UDM class enables better health care for Spanish-speaking people

Spanish class provided by UDM L&CT enables compliance with national health care standards

Eight nurses completed their first semester of Spanish for Health Care at Henry Ford Health Systems this summer. Offered through the University of Detroit Mercy's Language & Cultural Training Department, the course enables health care professionals to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients, a majority of Henry Ford Hospital's non-English-speaking clientele.

The course, which focuses on medical terminology and real-time practical scenarios in the hospital setting, will begin again in February 2008. "It is one of the ways we can assist health care providers in remaining compliant with the national standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in health care (CLAS)," says Lara Wasner, Director of Language & Cultural Training. "We now have a waiting list of 70 health care providers at this location, and so are discussing ways in which we can accommodate a variety of professionals who may not all work the same shifts."

According to Nurse Tina Daniels, "It is essential in an emergency situation to know what's wrong with someone the minute they walk through our doors." Daniels had been learning Spanish since 2007 on site with UDM instructor Zulma Hiske. "I realized the impact right away that my ability to speak Spanish was having on patient care; it did not take long to convince my supervisor to offer the course for other nurses here."

Daniels continues: "So often, a patient's family member ends up interpreting for the patient, placing a huge burden on the family during an already crisis situation. My ability to speak Spanish resolves much of this and has a positive economic impact on the family by enabling them to return to work or school rather than staying round-the-clock at the patient's bedside. It's a huge comfort to the patient and their family that I can communicate with them."

To obtain more information about Spanish for Health Care, please contact UDM's Language & Cultural Training Department at 313-993-1191.

Lara Wasner, director, Language & Cultural Training