Growing Hispanic population prompts need for translators and new signs, forms

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

The growing Hispanic population in Clark County is putting a new twist on the national nursing shortage, forcing hospital administrators to place a premium on bilingual caregivers.

Hispanics make up the largest minority group in Nevada at 304,000, with 219,000 in Clark County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Health care officials say those statistics come to life every day in area hospitals, where the ability to speak Spanish has become a necessity.

At Lake Mead Hospital Medical Center, Spanish has become a part of daily life for the staff and patients, with all forms and signs in both English and Spanish, hospital spokeswoman Annette Kinsman said.

"If we can, we look to hire bilingual nurses and care providers," Kinsman said. "The community around the hospital (1409 E. Lake Mead Blvd.) is about 40 percent Hispanic within a one-mile radius."

At University Medical Center, which houses Southern Nevada's only trauma center, administrators like Vicki Huber and John Espinoza are working on ways to keep up with the growing Hispanic population's needs.

"We have to be able to speak with our patients and their relatives, and Las Vegas is a little unique because it's really becoming an international capital of the world," said Huber, a registered nurse. "Right now we're targeting people who can speak Spanish in our recruitment efforts. We have an obligation to provide the exact same level of care to all patients, no matter what language they speak."

Lake Mead and UMC also have translators, allowing medical personnel the ability to call for a interpreter when needed.

"We have a full-time interpreter in UMC's women's center as part of a pilot program that could be expanded to other areas in the hospital," Espinoza said. "That interpreter is on call to other parts of the hospital and can respond as needed."

The hospitals also rely on a phone system known as language lines that allows a patient to speak with an interpreter over the phone, then the interpreter tells the nurse what the patient said. The process can be time consuming, with a lot of explaining back and forth over the phone, UMC registered nurse Jerriann Day said.

Day has enrolled in a Community College of Southern Nevada Spanish course that caters to medical professionals, in the hopes that she will soon be able to speak enough Spanish to assist her patients.

"You run into a lot of people who speak Spanish, and if you can speak with them there is less of a chance that you'll screw up," Day said. "Plus you don't have to have an interpreter, use the phone or get a housekeeper or someone else to translate for you."

The class teaches beginning Spanish, but also focuses on words and phrases that medical professionals would use on the job.

UMC encourages its staff to seek further education, and that can often lead to a new job and responsibilities, Huber said.

"We may have a certified nursing assistant who knows how to speak Spanish and we'll look at augmenting their education so that they can help us out as a registered nurse," Huber said. "Our strategic planning takes into account the employees we have and how we can best utilize them, as well as new employees."

While adding bilingual nurses is a priority for hospitals, the top concern is still hiring and retaining enough nurses to care for the patients, Huber said.

"Nurses who speak a second language bring another skill that we can use," Huber said. "At the same time our focus has to be on ensuring that we are getting the word out about nursing as a career, so that there are enough nurses out there."