By Susan Kreimer, MS, contributor
A little knowledge of Spanish can go a long way, especially when it comes to caring for the country’s growing number of Hispanic patients. Nurses are finding it more and more important to learn the second most-common language spoken in the United States.
“When you’re a nurse at the bedside, it’s hard to sometimes get a translator. We don’t have one for every patient,” said Linda Ikuta, RN, MN, CCNS, PHN, a neonatal clinical nurse specialist at Stanford University’s Lucile Parkard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California. Patients are “very happy if you speak even one word. They’re pleased if you even try.”
Even using just a few short phrases in Spanish can make a big difference, Ikuta pointed out. For patients wondering about the roles of various employees entering their hospital room, it’s soothing to hear “I’m your nurse” and “My name is Linda” in their native tongue.
Ikuta, a nurse for 35 years, often turns to key words from 22 languages on her personal data assistant. In addition, she has taken Spanish courses aimed at health care workers. The instruction is offered through Stanford’s continuing education center and medical library.
“They’re usually condensed courses for medical Spanish,” Ikuta said. “If I’m teaching a mother to breastfeed her baby, it would be directed toward the mother and the baby. You’re not going to learn to read and write in Spanish. It’s more conversational.”
When her busy schedule permitted, she also enrolled in continuing education Spanish courses taught at a local high school, community college and four-year institution. These were general courses without a health care emphasis.
Another option that nurses can consider is Web-based instruction. Two courses currently available – one for hospital nurses and another for medical office nurses – are the result of a collaboration between Command Spanish, Inc., and ALLEGRA Learning Solutions, LLC. San Diego-based ALLEGRA is a continuing education provider accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
“Adult learners can take these courses when it suits them, at any time of the day or night,” said Cyndie Koopsen, RN, MBA, HN-BC, co-chief executive officer of ALLEGRA. “Anybody in the world can access these courses. And because they’re online, they meet the needs of adults who are trying to balance a busy lifestyle with learning a new skill that can help them in the job market.”
Various learning methods are incorporated into the courses. For example, an audio portion teaches correct pronunciation. After a specific number of hours, “the learner can achieve continuing education credit by successfully completing the test,” Koopsen said.
While hospitals often utilize interpreters in person and on the phone, these resources can be time-consuming. It’s more efficient if a nurse can speak both English and Spanish well enough to avoid involving a third party, said Tavia Vital, RN, BSN, a diabetes educator at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver.
She points out, however, that nurses must recognize their limitations.
“If you are not fluent, it can be dangerous or harmful to the patient if you are ‘interpreting’ without providing clear communication,” said Vital, a native English speaker who also has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish. Now 30, she has been fluent in Spanish for a decade.
Some nurses become very effective at communicating with Spanish-speaking patients once they complete an appropriate course, said Cynthia Ekes, RN, BSN, MA, a director of nursing at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. “For others, it’s like any other skill: it has to be used frequently or the skill diminishes over time.”
Ekes has adjusted work schedules for her staff enabling them to attend medical Spanish classes offered by the hospital’s parent company, Texas Health Resources. In her experience, every bit of Spanish comes in handy for a nurse.
“Just to smile at a sick and scared patient and say hello in their language puts them at ease,” she said.
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