Hunt School of Nursing, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, Texas, USA.
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA.
Nurs Open. 2023 Jun;10(6):3973-3981. doi: 10.1002/nop2.1656. Epub 2023 Mar 6.
As the United States population is ever changing and is growing in diverse population patterns, the health care system is called to initiate responsive health care practices that are based on the public's changing and diverse cultural patterns. This study sought to explore the perceptions of certified medical interpreter dual-role nurses and their experiences with Spanish-speaking patients from admission to discharge in hospital stays.
A qualitative descriptive case study was applied in this study.
Data was collected from nurses working at a United States Southwest Borderland hospital using purposive sampling and semi-structured in-depth interviews. A total of four dual-role nurses participated, and thematic narrative analysis was applied.
Four major themes emerged. The main themes were "being a dual-role nurse interpreter," "patient experience," "culture and competence, "and "nursing and caring," With each major theme multiple sub themes emerged. Two sub themes emerged with "being a dual-role nurse interpreter," and two sub themes emerged with "patient experiences." The major themes that emerged from the interviews indicated that the language barrier greatly affects Spanish-speaking patients in their hospital stay. Participants reported having at least one encounter with a Spanish-speaking patient that was not afforded interpretation services or had interpretation from someone other than a qualified interpreter. Patients experienced confusion, apprehension and anger associated with not being able to communicate their needs to the healthcare system.
According to the experiences of the certified dual-role nurse interpreters, having a language barrier makes a tremendous impact on the care of Spanish-speaking patients. Nurse participants describe how patients and their family members experience dissatisfaction, anger and confusion when there is a language barrier and most importantly how language barriers have detrimental effects on patients with wrong medication prescriptions and wrong diagnosis.
When hospital administration recognize and support nurses as certified medical interpreters as a key component for patient care when assisting persons with limited English proficiency, patients are empowered to become active members of their healthcare regimen. The role of dual-role nurses enables brokering between the healthcare system and serves as a tool to bridge health disparities based on linguistic inequities existing in healthcare. Recruitment and retention of certified medical interpreter trained Spanish-speaking nurses deter errors in healthcare and makes a positive impact on the healthcare regimen of Spanish-speaking patients enabling patient empowerment through education and advocacy.
随着美国人口不断变化，人口模式呈现多样化趋势，医疗保健系统需要启动基于公众不断变化和多样化的文化模式的响应式医疗保健实践。本研究旨在探讨认证医疗口译员双重角色护士对住院期间从入院到出院的西班牙语患者的看法及其经验。
本研究采用定性描述性案例研究方法。
使用目的抽样和半结构化深入访谈从美国西南部边境地区医院的护士收集数据。共有 4 名双重角色护士参与，应用主题叙事分析。
出现了四个主要主题。主要主题是“作为双重角色护士口译员”、“患者体验”、“文化和能力”以及“护理和关怀”，每个主要主题都出现了多个子主题。与“作为双重角色护士口译员”相关的主题出现了两个子主题，与“患者体验”相关的主题出现了两个子主题。访谈中出现的主要主题表明，语言障碍极大地影响了西班牙语患者的住院体验。参与者报告说，至少遇到过一次西班牙语患者没有提供口译服务或由不合格口译员提供口译的情况。患者经历了与无法向医疗保健系统传达需求相关的困惑、担忧和愤怒。
根据认证双重角色护士口译员的经验，语言障碍对西班牙语患者的护理产生了巨大影响。护士参与者描述了当存在语言障碍时，患者及其家属如何感到不满、愤怒和困惑，最重要的是，语言障碍如何对语言能力有限的患者产生有害影响，导致错误的药物处方和错误的诊断。
当医院管理部门认识到并支持护士作为认证医疗口译员作为协助英语水平有限的人员的患者护理的关键组成部分时，患者有能力成为其医疗保健方案的积极参与者。双重角色护士的角色使医疗保健系统能够进行调解，并作为基于医疗保健中存在的语言不平等现象来弥合健康差距的工具。招聘和留住经过认证的医疗口译培训的西班牙语护士可以防止医疗保健中的错误，并对西班牙语患者的医疗保健方案产生积极影响，通过教育和宣传使患者获得权力。
