Chapter 14
Case scenarios are fictional (or not) situations that you might have to come up with when you are in a medical situation. We need to thank Dr. Christina Garcia, who created the following scenarios for you to do activities in your classes.
Christina García, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics at Saint Louis University. Her research interests include a phonetic variation of the Spanish-speaking world, sociophoneticperception, and L2 pronunciation acquisition. Her work has been published in journals such as Language Variation and Change, Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, and Spanish in Context.
Case scenarios in medical interpreting
#1
A lady goes to the doctor because she does not feel well. She only speaks Spanish, and they assigned a local interpreter to her. When the nurse asks her what brought her here today, she explains to the interpreter that she feels she has a curse. She speaks in a low voice. She stays in the corner and does not want the nurse to understand what she is saying. She is acting as telling a secret to the interpreter. What would you do in the shoes of the interpreter, and why?
#2
You are an interpreter in a small clinic. A young man walks in and tells you in the middle of the interpreting section that his “Chamorros” are hurting.
You have no idea what that word means. How do you handle this situation?
#3
You are doing a sight translation. A prescription the doctor gave to the patient. The patient has a severe reaction to the medication. You notice the prescription says take ONCE a day, and that the patient brought the prescription bottle almost empty. He explains that he took 11 pills. What happened here?
# 4
The lady who you are about to interpret for gave you an envelope with 100 dollars.
You asked, what is this for? She explains: it is a gift. What do you do next?
#5
The patient you are about to interpret for has difficulty spelling and pronouncing last name. You have no idea how to read it out loud. What do you do?
#6 by Edgardo Abdiel Cruz-Martinez
You have to explain diabetes to a newly diagnosed patient. Often patients need help understanding their new diagnosis. For example, explaining what A1c values mean and dieting control.
Create a dialogue for the following situations by Janaina McFarlin
Escenario 1
Situación: Cita con el ginecólogo Razón: prolapso uterino
La intérprete solo tuvo clases de español para la enseñanza y es amiga de la paciente. La intérprete no conoce el vocabulario médico ni tiene experiencia como intérprete.
Diálogo:
Escenario 2
Situación: Sala de emergencias Razón: perforación del intestino delgado
Una colega de trabajo de la paciente se convierte en la intérprete. La paciente tiene que hacer una cirugía de emergencia. El doctor explica a la paciente que la situación es delicada, de vida y muerte y tiene que tomar una decisión inmediata. La colega de trabajo no está mentalmente preparada para hacer la interpretación y sale repentinamente de la consulta con el cirujano.
Diálogo:
Escenario 3
Situación: Sala de emergencias Razón: una picada de araña
A las diez de la noche el padre lleva a la madre al hospital por una picada de araña y el hijo de nueve años los acompaña para interpretar. El padre y la madre no hablan inglés. El hijo pequeño no entiende al doctor para explicar para su madre las recomendaciones médicas. La madre aterrorizada por ver su mano muy hinchada se desmaya. El niño empieza a llorar.
Diálogo:
Exercises by Dr. Antonio Martin Gomez
- Crear una entrevista inicial entre paciente y médico para ayudarle a rellenar el formulario de entrada del paciente (datos personales, seguro médico, etc).
- Anamnesis o preguntas iniciales para establecer un diagnóstico.
What is needed: Data By Lindsay Leigh Helms and Hanna Nicole Pitner
Dr. Helms and Pitner gathered the following data from their pilot study:
- What situations might a nurse find themselves in that require Spanish skills?
I feel ok with making conversation but need help with vocabulary. I feel like if I could say terms like “heart rate,” then I would be able to fill in the gaps of other words needed to get my point across. (Participant 3)
In the ER, nurses must ask triage questions like medical history, weight, height, and “do you feel safe at home? And to introduce myself, discover the acuity level, give commands and to understand discharge paperwork in Spanish (Participant 7)
In the ER we have to figure out complaints like when it (the symptoms) started, medical history, surgical history, social history, triage questions, explaining what I’m doing (IV, fluids, blood pressure), and it takes time to find the language line or interpreter (Participant 6)
taking vital signs, explaining medications (side effects and use), assessment of significant change questions (Can you feel me touch you? Can you breathe?), checking your mental state, other questions (Do you need help doing X?) (Participant 2)
In COVID testing drive-through. I need to be able to communicate things like “roll down your window,” “do not grab my arm,” and ” I am going to put this in your nose.” I could direct them to the pamphlet, but it would be helpful to say these things. (Participant 1)
In the clinic setting, I need to be able to talk to them about their pain. I would need more cultural understanding as well. (Participant 1)
Basic assessment for why they came to the ER, ask about allergies to medications, are you pregnant, have you had a baby (which way were they cut, c-section), no records on the patient (Participant 4)
Blue phones are available and can be called from the cell phone. Some clinics have in-person translators. I want to explain in detail and use empathy to comfort a person. (Participant 1)
Another part of my job is giving lab results via phone. I would prefer not to do a 3-way call because this gets very confusing for the patient. I might say things like, “your cholesterol is high, and a way to fix that would be exercising more– things like patient education. (Participant 1)
I need to be able to explain prescription labels such as, “take your medicine twice a day.” (Participant 1)
DATA ANALYSIS:
Specific situations that required Spanish in the workplace.
Asking questions and giving commands
When the translators are not available/technology is not working.
