Speaking in the Lingua Franca of Patients: Nurses' Perspective on Language Concordant Care

Abstract

Objective: The research endeavors to investigate nurses' perspectives regarding the delivery of languageconcordant care to patients with diverse lingua franca, while also pinpointing the language obstacles that hinder effective communication in the provision of quality healthcare. Study Design: A qualitative descriptive study. Place and Duration of the Study: The study was conducted at soldier family ward Military Hospital (MH) Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from January 2023 to May 2023. Methods: Thirteen nurses working in family ward of a Military Hospital in Rawalpindi were selected as participants who have working experience of 8-10 years. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in Urdu, audiotaped and later translated into English and transcribed verbatim. Manual thematic analysis was carried out to address the study objectives. Results: The five main themes are antecedents of language barriers, repercussions of language barriers, momentousness of patient's lingua franca, provision of language-concordant care, and linguistic empowerment. Conclusion: Language barriers can impede nurses' ability to communicate effectively with their patients in any location, which can result in inadequate, delayed, unsafe, and ineffective care delivery to meet patients' needs.

Keywords

• communication, language barriers, satisfaction