Difficulties and Countermeasures in Nursing Practice for Non-English-Speaking Foreign Patients with COVID-19
- VernacularTitle:英語を母国語としない外国人COVID-19患者の看護支援の困難性と対策
- Author:
Risa HAMANO
1
;
Megumi NAGAO
1
;
Takiko MATSUNO
1
;
Ritsuko KUBOE
1
;
Yasuyo WATANABE
1
;
Junichi MATSUDA
1
;
Mari HANASHIMA
1
;
Nobuyuki MITANI
2
;
Takayuki KUGA
3
Author Information
- From:Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine 2022;70(5):535-542
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
- Abstract: The purpose of this study was to clarify difficulties and countermeasures in nursing practice for foreign patients with COVID-19 who were non-English native speakers. A questionnaire was collected from 16 nurses in a COVID-19 ward. They cared for 13 non-English-speaking foreign patients from admission to discharge in the ward between May 2021 and June 2021. All nurses reported difficulties in communication related to collecting information from patients and explaining hospital care. For example, they could have simple conversations using a two-way translation device (POKETALK®) but could not understand detailed symptoms or complaints without an interpreter. Not much meaning could be inferred from a patient’s response of “OK”. The nurses reported that it was difficult to explain details of treatments, Japanese customs, and hospital rules. With the help of interpreters, they made hospital manuals and question cards in the patients’ native languages. In nursing care for foreign patients with COVID-19, it was helpful to provide explanations of Japanese customs and hospital rules before admission and to prepare hospital manuals and question cards in patients’ native languages.
