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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.
I live and practice in S. Florida as well, also in geriatrics as well as Hospice..and I have to agree with the original poster..we are a melting pot down here BUT I find it unprofessional for people to speak anything other than english to an english speaking population of patients, and trust me the professionals in the field frequently speak in languages other than english when on the floor. I agree that english is the primary language and should be spoken in the field unless you are working with a population that does not speak english. I also get frustrated when the non-english speaking persons act like I'm the one in the wrong when I cannot understand them and need them to repeat themselves.
???.......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.
It's funny, but I forgot where you're from, and assumed (based on the posts) that you WERE from Florida! Yep, non-English speakers are a BIG issue down thataway.
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.
Yeah, I guess I do find this harsh, I'll have to say. Probably because I go to Florida at least once a year, and for awhile I was going three and four times a year (visiting family and such) that I know that there's rather an abundance of elderly folk who moved there. Many locals retired there, of course, but also many elderly from colder climates who shifted south for the easier-on-the-body climate. Many of THEM have been living there a good long time, and the thing is, it's not that they "haven't made the effort to understand the people he/she has moved in amongst".
You're again assuming that the OP is talking about a transplanted New Yorker who has put herself squarely in the middle of a Cuban community and now complains irrationally, years later, that she can't understand anyone. The thing is, that transplanted NYer would find tons and tons of home associations, retirement communities, condo complexes that do NOT feature inclusion into the immigrant community, or the non-English-speaking communities. They just wouldn't go there. They'd move into a community similar to the one they left, actually! And you know what? The service people for those communities are frequently the ones who don't speak English. That's the extent of their exposure.
And the retiree who ends up in a healthcare facility, now hard of hearing and perhaps a bit confused, isn't supposed to "suffer the fate" of having not learned Spanish! Of course, you say, that's ridiculous.....but that's the reality...yep, that transplanted New Yorker dared to move to Florida 25 years ago when he retired. Didn't learn Spanish. Does that mean he's NOT supposed to get appropriate care? Of course not.
You and I are on the same page in one regard, in that we expect people in America to speak English, period. I'm with ya there. People who were born here, went to school here (supposedly, if you can call the schools that don't require English to be spoken sufficient) and still don't speak English aggravate the heck outta me!
But the thing about the Florida situation is that hugely more than likely, the OP was begging on behalf of the elderly English-speaker to have the workers speak clearly understood English to them. I visited family recently and found that there are many, many aides (how many of them are nurses, I wonder?) who do home visits and are barely able to put enough words together in English to do what they need to do. Certainly it's not the fault of the elderly folk who don't understand them, is it? There's an abundance of such workers, as is the case with too many elderly, not enough workers of any type, and a large non-English speaking minority influx of immigrants.
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?"
Well, it seems we're debating two different issues entirely.
One would be whether the person who has lived in an English-speaking country and still does not speak English has the "right" to expect his nurse to arrange for translation and such.
The other issue is the one that I believe the OP was really discussing, which is kinda the opposite: how in Florida, there is a huge population of service workers (and yes, healthcare is in that clump) who don't speak English well themselves, or speak it with such a heavy accent or dialect that they can't be reasonably understood by their English-speaking (HOH, elderly, confused, whatever) patients.
I have much more compassion for the latter situation, I'll admit, than the former.
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!
aw, i have too much respect for your opinions to start slinging mud! :)
i think you're right in that you are kinda going in a different direction than the op intended, which is why you're conflicting with some of the others as you are. i think there's actually two different debates going on!
as for me, i do my best to get myself understood if i have a spanish speaking patient (happens from time to time). i don't speak spanish, but i hear my gesturing is pretty darned good! beyond that, i'll look around for someone who can translate, or get one of those language phones hooked up.
sometimes it's kinda funny to find you've twisted yourself inside out to get a translator on the phone, only to find out that your patient from some unpronounceable eastern european country is actually confused out of his gourd, lol! once had the phone translator, frustrated, telling me that there was no language i could hope to speak to get through to him, he was totally bonkers!
I live and practice in S. Florida as well, also in geriatrics as well as Hospice..and I have to agree with the original poster..we are a melting pot down here BUT I find it unprofessional for people to speak anything other than english to an english speaking population of patients, and trust me the professionals in the field frequently speak in languages other than english when on the floor. I agree that english is the primary language and should be spoken in the field unless you are working with a population that does not speak english. I also get frustrated when the non-english speaking persons act like I'm the one in the wrong when I cannot understand them and need them to repeat themselves.
Ah, so you know what I'm talking about!
Welcome :)
too often americans abroad are just as guilty..i know many military families who live much of their lives ovrseas and they have a wonderful opportunity to enrich their childrens lives but they remain for the most part on base, shopping on base, sending their children to base schools and nevr interacts with their host country
She didn't say it did.
Nothing is simple, is it? For every opinion, there is another opinion.
I think employers ought to send employees to accent-losing school if patients or other staff are having trouble understanding them. IT could be done tactfully and a positive spin put on it, it could be just another part of Orientation and updating q few months.
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I agree about the accents I must deal with when calling customer service these days. :angryfire:uhoh3:
Sometimes it's interesting to hear my British coworkers talk about "speaking American". Some of them do make a distinction, I'm not sure what they mean by it though.
Sure you do :trout: I must admit I do say that myself sometimes but my co-workers wont correct me because they love my accent and dont want me to change.
I have big problems with pts who are hard of hearing they have the most problem with my British accent, I really feel for them because they struggle more with me as a nurse. I do utilise the white board and write some messages on it.
I for one, speak English.Not American
cheers,
Roy (speaker of 7 languages and trying to learn an 8th).
if you are a native of the USA, you speak our variety of English....American English wouldnt be correct, but USA english.....was in Korea in 1988, was lost was directed to a young man to ask directions....he spoke flawless educated us enlish....when i asked him if he were from the states he said no, he was an international business student and that was the language of international business.......he was also the first person to correct me, when he asked if i was from the us, i said "yes, i am from America" and he said no from the usa......
caroladybelle, BSN, RN
5,486 Posts
Being born in the state, with your parents legally living in this state counts.
Having parents that were born here AND one having moved here before the age 8-10 qualifies. And I am willing to permit some exceptions if the time outside state has to do with parents being in the military.
And I will even give those that moved here before 1960 a certain "Floridian" status.
Of course that makes true "Floridians" more endangered than Bald Eagles.
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I, also have heard plenty of complaints from patients that cannot understand their nurses or their MDs.
But also annoying, is the frequent night shifts that I have endured, when virtually all of my coworkers spent the shift chatting in Urdu, Tagalog, or Creole.
As far as the time issue, I know that some cultures do not view time in the same manner that Americans do, but if you are working in the USA, you do need to work by our rules....just as I would in your nation.