I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Centers => Dialysis: Workers => Topic started by: Epoman on January 31, 2006, 10:05:45 PM
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OK here is the deal lets face it Filipinos run the dialysis tech trade in the USA. The employees at every center I've been too are all Filipino (with the exception of a few asians) and there's nothing wrong with that however. I think it is rude that they speak to each other in their language and laugh and carry on. Over the years I have picked up a few words and I know they do that so they can talk bad about us or make jokes about us.
I understand they have a right to speak their language however I think it is rude to have a conversation in the presence of others who do not speak the language.
What do you think?
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I can see what you mean, but on the other hand I can understand where they're coming from (speaking in their native language...not the making jokes part). I spent 3 months in switzerland, in the french speaking area, and when I met up with some fellow Canadians, it was very awkward to speak french with them, because we were both speaking foreign languages when we could be speaking english together... Its one of those things where yeah i can see how it would be annoying for you, but on the other hand its a free country and sometimes its a lot more comfortable to speak your native language with someone who shares it...
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I can see what you mean, but on the other hand I can understand where they're coming from (speaking in their native language...not the making jokes part). I spent 3 months in switzerland, in the french speaking area, and when I met up with some fellow Canadians, it was very awkward to speak french with them, because we were both speaking foreign languages when we could be speaking english together... Its one of those things where yeah i can see how it would be annoying for you, but on the other hand its a free country and sometimes its a lot more comfortable to speak your native language with someone who shares it...
Right and I agree with you but the thing that bothers me is they speak english about regular things but when they decide to make a joke about a patient they use Tagalog to hide it. That to me is wrong, if they want to make jokes about a patient they should do it in their break room and not right in front of the patient. I guess they assume if the patient doesn't understand then there's no harm.
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My husband is Filipino but speaks very little Tagalog. Whenever nurses or techs start talking to him or each other he just says "Speak English!" with a laugh and they usually laugh with him and change to English. It might come across differently if he wasn't Filipino though.
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Epoman I agree. I just start talking "Pig Latan" and that usuallys shuts them up!! >:D
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On our unit there is a couple of nurses who talk very little English, Plus with being a Lancashire lad they have no chance in understanding me. So unfortunately I have to ask another nurse to put me on because I need the machine setting MY WAY. But never had to nurses talk in the own language in front of me. Mainly because they know I would ask them to speak English when in front of me. ???
Kevno
(Nurses, Doctors and Consultants, you always find good ones. Plus a few bad ones too)
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I must agree with Epoman. What I am reminded of is the emotional aspect (patient) that takes place. Let's look at a typical situation. A patient is on dialysis, two techs are standing by the patient and machine, looking at the machine and talking in their native language - Tagalog (Phillipino language, to recall). What is the patient to think? "Am I ok?" "What is wrong with the machine?" "Is something wrong?" and, so on.. My point is that not only is it rude but it affects the patient and often the patient thinks they are talking about his/her treatment and maybe it is something the staff do not want the patient to know. In nursing homes, the facility can be cited for speaking a foreign language in front of a patient. Got me thinking, think I shall take out a book from the library on Tagalog. Yes, at our unit they speak Tagalog and in front of patients, although the charge RN tells them not to and she is also Phillipino.
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OK here is the deal lets face it Filipinos run the dialysis tech trade in the USA. The employees at every center I've been too are all Filipino (with the exception of a few asians) and there's nothing wrong with that however. I think it is rude that they speak to each other in their language and laugh and carry on. Over the years I have picked up a few words and I know they do that so they can talk bad about us or make jokes about us.
I understand they have a right to speak their language however I think it is rude to have a conversation in the presence of others who do not speak the language.
What do you think?
ITA, it is rude! If they are on their break in a private area, no problem, but while on the job it should be English only.
If I were in that situation, I'd either complain to the social worker or write an anonymous letter to the Director.
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Actually, I am the problem in my unit. One of the nurses (the one I like to do my needles) is from an island that speaks Creole (a french dialect), and I can speak it. So I speak it with her sometimes. But no one minds too much, as we don't really overdo it.
Apart from that, the only language here is English (or at least our varieties of it). Because this particular territory is a melting pot of the Caribbean, we have all kinds of Caribbean accents here. The nurses in this section are one each from:- here (British Virgin Islands), Jamaica, Nevis, Dominica, Barbados (my homeland) and Trinidad. And the nephrologist is African from Nigeria.
