A Difficult Birth

Ana Lopez is 17 years old and works in the U.S. as a farm laborer. Ana speaks no English and very little Spanish; she is an immigrant from Oaxaca, Mexico, and her primary language is Spanish. Roughly estimated to be 36 weeks pregnant, she is admitted through the emergency room to the Hospital with cramping and vaginal bleeding. Although the medical team considers Ana’s C-section to be an emergency measure (thus not requiring explicit consent), the hospital staff nevertheless do attempt to obtain Ana’s consent before the surgery; she replies “yes” to all questions and appears to acquiesce to everything the medical team suggests. However, since no one on staff speaks Spanish, they cannot be sure that Ana fully understands her (or her child’s) situation.

• Does the staff approach Ana’s situation in a manner that is sufficiently respectful of her culture?
• If no one in the hospital speaks Spanish what are the staff’s options to communicate?
• What are some other ways of communicating?

Apply Theory (Specific Professional Healthcare Competencies + Clinical Medical Ethical Principles) to Practice in order to provide Optimal Patient-Centered Care (OPCC)

Source – Santa Clara University, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics