• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Website spotlight: Medical interpreters key to patient communication, safety

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, August 5, 2011

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education!

According to Joint Commission standards and federal law, patients have the right to effective communication, including access to interpretation and translation services. It's easy to understand why. Effective communication with a patient is a critical component of patient safety, education, and informed consent.

"It makes people very nervous when someone comes in the room and starts speaking a different language that he or she doesn't understand," says Sherry Mazer, regulatory officer at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. "Imagine you're in the hospital, you're sick, you don't know what's wrong with you, and you can't understand what anyone is saying. How would you feel?"

Mazer, who oversees the Linguistic and Cultural Services Department at Temple, says there's a lot to consider with language interpretation. You have to take into account all of the patient's needs, including whether your language interpretation service is up to par.

Temple uses three kinds of interpretation services, all accepted by The Joint Commission: in-house staff Spanish interpreters, dual-role interpreters, and a vendor telephone service. The combination of services helps meet the specific needs of Temple's patient population, says Mazer. Spanish is the most widely spoken language in the service area other than English, so the in-house interpreters are most useful.

Editor's note: To read the rest of this free article, visit the Reading Room, part of www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive