The Importance Of Knowing A Foreign Language In Medicine

Language- it can be beneficial to people who want to work abroad, so they can learn something new as well as be able to converse with foreign people. Not only can it be beneficial to those people but to the rest of society as there are lots of different languages and cultures in society, so it can be a way of connecting people in the community.

Hello Mrs. Goldman, this is Krystal from the orthopedic office regarding your office visit with Dr. Mitchell. I see you were interested in finding out more information about your office note. Below I have clarified your medical break down of your clinic note.

Can you imagine the how the healthcare industry would be without language, what seems to be impossible to imagine is the everyday reality of some patients because of their native language. Language is a major contribution to the health disparities that some populations face, because it makes it difficult for some patients to communicate their problems as well as understand the care they provided. Language contributes to the health disparities that some populations face because it creates a barrier between the patient and the care provider, making it difficult for a patient to receive proper care. Language barriers create a communication gap between a patient and a provider, forcing the patient to feel misunderstood and unable to trust his/her provider to properly care for them. I come from a family that speaks more than one language, so I have seen the impact language barriers can have on someone who doesn’t speak fluent English.

According to the 2011 U.S. Census, twenty-one percent of the population speaks other language at home besides English. Hence, one of the biggest challenges in Healthcare is the language barrier between the providers, Health care administrators and patients that speak foreign languages. This poses a challenge for medical entities,

Non-English speaking citizens and immigrants are receiving improper medical care because of the miscommunication. The people who cannot speak English well are misunderstood, when they go to free clinics or hospital emergency rooms and attempt to explain their symptoms and illness or cannot understand the doctors or medical profession that are trying to help them. ” Interpreters are omitting questions about drug allergies. Patients are not telling nurses the correct symptoms. A mother misunderstood by putting oral antibiotic into the ears of the child instead of the mouth. The Puerto Rican word for mumps is not the same in Central America, so a child was mistreated. A doctor mistakenly told a parent to put a steroid crème on entire child instead of just the face” (Yolanda Prtida, 2005). Language barriers in the medical field are dangerous and some times even fatal. There is definitely a need for more translators in hospitals and doctors office. Clear communication is essential for safe quality healthcare. Poor communication can lead to disastrous outcomes, especially for patients with limited or no English ability.

For example; If a patient does not speak the language of which country they are in, interpreters or translators may be needed in order to help communicate with people from the local area. These are important to keep the person informed about what is happening and what is going to happen. Supporting individuals to express their needs and

During my placement, I also developed good communication skills. I learned how to communicate effectively with clients to enable the provision of health care. When addressing clients, I avoided the use of difficult medical terms and opted for simpler words that were easily understood by all. I also used a variety of efficient communication methods such as allowing clients to express themselves, providing sufficient time for discussion and maintaining eye contact with clients. And to those clients that did not understand English, I sought the assistance of a trusted

I believe to successfully and effectively have a proper interview communication must be present. For example, if a patient does not speak the same language as me it would be difficult for the patient and I to convey meaning to one another and therefore during the interview I may not get the proper information I need to properly care for the patient. I find it helpful to find out small details about a patient prior to conducting the interview. Some of the important details are what is there primary language, do they have difficulty hearing, developmental competence, cultural background. All these factors play a key role in

In my point of view, there are three important themes from the story. Firstly, the communication is essential and important in healthcare settings. As we all know, the language barrier is the main problem to be solved when interacting with another culture. In other words, communication is a two-way interaction. Only people can understand each other, the conversation and consultation could start. To be specific, in health care settings, communication is the key to grasping the health condition of patients, know the patients’ need, as a result, provide the most suitable and best care plan for

Effective communication with patients is critical to the safety and quality care. From the last two decades ,number of researches has been conducted on the impact of language barrier on health and healthcare. It is observed that language barriers are the main cause of medical errors, complication and adverse event. But due to data limitations ,limited researches on impacts of language barrier has been conducted in Canadian setting. However, the researches conducted on other countries on the impact of language barrier on quality of care is applicable in the Canadian context. Some researches shows that there are several barrier which affect quality of care and patient safety. Now, researches has begun to know the complexity of language, culture, race, health literacy that may affect patient care. Current approaches are moved towards the knowledge of risk of language barrier rather than implementation of effective, evidence informed strategies.

Being able to break information down to where the patient or patients can understand is a wonderful skill to posses because I will be dealing with so many cultures, ethnicity, and age groups. A lot of people do not understand when doctors and even medical assistants use certain terms, so when they are spoken to where they can understand, it makes them feel better just knowing what is going on instead of feeling more confused than what they was when they came in. And also it lets them know that you care enough to take the time and effort to make sure they understand.

To communicate seems easy enough to most of us. We have been doing this from the moment we were born. We expressed ourselves with grunts, moans, crying, smiling and yelling. We started communicating even before we made words with our nonverbal forms of communication. Communication is important. It allows individuals to share information and messages in the form of ideas and feelings (Giger, 2013). It gives us direction and allows us to interact with others. Can you image getting the entertainment system in parts in the mail with no instructions as to how to put it together? It is essential that we all communicate effectivity in order to ensure the best quality of care. Language barriers threaten the patient safety and overall quality of care of these individuals. By having efficient practices in place it will lower those risks and increase quality care.

During my clinical experience, I have notice that people who do not speak English tend to lack the knowledge of why they are getting X-ray and tend to live the health history information blank, in comparison to those who speak English. For example, last month during my clinical rotation at MTV I was called to the front desk to help translate for a lady who was Spanish speaking only. As I was helping her fill out the medical history forms, she seemed to be oblivious as to why she was getting a chest x-ray. I asked her if she was experiencing any chest pain or cough, to which she answer “no”. I than proceeded to ask if she had a scheduled surgery or if perhaps this was a follow up for any previous known condition; but she also responded “no”.

I had to learn to master the skill of active listening and properly decoding messages to understand what others were communicating to me even when cultural barriers were present. I had to manage my body language to ensure I was always displaying positive, non-verbal communication no matter the content of what may have presently been taking place. Giving eye contact was critical as the patient needed to know I was present, attentive, and concerned with their health dilemmas. Maintaining pleasant facial expressions, utilizing positive mannerisms and the appropriate tone of voice were skills that allowed me to create a positive experience for the patient even in their time of discomfort.

“The two words 'information ' and 'communication ' are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through.” While Challenges in communication can be fixed, Challenges in communication occur because of the lack of knowledge because being able to talk to the patient to where they are able to understand, language barriers, and different ages requiring different communication skills. Sometimes healthcare workers often forget that the patients are regular human beings that are going to the doctor because they are told so because they do not know the language of healthcare.