I was doing my maternity rotation and a classmate and I had a pt that only spoke a little bit of English and there was a “huge” language barrier. She was asking us “How will I know when my baby is getting enough milk?” I responded with: “Well, you will know if he has 6-8 wet diapers per/day.” I asked her if she understood (knowing that there was a language barrier) she said yes and then proceeded to tell her husband: “I need to get some more diapers to put on my breasts.” !!!! I don’t know where she got that one, but it was hard for us not to laugh!
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November 25th, 2008 at 3:33 am
That was really cute; when you have pts of different cultures using different languages it is really hard to convey the needed information. One thing that has been helpful in my practice is when I have Hispanic pts is to learn key words like cold, pain, ice, bathroom, and water. Then I try to take them an evening snack and offer them juice more often.
April 9th, 2010 at 1:32 am
WELL THIS WASN’T ABOUT A NURSING MOM BUT LANGUAGE BARRIER. WE HERE IN TEXAS DON’T HAVE ALOT OF DIFFERENT CULTURES AND LANGUAGE BARRIERS. IT IS MAINLY SPANISH/MEXICAN. I HAVE TRIED TO PICK UP THE LANGUAGE MORE AND MORE TO ASSIST MY PTS. ONE DAY I WAS TOLD THERE WAS A LANGUAGE BARRIER WITH A PATIENT. SO I WENT TO THIS PATIENT AND WHEN REALIZED SHE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND A WORD I SAID I QUICKLY CONVERTED TO MY BEST SPANISH, AFTER SEEING THE PUZZLED LOOK ON HER FACE, I REALIZED SHE WAS FROM INDIA AND SPOKE HINDI. YAH SPANISH WASN’T WORKING AND I FELT LIKE AN IDIOT.
May 8th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
@Dixie, that is funny. I usually look at the Pts name to get an idea of what background they are. usually a spanish/mexican has a lastname with a ‘Z’ in it. If I am unable to determine the background, I refer to the charts.