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Actually, I am the problem in my unit. One of the nurses (the one I like to do my needles) is from an island that speaks Creole (a french dialect), and I can speak it. So I speak it with her sometimes. But no one minds too much, as we don't really overdo it. ...
8) I don't think that is a problem for anyone -- I think that is really cool. But, I do think it is a problem when two techs talk back and forth over a patient in a language the patient doesn't understand.
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Good Luck Black! If you were to tell the Social Worker. In my experience they are a waste of time! >:(
Kevno
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I agree completely. But, how can we come up with some altenatives to get them NOT to do this. Who do we tell to suggest that this makes feel verry uncomfotable?
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Hi Clove,
I don't know what we can do. America has become too scared to stand up and say "Hey, in America we speak English. If you can't do that, go home." So, that is what we get for being Politically Correct and Diverse.
How long have you been on Dialysis. Maybe you could go to "Introduce Yourself" and tell us your story. :D
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If you want PC Rerun, my mum works for ASDA (WALMARK).
They had a staff metting a couple of months ago, and told that they had not to wear any chains with Crosses on. Or they must hide them under there so called uniform. Because it may offend certain people >:( >:( SO WHAT!!! I have no problems with anybody as long as they right with me.
Not enough people stand up for what is right. UK as now gone crazy with PC. You feel like your country where I can trace my family back to the 17th century, is no long England. Just a annex of Europe.
Right better stop now, that rant, can rant on for ages about PC giving examples.
Kevno
>:( well thats put me in a good mood for the day >:(
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You are right. Christians can't say or do anything anymore. Yet, we have to allow certain cultures to bow to Mecca 5 times a day during work! >:(
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Nothing PISSES ME OFF MORE!!! Doesnt matter where it is, I find it totally rude. We seem to have alot of asian types invading us here and they are always yabbering in their language, and when they do speak english, you cant understand a word they are saying. I beleive if you are going to live in another country, then learn the god damn language. I dont mind them speaking their language, but do they have to be so freaking loud about it? I find them totally disrespectful of others when they shout at the top of their voice in normal conversation, and us normal spoken people cant hear ourselves.
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Nothing PISSES ME OFF MORE!!! Doesnt matter where it is, I find it totally rude. We seem to have alot of asian types invading us here and they are always yabbering in their language, and when they do speak english, you cant understand a word they are saying. I beleive if you are going to live in another country, then learn the god damn language. I dont mind them speaking their language, but do they have to be so freaking loud about it? I find them totally disrespectful of others when they shout at the top of their voice in normal conversation, and us normal spoken people cant hear ourselves.
;D ;D ;D
I've noticed in doctor's offices when "normal" people whisper to each other. They just "yabber" in a normal voice. That is so rude. So, I pick up my cell phone and pretend to call someone and start talking "Pig Latin". LOUD >:D Most of the time they don't notice, but I feel better.
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Nothing PISSES ME OFF MORE!!! Doesnt matter where it is, I find it totally rude. We seem to have alot of asian types invading us here and they are always yabbering in their language, and when they do speak english, you cant understand a word they are saying. I beleive if you are going to live in another country, then learn the god damn language. I dont mind them speaking their language, but do they have to be so freaking loud about it? I find them totally disrespectful of others when they shout at the top of their voice in normal conversation, and us normal spoken people cant hear ourselves.
I have a different take on this than most it looks like.
Funny the American Indians think the same thing. Speak our language (indian language) or go back where they came from. ;)
English isnt the official language of this country. Should it be? I believe so.
However top dems blocked it from happening. The complaint should be with them and not those that speak "their" language.
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I understand they have a right to speak their language however I think it is rude to have a conversation in the presence of others who do not speak the language.
What do you think?
We have a great diversified patient care staff.
No matter what the language, unless they are speaking English while working on the Patient Care floor, it is rude.
Regardless of what they are saying to each other.
In the past, I've spoken to a staff member privately, explaining that it was rude to the patients as well as other staff. She acknowledged my concern and convinced her compatriots to do speak English on the floor. :)
What was that saying about bees, honey and vinegar??? ;)
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I am a dialysis nurse, not Filipino, and I find it rude when they all speak in their language and I am totally left out of the loop. Many hospitals have policies against speaking languages other than English in the presence of patients. But no one enforces these policies. I was working in an ICU the other day and four Filipinos came in to work on a patient who was semi-comatose. They all spoke in their language. Can you imagine being that patient, trying to wake up from his state and hear a language he does not understand? How frightening that must be.
