男女羞羞视频在线观看,国产精品黄色免费,麻豆91在线视频,美女被羞羞免费软件下载,国产的一级片,亚洲熟色妇,天天操夜夜摸,一区二区三区在线电影
您現在的位置: > Language Tips > Audio & Video > Normal Speed News  
 





 
Language barriers impact health care
[ 2006-08-04 08:57 ]

Many immigrants to the United States may be getting inadequate medical care because of language barriers between patients and medical professionals. But some health facilities are working to add more multilingual staff and reduce errors based on miscommunication.

More than 22 million people who live in the United States don't speak or understand English very well. And that can be deadly. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Glenn Flores highlights some cases where language barriers prevented patients from communicating with health care providers -- with serious consequences.

Flores recalls one incident in which English-speaking paramedics thought a Spanish-speaking man was suffering from a drug overdose. "He was in the hospital basically for two days being worked up for drug abuse," Flores says. "They finally did a head C-T scan and realized he had had a major bleed into his brain, probably originating from the rupture of an artery in his brain. He ended up being quadriplegic and he got a $71 million settlement award from the hospital."

Flores, a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin says that despite examples like that, the majority of U.S. health care facilities still do not have trained interpreters on site. But he acknowledges that increasing numbers of health care workers are bilingual, and that more clinics and hospitals do make sure their staff and patients understand each other.

The Tinno families get into the waiting room at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Some 40%, or about 7000 of the patients who were seen there last year spoke little or no English. Fortunately for them, of the 30 doctors and nurses at the clinic, 28 also speak Spanish.

After greeting several members of the Caseas family,doctor Ricas examines their young daughter Gabrielle. Doctor Ricas says being able to speak to Mrs. Caseas in her native Spanish means he can discuss Gabrielle's condition - and treatment - in much greater depth. "It's always good to ask a few extra questions," he explains, "like why this is important for you and what have you heard and what do other people say about this? Sometimes that helps you understand what their real concerns are. But it's difficult to get into that detail if you don't speak the language."

The Sixteenth Street Clinic is expanding. So its directors are in the process of hiring more staff who are bilingual now, or who commit to learning Spanish. Clinic vice-president, Dr. Julie Schuller, says new hires are told that by speaking to patients in their own language, they can provide the highest quality care. "By providing high quality care, we are avoiding errors, we are avoiding malpractice suits," she says. "The main focus for us is the high quality. What [follows] from that [i.e. avoiding errors] is important too, but we're focused on providing the best quality we can provide."

Schuller says it's frustrating to go into medical facilities and see patients who are not being understood. So she urges other hospitals and clinics to look into adding interpreters to their staff, or at least to make use of translator hotlines that can be called day or night.

But Dana Richardson of the Wisconsin Hospital Association says many facilities are worried about the additional cost. "What we have seen in the state of Wisconsin overall is an increasing number of minority-ethnic groups coming in, and so it's becoming a greater cost for the health community to provide these services." Richardson says translator hotlines can cost at least $50 per hour. She says while hospitals recognize the value of having a multi-lingual flexibility, most simply cannot afford it.

The author of the language barrier study, Glenn Flores, suggests that U.S. medical schools could require their students to take medical Spanish, Chinese or other appropriate language. But for now, the number of immigrants is outpacing the health care industry's ability to provide adequate care in a language they can understand.

Vocabulary:              

quadriplegic : 四肢癱瘓的


(來源:VOA  英語點津姍姍編輯


 

 
 

 

 

 
 

48小時內最熱門

     

本頻道最新推薦

     
  Fulbright exchange program turns 60
  Experience:the first American space walk
  Bird flu renews fear among Thai tour operators
  靜謐憂傷:A place nearby
  Japan imports U.S. beef again






主站蜘蛛池模板: 武隆县| 龙里县| 华安县| 远安县| 揭阳市| 娄烦县| 日照市| 那曲县| 贵阳市| 汝阳县| 景德镇市| 黎川县| 甘洛县| 武邑县| 杭锦后旗| 璧山县| 乐安县| 东至县| 广西| 滨州市| 顺昌县| 靖州| 汝阳县| 抚宁县| 江门市| 应城市| 灵武市| 板桥市| 永嘉县| 日照市| 佛教| 许昌县| 长白| 遂溪县| 永丰县| 龙泉市| 罗山县| 曲阳县| 曲麻莱县| 贵港市| 洛阳市| 远安县| 星座| 甘谷县| 三台县| 浪卡子县| 冕宁县| 海门市| 泗阳县| 彭山县| 远安县| 肥西县| 和平县| 马龙县| 肇东市| 汉中市| 西峡县| 红原县| 福清市| 沙湾县| 锡林郭勒盟| 乃东县| 曲靖市| 阿城市| 滦平县| 当涂县| 清流县| 永丰县| 西昌市| 南雄市| 建始县| 曲沃县| 那曲县| 乌拉特后旗| 莱芜市| 祁门县| 乌拉特中旗| 隆回县| 任丘市| 乌拉特后旗| 阜阳市| 阳江市|