Nurse Michelle van Gerven has devised a new means of communication for foreign-language patients of the Máxima Medical Center.
Van Gerven has made a folder with photos and symbols to explain nursing procedures to patients. There is also a simple text translated into six languages under the pictures. It is a legal requirement for nurses to tell patients what they are going to do. ‘You notice from patients that through these images they understand what you are going to do and can then give permission,’ says Van Gerven.
According to Van Gerven, explaining actions to speakers of other languages is not always easy. “There was no tool from our hospital to explain to non-Dutch-speaking patients that, for example, you should come and measure the temperature.”
Van Gerven made the communication tool for her nursing study at Summa College as a graduation project, and has thus obtained her diploma.
Source: Studio040