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While my facility's nurses and techs are predominantly Phillipino/a and occasionally speak Tagalog to one another, it is quite clear from the context that it is only a brief joke or personal (to them) remark and does not concern me. So that doesn't bother me. What I do object to, is that they are virtually all Christian and throw their beliefs around rather freely. I am an Hellenic Reconstructionist (Pagan) and I get more than enough Christianity dumped on me on holidays, I don't need to hear people proselytizing for 14 hours a week at dialysis. One would think that in California, one could be free from people sharing their religious beliefs with the uninterested.
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proselytizing? Do you mean Prophetizing? Not sure how to even spell that myself but how do they do that in the dialysis unit? My unit I think they might be all Christian like me but I never hear them ever talk about it. Infact at Christmas the most there was was one Christmas tree in the waiting room and that was all. What do they do at your unit?
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proselytizing? Do you mean Prophetizing? Not sure how to even spell that myself but how do they do that in the dialysis unit? My unit I think they might be all Christian like me but I never hear them ever talk about it. Infact at Christmas the most there was was one Christmas tree in the waiting room and that was all. What do they do at your unit?
'proselytize' means to attemp to convert to your religion
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proselytizing? Do you mean Prophetizing? Not sure how to even spell that myself but how do they do that in the dialysis unit? My unit I think they might be all Christian like me but I never hear them ever talk about it. Infact at Christmas the most there was was one Christmas tree in the waiting room and that was all. What do they do at your unit?
'proselytize' means to attemp to convert to your religion
Holy crap! You are RIGHT (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/proselytize)!!
I had never heard of that word in my life!
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I'm a little late into this conversation, but in response to Epoman's question, yes, I hate it... I think it is very rude. People use to do that at my old workplace even though it wasn't allowed.... it is so annoying. My thing is, if you LIVE in the USA, speak English... it is our native language, and you live HERE now... so learn it and use it. It really bothers me when people live in our country and don't know the language AT ALL, or very little... or know it, but choose to speak their language in the workplace. :banghead;
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I'm all for preserving your "mother tongue," but in America, business is conducted in English and so it really should be used in the workplace. Not to mention it's rude to speak in front of someone in a language they don't understand.
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I'm all for preserving your "mother tongue," but in America, business is conducted in English and so it really should be used in the workplace. Not to mention it's rude to speak in front of someone in a language they don't understand.
Unless the other person the one is talking to doesn't know English.
My mom came from Poland and she remembers when everyone was speaking to her in English and she didn't understand and would cry. She didn't know they were asking her name.
Now she speaks without any accent and she raised my brothers and I to only speak English. I wish I knew my mom's native tongue though and admire people who can speak more than one language. Also it prevents eavedroppers ;) (is that the right word??)
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Also it prevents eavedroppers ;) (is that the right word??)
Almost - the word is 'eavesdroppers'.
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Not to mention it's rude to speak in front of someone in a language they don't understand.
I agree people should speak English. However I think it is an overstatement to say its rude to speak a language in front of someone who does not understand the language.
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Not to mention it's rude to speak in front of someone in a language they don't understand.
I agree people should speak English. However I think it is an overstatement to say its rude to speak a language in front of someone who does not understand the language.
Depends on what they are saying, big sky. If they are using it as a "cover" to say something that would be impolite to say in English, then they shouldn't be making the comment at all. If they happen to be speaking to each other, away from other people, and are clearly having a private conversation, that's different. Doing so over the top of a patient's head while they are supposed to be working on the patient strikes me as extremely rude. And using such a thing as a defense against "eavesdropping" is clearly a bad idea, as you never know just how much someone else can actually understand. Epo understands enough to get the gist of what the techs are saying over his head, which certainly makes them rude when they continue to talk about him. It's another language, not a secret code, and anyone can learn it.
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It bothers the hell out of me. I'm filipino but I do not speak the language. All the RNs and Techs where I work at all speak in that language. They know I do not understand fully, so they speak like that in front of me. ??? Some of them even insulted me by calling me a fake Filipino because I don't know their native tongue. Our patients are offended by it but what can you do when the Director of Nursing also speaks in that language on the floor. Our clinic has numerous violations about this subject but apparently no one cares enough to do something about it. They say they're going to write you up if there are complaints about non-English being spoken but no one has gotten a warning yet. When my co-workers talk to me in non-English I reply with "Speak English, this isn't the Philippines." They get offensive and start talking smack about me in tagalog. :secret; It's a disgrace to my roots, but I feel ashamed because some of them are ignorant.
