N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 9
9 Tips for
Negotiating
Language
Barriers
For moral, legal and
financial reasons, we
must do better. Here's
advice on how.
Allison P. Squires, PhD, RN
New York, N.Y.
A
4-year-old boy breaks his elbow and the trauma results in
a blocked artery. The Spanish-speaking family sees an
English-speaking orthopod who sets the fracture, but
complications ensue, resulting in the removal of some of
the arm's muscle tissue. An investigation determines that
for all the surgical procedures, the surgeon provided an informed con-
sent in English only and failed to use an interpreter. The case settles
for $650,000.
A hospital radiology department finds a mass on a Spanish-speaking
patient's left kidney, but the surgeon misreads the reports and prof-
fers an informed consent in English for the right kidney instead. No
interpreter is summoned, the patient loses both kidneys and ends up
on dialysis for the rest of his life. The case settles for an undisclosed