Some Gentle Reminders for Ensuring Appropriate Language Interpretation for Patients
Photo by Ling App on Unsplash
When I began nursing school, I never could have imagined how quickly I would be thrust into the heart of health care, quite literally. During my first semester, I started clinical rotations on a cardiovascular unit, where I began to understand the phenomenal intricacies of the human heart. It was a time of discovery, as I learned to navigate the complexities of blood pressure readings, mean arterial pressures (MAP), electrocardiograms (ECGs), cardiac catheterizations, and even the life-changing left ventricular assistive devices (LVADs).
By the time I began my second semester, I found myself in a cardiovascular surgical intermediate care unit, a place that would push me further into the depths of cardiac care. There, under the watchful eye of my clinical preceptor, I had the responsibility of caring for patients who had undergone some of the most intricate and high-stakes procedures imaginable. It was during this semester that I encountered a powerful lesson that has stayed with me long after graduation and well into my early years as a registered nurse.
A lesson in why clear communication really matters.
A Spanish-speaking Hispanic woman with coronary artery disease was admitted to our cardiac unit. Her electronic medical record […]
