concept that the staff members hold a greater responsibity to meet the needs of the patients, not the other way around.

Outside the healthcare setting, the dynamics are different. Inside a hospital, the staff has the job of making certain communication is successful to the best of their ability.

If that means that someone speaking heavily accented English needs to have someone "interpret" for them with a hard-of-hearing elderly English-speaking patient, that is no more unreasonable than my having to use the language line for a patient from Somalia. As nurses, we should be willing to do whatever it takes to talk and listen to our patients without defensiveness or resentment. It goes with the job.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I guess I'm having a problem with this because of the area where I'm from.......I'm so tired of having pts who were born and raised here and don't speak English, and their parents have been here long enough to raise children and see grandchildren, and they don't speak English.

I totally understand your frustration on that score, I do. But you have to be careful to apply the same measures to one as to the other. What I mean is, in the post you wrote just before this, you asked why a "Florida native" has to change how she or he speaks to be understood by a "non-Florida native".....but then you do acknowledge HOW MANY "Florida natives" don't even speak English, let alone an understandable dialect of it! If that's the case, why do you also assume that the one NOT understanding the dialect IS the "non-Florida native"? Couldn't it be reasonable (and probably more than reasonable) that the elderly Florida patient is a native Floridian who can't understand her equally native nurse, who just happens to have one of those darned-tough dialects?

And then, of course, one would have to play the game of who is 'Floridian enough', LOL....does moving there at age 10 and now you're 78 qualify you to expect to understand your healthcare worker? How about 18? If you've 'only' lived in Florida for forty years, is that enough time to feel part of the community....?

I guess you see where I'm going :)

[TazziRN, RN]

I totally understand your frustration on that score, I do. But you have to be careful to apply the same measures to one as to the other. What I mean is, in the post you wrote just before this, you asked why a "Florida native" has to change how she or he speaks to be understood by a "non-Florida native".....but then you do acknowledge HOW MANY "Florida natives" don't even speak English, let alone an understandable dialect of it! If that's the case, why do you also assume that the one NOT understanding the dialect IS the "non-Florida native"? Couldn't it be reasonable (and probably more than reasonable) that the elderly Florida patient is a native Floridian who can't understand her equally native nurse, who just happens to have one of those darned-tough dialects?

And then, of course, one would have to play the game of who is 'Floridian enough', LOL....does moving there at age 10 and now you're 78 qualify you to expect to understand your healthcare worker? How about 18? If you've 'only' lived in Florida for forty years, is that enough time to feel part of the community....?

I guess you see where I'm going :)

???.......I was talking about California and the immigrants from Mexico....I guess I forget that we are not the only state with people born in the US and not fluent in English.

Okay, I'll rephrase......anyone who lives in this country long enough to have learned the language, be it from birth or from point of immigration.....should be able to speak English. And you may think me harsh, but if a retired New Yorker decides to move to Florida and lives there for more than a few years, he/she should have made the effort to understand the people he/she has moved in amongst.

If I, a California transplant, am on vacation in, say....South Carolina and get sick enough to go to the hospital, I would have no problem saying "I'm sorry, can you repeat that, I didn't understand you." If, however, I have moved there and it's several years later, I do not have the right to complain about the S.C.-native nurse who is taking care of me.

[leslie :-D]

If I, a California transplant, am on vacation in, say....South Carolina and get sick enough to go to the hospital, I would have no problem saying "I'm sorry, can you repeat that, I didn't understand you." If, however, I have moved there and it's several years later, I do not have the right to complain about the S.C.-native nurse who is taking care of me.

it doesn't matter why a pt doesn't understand.

the goal is to ensure that everything being stated by the hcp, is understood by the pt.

that's the bottom line.

leslie

[TazziRN, RN]

[quote=TazziRN;2371125

If I, a California transplant, am on vacation in, say....South Carolina and get sick enough to go to the hospital, I would have no problem saying "I'm sorry, can you repeat that, I didn't understand you." If, however, I have moved there and it's several years later, I do not have the right to complain about the S.C.-native nurse who is taking care of me.

I am quoting myself here.....I realized that this is the part that riled me most of all.......People who do not speak the language of the country/state they are living in do not have the right to complain when they cannot understand the nurse caring for them. It's up to them to say "I don't understand, can you repeat that/get an interpreter/wait for my relative to arrive?"

[TazziRN, RN]

ya know what......i am obviously having a problem with this subject, and i may be taking it in directions the op did not intend. because i doubt we will come to a consensus on this, i will bow out of this thread before i/you/we start slinging mud. i want to keep you all as my friends!

[leslie :-D]

ya know what......i am obviously having a problem with this subject, and i may be taking it in directions the op did not intend. because i doubt we will come to a consensus on this, i will bow out of this thread before i/you/we start slinging mud. i want to keep you all as my friends!

i don't understand why you're getting worked up.

i think many understand and appreciate your sentiments.

but what 'should' be, isn't.

that's just the way it is.

leslie