A Journey to Enhance Clinical Communication in a Second Language (L2) for Primary Care Providers: Lessons Learned

Frances Jean Kelley, PhD, APRN-BC, Nursing, Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies, Washington, DC, USA and Maria Klopf, MS, School of Nursing & Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.

In this presentation we will share different approaches used when integrating nursing education, second language learning (L2) and web-based technology in the Clinical Communication in Spanish Program. This program was designed to help both students and faculty develop L2 skills to better serve their patients whose first language is Spanish. It was a segment of the Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwifery Diversity Education Project (2001-2006) funded by a Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant.

The advanced health assessment course is a core graduate course in the nursing curriculum for students in the nurse practitioner and nurse midwifery programs. It was video-taped in the first year of funding by the L2 faculty to collect, analyze data and create material for future teaching, research and development when integrating nursing education, linguistic and cultural competence.

The provider-patient encounter in clinical environments provides countless opportunities to develop listening and speaking skills when learning a L2. However, developing linguistic and cultural competence goes beyond the clinical setting. Listening to health education topics, doing cross-word puzzles, reading health news, and singing songs are examples of the approaches used to learn a L2 in a communicative way for use in clinical settings.

When exploring approaches beyond the use of paper and pencil, web-based technology is an intriguing alternative. The use of web-design, audio and video editing software as basic tools for developing L2 scenarios in clinical settings has advantages such as providing the users with 24-hour access to the online audio and video material. For example, MedlinePlus, “a goldmine of good health information from the National Library of Medicine,” has interactive tutorials on health education that patients as well as healthcare providers can use. Consequently, these various approaches enabled linguistic and cultural facilitation in a L2 for faculty and students seeking to serve minority patients.

Learning Objective #1: Discuss the development and implementation of a Clinical Communication in Spanish program.
Learning Objective #2: Identify various approaches used in integrating nursing education, second language learning and web-based technology for improving provider-patient communication in the clinical setting.