Nurses' concerns and practices with using interpreters
in the care of Latino patients in the emergency department.
This phenomenological study aimed to describe
nursing care of Latinos in the emergency department to determine how care
is planned relative to the patient's ethnicity, including linguistic abilities.
Unstructured interviews were conducted with 15 registered nurses from four
hospitals in the Northwest.
Results:
Interpreters play a pivotal role in nurses' practices.
Nurses' skills with working with interpreters, interpreter availability,
engagement, and accuracy enhance or impede effective care. Linguistic differences
challenge effective care provision. Culturally competent care requires secure
avenues of accurate communication. Administrators must provide nurses with
resources that promote culturally competent care, including training with
interpreters to facilitate effective communication.
Communication patterns in a UK emergency department.
Woloshynowych
M, Davis
R, Brown
R, Vincent
C. Clinical Safety Research Unit, Department of Bio-Surgery and Surgical
Technology, Imperial College, London, UK. m.woloshynowych@imperial.ac.uk
Ann
Emerg Med. 2007 Oct;50(4):407-13.
Good communication is important in patient care and plays an essential part
of teamwork and patient safety. Communication in the emergency department
(ED) can be chaotic, with the potential for error resulting from communication
overload and problems of communication.
Results: Analysis revealed that there were 2,019 communication events in
20 hours, 48% was involving patient care. Communication load, or overload,
can disrupt memory and lead to mistakes. Improving communication between
health care staff by reducing the levels of interruptions and minimizing
the volume of irrelevant or unnecessary information exchange could have
important implications for patient safety.
Communication techniques for patients with
low health literacy: a survey of physicians, nurses, and pharmacists.
Department of Medicine, and Public Health,
American Medical Association, Chicago, IL 60610, USA. Joanne.Schuwartzberg@amaassn.org
Am J Health
Behav. 2007 Sep-Oct;31 Suppl 1:S96-104.
A survey was administered to physicians, nurses,
and pharmacists attending continuing education programs on patient safety
and health care quality. Each was asked to rate communication-enhancing strategies
by frequency of use and effectiveness with patients with low health literacy.
RESULTS: Using simple language (94.7%), handing
out printed materials (70.3%), and speaking more slowly (67.3%) were the
most commonly used strategies. Strategies currently recommended by health
literacy experts were less routinely used.
CONCLUSIONS: Further research is needed that
evaluates the effectiveness of communication strategies for patients with
limited literacy skills within diverse clinical encounters.
Cultural and linguistic barriers to mental
health service access: the deaf consumer's perspective.
Department of Psychiatry, Child Guidance
Center of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA, USA. drannie@mail.med.upenn.edu
The authors investigated knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mental illness
and providers held by a group of deaf adults.
RESULTS: Recurrent themes included mistrust of providers, communication difficulty
as a primary cause of mental health problems, profound concern with communication
in therapy, and widespread ignorance about how to obtain services. CONCLUSIONS:
Deaf consumers' views need due consideration in service delivery planning.
Outreach regarding existing programs is essential.
Closing the loop: physician communication with
diabetic patients who have low health literacy.
Primary Care Research Center, Department
of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco General
Hospital, 94110, USA. dean@itsa.ucsf.edu
Arch Intern Med. 2003 Jan 13;163(1):83-90.
Arch
Intern Med. 2003 Jan 13;163(1):83-90.
Patients recall or comprehend as little as half of what physicians convey
during an outpatient encounter. To enhance recall, comprehension, and adherence,
it is recommended that physicians elicit patients' comprehension of new concepts
and tailor subsequent information, particularly for patients with low functional
health literacy.
RESULTS: The study found that the 2 variables associated with good glycemic
control were higher health literacy levels and phyisican application of interactive
communication techniques. However, physicians assessed recal and comprehension
of new concepts only about 12-20 percent of the time, overlooking this important
step in communication.
Articles accessed from PubMed October,
2007.
Marlene V. Obermeyer, Culture Advantage, 2007
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