Bilingual Nurse vs. Interpreter

Hello, so I will be a future RN hopefully by the end of this year! I am bilingual, speak fluent Spanish and English. However, I was wondering how do you guys feel about a bilingual nurse speaking to a Spanish-speaking only patient in their own language, or using an interpreter even though the nurse understands? I have hear different opinions regarding it, due to the fact that an interpreter is "more qualified" and the patient-nurse relationship is more professional compared the nurse since we have to attach with the patient and interact with them more. I am not sure if what I am asking makes sense or not? what do you guys think? Thank you.

Martha Garcia, SN
If a nurse is capable of speaking and understanding a different language fluently, then great - she should do so. I can understand basic Spanish if they don't speak too quickly, and I can communicate better than I can understand, but if a patient asks me a complicated question, I don't have the fluency to be able to understand and answer. For that reason, I use an interpreter for all patient visits (I don't want them to NOT ask the complicated question because they know I won't understand). But if my comprehension was better, then yes, I would probably conduct my visits in their language, unless they specifically ask for an interpreter.

If the nurse if fluent I say absolutely

You should abide by whatever your employer's policy on this is.

My facility requires the use of approved interpreters for certain things: medical history, informed consent, that sort of thing. Any bilingual nurse may ask questions during routine care, such as pain and other things. Those wishing to be approved interpreters must take a course before becoming approved. We have several anesthesiologists who are fluent in Spanish; since they haven't taken the course to become approved, they still need a translator when obtaining consent for anesthesia.

This is similar to the different opinions I have heard, some would say it is better to have someone that has gone through the preparation, terminology and medical wise, to interpret.

Conversing in a language you are fluent in is one thing for basic care. For history, informed consent JC and other mandates state credentialed medical interpreter. Being fluent is an asset but for formal interpretation (consents, history, etc) most if not all facilities require a medical interpreter certification. If you are truly fluent consider getting the credential it can increase your worth and options as a nurse and credentialed interpreter. I have a non-nurse friend that I helped with basic medical terminology. She is fluent in Italian, Spanish, French and English. Subsequently she obtained interpreter and medical interpreter & translator credentials. She commands a premium hourly wage for her services and does this as a supplement to her full time job as a high school world language teacher. The district pays her private rate to interpret or translate for the school nurses for non-native speakers or English language learner families and has saved a life or two by knowing common idioms that are often misinterpreted by non-medical interpreters.

All facilities have an obligation to provide qualified interpreters. If you have not gone through my facility's certification, you are not qualified to interpret in our facility.

When I worked in the hospital, I used the interpreters for admission assessments and discharge teaching, even though I speak/understand Spanish. For the day to day stuff, I just talked to the patients/parents.Now, working in home care, I have access to phone interpreters only. I rarely use them for Spanish speaking patients since we get by just fine without them.

Well, considering that the hospital would have to pay for an interpreter, why would they do that when they've got you?

If you speak fluent Spanish and the patient does as well, then what is the difference between English speaking patient and nurse?

I am an RN who previously worked professionally as a hospital interpreter. Your role with patients will depend on the hospital's policy....in the best situations (my opinion), the hospital has both excellent staff interpreters and an official testing program for bilingual clinical staff. In my hospital, you have to pass the test before you can work with your own patients in Spanish, and even then a bilingual nurse is not allowed to interpret for other staff or to complete certain tasks (like surgical consents). If you haven't passed the test, you need an interpreter. Our charting has to include a statement that we had been certified as bilingual nurses by the facility.In the not-so-good situations, there is no formal test and people just kinda do their own thing. I have heard residents "interpreting" for their attending MD's - who were blissfully unaware that the resident was capturing maybe half the material, and that at a 3rd-grade vocabulary level. A very conversationally fluent speaker without specific medical training in both languages might not know even straightforward vocabulary like "gallstones," "gout," "measles," or "pacemaker"....let alone more complicated stuff. So it's good to be cautious and know your policy and your own limits. I follow our policy carefully and call the interpreter when I'm supposed to, even if it means they end up standing there being bored.

do you give English tests too? I knew a nurse who referred to otitis media as otitis meatus. Amazing how many people do not speak their own language well.