Sheridan Sinnen, “Nursing Recommendations for Interpreter Interactions: Systematic Literature Review”
Mentor: Amy Olen, Translation & Interpreting
Poster #124

The quality of interprofessional communication can directly or indirectly affect patient care in the clinical setting. In patients who do not speak English or are not proficient, there can be a substantial barrier to providing care. Medical interpreters aid in reducing the risk of adverse events or error. A component of this process is the communication between the healthcare provider and the medical interpreter. However, there are not clear requirements on how this is exchange is executed between nurses and interpreters. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the clinical guidelines or recommendations presently in place for correspondence between nurses and medical interpreters in patient care situations. Data collection consisted of searching relevant electronic databases within a fifteen-year period. Keywords for the search included “nursing” and “medical interpreters”. The small number of research-based studies yielded for review led to the conclusion of further research being necessary in this area of healthcare.