The Fun Of Being A Multi-lingual Nurse
When I first started out as a nurse in 2013, I was able to speak English, Spanish, and get by with American Sign Language. Although, English is my native language. Spanish, I learned as a kid and during college. Sign Language I learned because I had a deaf uncle that I communicated with regularly. My home state of Iowa is not exactly known for its diversity, so I rarely used anything other than English. In 2018, I had exposure to the Hindi and Telugu languages from India because of friends. I made a conscious effort to learn Hindi, as it was easier than Telugu for me. The various dialects made things more difficult and I wasn’t getting beyond basic introductions. I started travel nursing in late 2019 and had more exposure to foreign languages from those experiences.
It wasn’t uncommon to have to use Spanish, but I noticed that with Indian Doctors/Residents in the room, that my Spanish words would intermittently change to a Hindi pronunciation or to Hindi words, entirely. I think their accent was priming me to speak more of a Hindi-sounding Spanish. This confused not just the patients, but the Doctors, as well. I remember one time, getting the updated plan of care from a Doctor on my patient (in English), but because of his accent and because I was distractedly typing on the computer simultaneously, I responded to him in Telugu — which, in another context of my life, was normal. That Doctor and I shared a very strange moment of silence and exchanged a look of mutual shock and embarrassment. I came to find out, he did speak Telugu, but it wasn’t one of my finer moments.
Other times, things get lost in translation. I was assisting a resident (who I knew spoke Hindi from previous informal interactions) while she performed a lumbar puncture (LP) on my patient. She had tried and failed five times. I didn’t want to call her out on it and risk worrying the patient, who needed to lie still, so I tried to tell her in Hindi. When I said “Band karo”, she stopped what she was doing and looked at her pants zipper then looked at me like I was crazy. I meant to tell her to stop and call her upper resident to do the LP, but she heard “close it”. She didn’t get my hint and tried and failed once more before I suggested in English that she ask her upper to make the next attempt.
On more than one assignment, I have been tasked with rounding with the Doctors because some of the charge nurses I’ve worked with miss some of the plans of care on patients because they struggle with understanding accents, which I have no trouble with. I’ve been learning for awhile now and feel a little more comfortable speaking Hindi and Telugu with my patients. I don’t think I’ll ever be proficient in them, much less fluent. I might sound silly or mix things up on occasion, but seeing my patient’s smile and hear their appreciation because I put effort into learning something I didn’t need to makes the challenge worthwhile.
