discussion reply

1st discussion 150-200 words about these 2 discussion

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If I was the nurse that was assigned to work in rural clinic serving a diverse population of patients, I would understand that at some point in time I would be caring for a patient who does not speak English nor understand it. In our readings, it states that “An estimated 57 million Americans speak a language other than English in the home” (Giddens p.35). The text also states that “Patients with limited English proficiency face many health care barriers in the terms of understanding health care information, adherence to treatment plans, and follow-up care due to impaired patient-provider communication” (Giddens p.35). That quote describes the barriers or issues that can occur from differences in primary languages. Not understanding health care information or not being able to communicate other issues or important information to your nurse/provider are both very big issues. This can result in providers not being aware of everything going on with the patient and it can also lead to the patient not being able to care for themselves properly because they didn’t understand anything they may have been educated on. As the nurse, two communication approaches I could try in order to better communicate with my patient would be, to get an interpreter or use general gestures to show what you are trying to communicate. If the interpret is unavailable, it would be best for the nurse to use any other interpreting resources available. I know there are translator apps on smartphones and some facilities even have books that can help with communication barriers. However, I think that the interpreter is your best option if possible. Although we will come in contact with patients who do not understand us or vise versa, it is still important that we find a way to have effective communication because no matter the culture or language, all patients deserve to have the greatest possible outcome

2nd discussion

Two problems encountered when providing nursing care to patients who don’t speak English as their primary language are their inability to learn and inability to thoroughly express how they feel or what they are going through. As someone who speaks two languages, and English not being my primary one, it used to be difficult for me to express what I really feel and it was hard for me to make people understand what I actually mean. My opinions often got ignored and/or interpreted differently, which can be quite dangerous when one’s health is concern. It was much harder for my mom because it took her almost 40 years before she actually had to use the English language. It was very difficult for her to correctly interpret what she was being told. When given instructions, she would usually follow-up with, “I’m sorry can you please say that again? Slowly this time”. I think patient education can be a little difficult for patients and nurses because it increases the risk of non-compliance due to misinterpretation of messages that are being conveyed. According to Giddens, “Nursing practice has been defined as ‘the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis of treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of patients, families, communities, and populations.’ These positive patient outcomes are often achieved through education” (Giddens, 2017, p.416).

One communication approach a nurse can do is paying more attention to non-verbal cues. Another is, making sure the education was understood by having the patient demonstrate back or re-state the teachings in their own words to figure out how they understood what they were just taught.