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It doesn't bother me. In our unit we have just about every nationality covered somehow or other between staff and patients... Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Russian, Italian, Greek, English... whatever... what I've been doing is learning a few words in key languages - Mandarin, Greek etc... so when someone comes along I can be polite with a friendly "Ni Hao!" or "gia sou!" and you know they love it - specially some of the patients. There's a sweet Chinese lady, older, who is in around the same times I am... she doesn't speak much English but her and her husband were so excited when I learned to say "Zai Jian!" (goodbye) to them! The excitement and smiles was so worth it!! I think they really apprieciated that I made a small effort to connect with them in their language. Now when the Chinese nurses speak to those guys in Mandarin hey I'm all for it. Both can understand and it's much easier for the patients whoose English is poor.
Sometimes staff will speak to eachother in Mandarin or whatever... and hey that's ok... I'm sure they say worse about me after I'm gone anyway :) so it's all good!
The other thing is that on my shift we have a LARGE number of Greek patients... so it became a bit of a joke to said Gia Sou! (hello/goodbye in Greek - fun language :) ) to just about everyone and anyone who came or went (yes, I started it.. I am such a joker sometimes!).. even the staff join in.. Heck the Chinese lady above even got into it!! (you haven't lived tilll you've seen a sweet Chinese lady speak Greek!).
I think it adds to the feeling of community in the unit and a bit of fun.
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Hey Richard,
Call the greek girls "koukla" they'll love it, and thanks now I can say goodbye in a few languages Thanks
P.S Just means doll !
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lol tamara.. thanks.. alas all the greeks are old men... nice old men but old men... no girls.. though sometimes their wives visit... though I'm not sure they'd apprieciate being called doll! LOL
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Hey Richard,
Call the greek girls "koukla" they'll love it, and thanks now I can say goodbye in a few languages Thanks
P.S Just means doll !
Tamara, is that the same as Koukla, Fran and Ollie? Do you remember that show? :P
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I have to throw in my :twocents; here.
I work with a guy who left his home in Croatia on Sept 11, 2001, and after a five day delay finally arrived in the US. He speaks better English than some native speakers I know!
However, I went to lunch with him one day, and a woman he knew from his previous job joined us, and they immediately started speaking Croatian to each other with me sitting right there. They carried on for probably five minutes before he introduced us and reminded her that they would have to speak English for my sake. While we were sitting down eating, she did that, but once we were done and outside and saying goodbye, she had switched back to Croatian. She had done several other things during the meal that I didn't like, so that was just the final straw...hope I don't ever have to endure another meal with her!
It's not an issue for me anymore, but people who work in nail salons all do the same thing that you all are complaining about the dialysis workers doing. Grrrrr! (Sorry, I do PD, so I don't know what the nurses/techs in our unit do to those on hemo)
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KTD.. that's just plain rude and inconsiderate... No, I don't apprieciate that kind of thing if I'm sitting with people and they just go off in their own tongue. Perhaps if the co-worker was translating for the other whose english was not very good that's ok, but to just kind of do their own thing and ignore you like that is bad.
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Her English was almost as good as his...she was just rude (she left a two dollar tip for a thirty dollar check, if that gives you an idea)
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I grew up speaking two languages at home, English and German. My mother told me I must always speak only English in public, that it was rude to converse in another language, because people would assume you are making fun of them. By the way, after my Grandmother died when I was 9, I never spoke German again and I have forgotten all of it. All the workers in my center speak English, so I have no problem. But when I go to the beauty shop for my weekly manicure, it ticls me off when the manicurists talk to each other in Korean.
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Her English was almost as good as his...she was just rude (she left a two dollar tip for a thirty dollar check, if that gives you an idea)
I've found in my studies (hahaha, more like almost 10 years on and off working in a restaurant) that most native foreigners and african-americans do not tip well at all, if at all. Thats not saying I would refuse to wait on them, its just something to remember so you're not suprised by it.
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I grew up speaking two languages at home, English and German. My mother told me I must always speak only English in public, that it was rude to converse in another language, because people would assume you are making fun of them. By the way, after my Grandmother died when I was 9, I never spoke German again and I have forgotten all of it. All the workers in my center speak English, so I have no problem. But when I go to the beauty shop for my weekly manicure, it ticls me off when the manicurists talk to each other in Korean.
Jamie, have you seen this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk82Hy81tpk
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:rofl; :rofl; :rofl; :rofl; :rofl; :rofl; :rofl;