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Volume 41, Issue 2
September 16, 2003
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September 16, 2003
Language key to nurses
Derek
Meurer
Mesa Legend
MCC helps meet demand for bilingual
health care workers
In the dire, life-and-death situations common to hospitals, communication
is of vital importance.
In such cases, a language barrier can be deadly.
The need for Arizona nurses who are able to convey the needs of Spanish-speaking
patients is great.
To address this, MCC has established a program combining English as a
Second Language (ESL) education with nursing assistant training.
This program, ESL/NA, or “Nursing Assisting for ESL Students with
Limited English Proficiency,” began January of 2002.
The program was conceived of by Myrna Eshelman, nursing department chair
at MCC.
“I experienced the reverse of the situation, first hand,”
said Eshelman. “I was on vacation in Mexico, when I became deathly
ill. None of the doctors there spoke English. They had to get the children
from the local school to act as translators for me.”
There is currently great need for nurses in Arizona, according to our
state government.
In 2002, a “Governor’s Nursing Shortage Task Force”
began under the authorization of Jane Hull.
They discovered that nationally, the employed nurse to population ratio
was 3.3 to 1000 in acute care settings.
In Arizona, the ratio was significantly lower, with 1.9 nurses to every
1000 members of the population.
Also, 20 percent of Arizonans speak Spanish, and only half of those feel
they speak English well, according to CencusScope.org.
Eshelman was aware of the need for nurses in this state, and the even
greater need for bilingual nurses.
“We considered, and tried, teaching English-speaking nurses to speak
Spanish. However, we’ve found that having native speakers of Spanish
learn English is much more effective for communicating with patients.
An understanding of medical need, which may be difficult for the patient
to describe, comes more easily to native speakers.”
As the coordinator for the program, Bertha Sepulveda is responsible for
helping its students integrate into the program and coordinating the activity
between the ESL and nursing departments.
Sepulveda is bilingual, which has aided her in helping her students through
many of the difficulties they have faced.
“Registration alone can seem impossible for a student who cannot
read or speak English well. I try to make it possible for them to get
through those difficulties, and well on their way to becoming nursing
assistants.”
The ESL/NA program is 10 credits the first semester, 9 the second semester
and combines traditional nurse’s assistant training with classes
teaching proficiency in English.
Bilingual professors were recruited to teach the nursing sections, to
ensure there is no loss of communication, while the classes themselves
are taught in English.
They also coordinate the students’ ESL classes with the English
department, and add requirements of mastering medical terminology in both
languages.
Another unique aspect of the program is that the classes are treated much
more as a unit. They will move together through the program, with the
same group of classmates, and many of the same professors.
“This gives them more of a sense of teamwork, and having a group
like that allows them to help each other through it as well. By the end
of the program, they’ve bonded much more than many other classes
have,” Sepulveda said.
This pioneer program of MCC’s nursing department has been successful
so far. It is funded by the “MCC Innovative Award” grant for
2002-2003.
The first group to complete the program met Thursday, Aug. 27, for a forum
to check on their progress and discuss the success of the program.
One half of those who completed it have been offered jobs, and 11 plan
to go on to become fully registered nurses.
One of the graduates, Blanca Saldana, spoke positively of her experience
with the program.
Saldana said it was difficult, but that it left them with a firm mastery
of both the skills needed as a nursing assistant, as well as a firm grasp
of the English language.
“I am a certified nursing assistant, and my English has became very
good. I plan to use what I was taught, and go on to become a certified
nurse,” Saldana stated.
The second group of 20 students began the program in the fall of 2003.
One of these new entries to the program, Mary Fruh, is already grateful
for the assistance of the coordinator, Sepulveda.
Fruh, a Spanish-speaking student who is in the process of completing an
ESL class, said, “I missed my first class, and I was having a very
hard time with the registration, because it is in English. Bertha (Sepulveda)
was able to help me through it, and now I’m going to be taking my
first class in the program. I’m looking forward to being a nursing
assistant as soon as I can.”
For Fruh, as well as many others, Sepulveda and the ESL Nursing Assistant
program made that possible.
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