TY - JOUR
T1 - Language barriers between nurses and patients
T2 - A scoping review
AU - Gerchow, Lauren
AU - Burka, Larissa R.
AU - Miner, Sarah
AU - Squires, Allison
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the A gency for Healthcare Research and Quality, United States [ R01HS023593].
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, United States [R01HS023593].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Objective: Global migration and linguistic diversity are at record highs, making healthcare language barriers more prevalent. Nurses, often the first contact with patients in the healthcare system, can improve outcomes including safety and satisfaction through how they manage language barriers. This review aimed to explore how research has examined the nursing workforce with respect to language barriers. Methods: A systematic scoping review of the literature was conducted using four databases. An iterative coding approach was used for data analysis. Study quality was appraised using the CASP checklists. Results: 48 studies representing 16 countries were included. Diverse healthcare settings were represented, with the inpatient setting most commonly studied. The majority of studies were qualitative. Coding produced 4 themes: (1) Interpreter Use/Misuse, (2) Barriers to and Facilitators of Quality Care, (3) Cultural Competence, and (4) Interventions. Conclusion: Generally, nurses noted like experiences and applied similar strategies regardless of setting, country, or language. Language barriers complicated care delivery while increasing stress and workload. Practice Implications: This review identified gaps which future research can investigate to better support nurses working through language barriers. Similarly, healthcare and government leaders have opportunities to enact policies which address bilingual proficiency, workload, and interpreter use.
AB - Objective: Global migration and linguistic diversity are at record highs, making healthcare language barriers more prevalent. Nurses, often the first contact with patients in the healthcare system, can improve outcomes including safety and satisfaction through how they manage language barriers. This review aimed to explore how research has examined the nursing workforce with respect to language barriers. Methods: A systematic scoping review of the literature was conducted using four databases. An iterative coding approach was used for data analysis. Study quality was appraised using the CASP checklists. Results: 48 studies representing 16 countries were included. Diverse healthcare settings were represented, with the inpatient setting most commonly studied. The majority of studies were qualitative. Coding produced 4 themes: (1) Interpreter Use/Misuse, (2) Barriers to and Facilitators of Quality Care, (3) Cultural Competence, and (4) Interventions. Conclusion: Generally, nurses noted like experiences and applied similar strategies regardless of setting, country, or language. Language barriers complicated care delivery while increasing stress and workload. Practice Implications: This review identified gaps which future research can investigate to better support nurses working through language barriers. Similarly, healthcare and government leaders have opportunities to enact policies which address bilingual proficiency, workload, and interpreter use.
KW - Communication barriers
KW - Culture
KW - Health care quality
KW - Language
KW - Nursing
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pec.2020.09.017
DO - 10.1016/j.pec.2020.09.017
M3 - Review article
C2 - 32994104
AN - SCOPUS:85091686864
SN - 0738-3991
VL - 104
SP - 534
EP - 553
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
IS - 3
ER -