this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2024
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Waikato Hospital staff told to speak English only (www.rnz.co.nz)
submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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This is the thin end of the wedge. Whichever racist PoS manager at TWO whom sent this is simply emboldened by our current racist PoS government. It gets worse from here.

Objectively, even to the stupidst person, that a distressed patient and stressed nurse will be most effective when using a shared native language in interactions with the patient.

Communication with the rest of the staff obviously should be in the common language.

It's extra stupid because while we can assume a nurse has competency in English there's no guarantee the patient or patient's support does.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I would like to give some benefit of the doubt with regard to intent since the memo itself doesn't specifically say they can't talk to patients in their own language, and I can imagine scenarios where a staff member doesn't know what is happening because discussions are happening in a language they don't speak.

But... holy shit, how could you write a memo like this and not expect to end up in the media? It's like the person writing it can't imagine a world where English isn't the best language for all circumstances.

I feel like there is potentially a problem but management lacks the problem solving skills to come up with a real solution.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Shouldn’t translations and interpretation be done by a trained professional, especially in a medical setting?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Ideally, yes, if we are talking about communicating critical information to patients.

However, the first issue is that the translator needs to be medically trained. If they aren't, they risk translating critical technical information wrong. We can't even get enough medical staff, let alone extras to be dedicated translators.

There are also other circumstances where I don't think a certified translator should be needed. For example, day to day interactions with a patient that aren't about communicating critical medical information (e.g. asking how they are doing). I think most nurse interactions with patients would not justify a translator if the nurse spoke their language. Many doctor interactions would, but those are generally more structured and could have a translator organised in advance, unlike most nurse interactions.

But also, as I mentioned there is likely a valid problem the memo is trying to address. The issue I see here is that the memo just decides the solution is that everyone has to speak English. This is just bad problem solving. They need to address the specific issues not have blanket rules that make the environment worse for patients.

I suspect speaking to patients isn't the problem (it's not specifically mentioned in the memo), and so translators may not actually be relevant.

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