Language is an integral part of health care, and it’s paramount that the patient and the nurse have a clear understanding of each other. A healthy Communication between a nurse and patient enable a nurse to get hold of accurate information on patient's health history, symptoms, and any allergic reaction. With this information at hand, a health practitioner can formulate a treatment plan and evaluate the outcomes of the treatment on the patient (Kroll, 2014).
Therefore, it is paramount for a health practitioner to find a translator to make sure there is no miscommunication between the practitioner and the patient. This is because if the practitioner fails to find the translator the patient will not understand the health care being provided or proposed by the practitioner. The patient will not comprehend exactly what he/she is suffering from or what kind of danger he/she is facing. Therefore, the due to lack of clear information the patient will not make an informed decision or give consent to treatment. Furthermore, the practitioner due to loss of meaning in some words and general misunderstanding the practitioner may offer wrong treatment to the patient. This can result in the death of patient or worse the condition of the patient. As a result of this, the hospital and the practitioner may be sued. The hospital will suffer huge financial loss, and the practitioner may lose his/her license to practice. As such, to avoid devastating effects and the risk of putting the patient’s life in danger it’s essential to find a translator (Kroll, 2014).
It’s the health practitioner problem. This is because if the practitioner fails to deliver care to the patient, it will be deprivation of the rights to access health care. Moreover, linguistic competence in the health care professional calls for application of a variety of skills to get or pass to the patient. These skills are listening, reading, writing and use of interpreters/translators. Thus, it’s the duty of the practitioner to make there is effective communication between him/her and the patient (ANA, 2009).
Reference
ANA. (2009). Understanding Cultural and Linguistic Barriers to Health Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol142009/No3Sept09/Cultural-and-Linguistic-Barriers-.html
Kroll, J. (2014). Linguistic Competence and the Law | Minority Nurse. Retrieved from http://www.minoritynurse.com/article/linguistic-competence-and-law
