Free ‘Speedy Spanish’ Webinar Eases Communication Hurdles

 Healthcare professionals who struggle to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients now have a free resource to sharpen their skills.

"Speedy Spanish for Healthcare Providers: Taking you beyond ¿Como Estas?" is a 30-minute introductory webinar. The interprofessional 0.5-hour course is accredited for nurses, along with professionals in dietetics and nutrition.

The course is free through March 15, 2018 on Nurse.com and ContinuingEducation.com.

Making Spanish approachable

"In 30 minutes, we make Spanish more approachable," said Maria Morales, MSN, RN, CPAN, who serves as director of CNE programs, healthcare for OnCourse Learning. "This course will give you the basics to build a relationship with patients and families."

According to a 2015 study, the United States is the world's second-largest Spanish-speaking country, behind Mexico.

The study, by the non-profit Instituto Cervantes, said the U.S. Census Office predicts the United States will have 138 million Spanish speakers by 2050, making it the largest Spanish-speaking nation.

Webinar host Tracey Long, PhD, MS, RN, CDE, CNE, CHUC, CCRN, makes learning the basics of medical Spanish engaging with pronunciation exercises, polls, translation examples, and personal stories of communication successes and failures.

"She makes it fun for everyone," Morales said. "Tracey loves to help others learn. She takes learners from where they are now to being confident communicators. This isn't an immersive course, but Tracey builds a bridge to immersion."

Nurses can sign up for the free course via Nurse.com, while professionals in dietetics and nutrition can visit ContinuingEducation.com.

Healthcare professionals can take a deeper dive into learning Spanish with the Focused CE Series "Spanish for Healthcare Professionals," which provides 12 hours of continuing education credit.

About the speaker

Long earned degrees in nursing and Spanish at Brigham Young University in Utah, a master's degree in public health from the California College of Health Sciences and an MSN/PhD in nursing education/nursing leadership from UNLV/Charisma University.

She served for 18 months as a health nurse missionary in Colombia and has developed Spanish programs for healthcare professionals and diabetes education for hospitals in the Las Vegas area, where she now resides. As a nursing professor, she takes nurses and nursing students on annual international trips to serve in volunteer medical clinics.

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