susa62

I need to begin this with English is my second language and I am very proud to be a RN.

The California Board of Registered Nursing's education committee is investigating a proposal from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing supporting the approval of Spanish assisted NCLEX RN ( that's the test we take to become licensed nurses, which demonstrates the basic competency to practice nursing). And why you ask? Because Spanish speaking nurses are having a harder time passing NCLEX.than English speaking nurses.

What they are proposing, is that when a Spanish speaking nurse doesn't understand a word, she/he may call up a dictionary durnig the licensing exam to clarify. OK, so picture this, a nurse who does not understand English passes the NCLEX with this lanuage assistance, is in the midst of a code blue who will translate to her then? And God forbid if that is your child with that English language challenged nurse.

Perhaps it's not the language,? Has their educational system been evaluated???? But then again, if the nurse is working in a country in which the language is English, and the population speaks English, how fair is that to the patient, if they can't communicate with their caregiver. In my eyes, this is a wrong solution, and it lowers the basic standards of nursing. Yes, I understand many of the hospitals mission statements include " culturally sensitive care", but I would also expect competent if not superior nursing care to be part of patient care....

Also, for the record I work for a public hospital in LA, and we have such a fabulous mix of nurses whose first language is not English and they were not educated in our country, however they were able to pass the NCLEX. Just because we are in a global nursing shortage we do not have to lower our standards... Now I am jumping off of my soapbox. If this concerns you please email www.rn.ca.gov and share your opinion as the nurse who has to endorse her patients to a language challenged nurse at the end of shift, or the healthcare recipient who can't get their nurse to understand they have numbness to the right side of their body as they stroke out.... I just care about nursing and our future.