I work in a medical clinic under the umbrella of a state University. In the clerical/insurance/appointments side of a medical clinic, so in other words.. I'm the lady you see when you walk in and tell her you have an appointment. My particular clinic is very small, so I do it all with my counterpart who sits three feet away from me. We ARE the phone triage, the appointments desk, the database reports people, the medical records, the chart prepper, and the insurance information taker. I also pass out stickers to kids.
Based on this job description, I really thought it would be a good idea for me to enroll in the Spanish for Health professionals class. I've been trying to learn Spanish for several years now on my own. A friend who spoke fluently taught me very basic sounds and words before she moved Northwest. Enrich my own understanding of the language. Be able to help our Hispanic clients and their families better. Give the ONE interpreter for the whole of the University medical clinics and hospital a break from having to call for every single little thing.
This is going good. The hispanic patients who come in gravitate towards me because I'm attempting to understand them on their playing field. There are several who laugh at me constantly. They walk in and just immediately start laughing. There are several who try to slow down and enuciate, not really understanding that I'm hearing the words seperately, but my vocabulary is just so limited, I'm not understanding. As my understanding and ability grows, so does my fear.
I am understanding just how little of the language I know and I hate how inept it makes me feel. What if I misunderstand this patient if he/she has an emergency? And not all emergencies are immediately apparent. So what if I misunderstand, and think I do understand.. and not call the interpreter? What if a patient suffers needlessly because I was merely ignorant of the language?
It's enough to cause me not to attempt at all.
I'm probably greatly overthinking this, but I really care about the meaning of my job. I'm not just a glorified receptionist. I'm there to make your life a little more pleasant and easy in the idea of being somewhere you do not want to be. I take pride in that.. but I don't want someone to suffer because of my little knowledge.