Dual‐role nurse interpreter perceptions of language barriers and Spanish‐speaking patients: A qualitative study

AIM: As the United States population is ever changing and is growing in diverse population patterns, the health care system is called to initiate responsive health care practices that are based on the public's changing and diverse cultural patterns. This study sought to explore the perceptions of certified medical interpreter dual‐role nurses and their experiences with Spanish‐speaking patients from admission to discharge in hospital stays. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive case study was applied in this study. METHODS: Data was collected from nurses working at a United States Southwest Borderland hospital using purposive sampling and semi‐structured in‐depth interviews. A total of four dual‐role nurses participated, and thematic narrative analysis was applied. RESULTS: Four major themes emerged. The main themes were “being a dual‐role nurse interpreter,” “patient experience,” “culture and competence, “and “nursing and caring,” With each major theme multiple sub themes emerged. Two sub themes emerged with “being a dual‐role nurse interpreter,” and two sub themes emerged with “patient experiences.” The major themes that emerged from the interviews indicated that the language barrier greatly affects Spanish‐speaking patients in their hospital stay. Participants reported having at least one encounter with a Spanish‐speaking patient that was not afforded interpretation services or had interpretation from someone other than a qualified interpreter. Patients experienced confusion, apprehension and anger associated with not being able to communicate their needs to the healthcare system. CONCLUSIONS: According to the experiences of the certified dual‐role nurse interpreters, having a language barrier makes a tremendous impact on the care of Spanish‐speaking patients. Nurse participants describe how patients and their family members experience dissatisfaction, anger and confusion when there is a language barrier and most importantly how language barriers have detrimental effects on patients with wrong medication prescriptions and wrong diagnosis. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: When hospital administration recognize and support nurses as certified medical interpreters as a key component for patient care when assisting persons with limited English proficiency, patients are empowered to become active members of their healthcare regimen. The role of dual‐role nurses enables brokering between the healthcare system and serves as a tool to bridge health disparities based on linguistic inequities existing in healthcare. Recruitment and retention of certified medical interpreter trained Spanish‐speaking nurses deter errors in healthcare and makes a positive impact on the healthcare regimen of Spanish‐speaking patients enabling patient empowerment through education and advocacy.