Increasing in-person medical interpreter utilization in the NICU through a bundle of interventions

John Feister; Sheila Razdan; Danielle Sharp; Shamita Punjabi; Elizabeth Blecharczyk; Veronica Escobar; Paw Mar Gay; Melissa Scala; Sonia Bonifacio

doi:10.1038/s41372-024-01915-5

Increasing in-person medical interpreter utilization in the NICU through a bundle of interventions

J Perinatol. 2024 Feb 29. doi: 10.1038/s41372-024-01915-5. Online ahead of print.

Authors

John Feister^{1

2

3}, Sheila Razdan^{4

5}, Danielle Sharp^{4

5}, Shamita Punjabi^{4

5}, Elizabeth Blecharczyk^{4

5}, Veronica Escobar⁵, Paw Mar Gay⁴, Melissa Scala^{4

5}, Sonia Bonifacio^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford, CA, USA. john.feister@cchmc.org.
² Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, Stanford, CA, USA. john.feister@cchmc.org.
³ University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics & Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Division of Neonatology, Cincinnati, OH, USA. john.feister@cchmc.org.
⁴ Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁵ Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, Stanford, CA, USA.

PMID: 38424233
DOI: 10.1038/s41372-024-01915-5

Abstract

Background: In-person medical interpretation improves communication with patients who have preferred language other than English (PLOE). Multi-dimensional barriers to use of medical interpreters limit their use in the NICU.

Local problem: Medical teams in our NICU were not consistently using in-person medical interpreters, leading to ineffective communication with families with PLOE.

Methods/interventions: Interventions included staff educational sessions and grand rounds regarding equitable language access, distribution of interpreter request cards to families, and allocation of dedicated in-person interpreters for NICU rounds. Interpreter utilization was calculated by total requests per Spanish-speaking person day in the NICU.

Results: Interpreter utilization increased five-fold during the intervention period (from 0.2 to 1.0 requests per Spanish-speaking person day).

Conclusions: We substantially increased our unit in-person interpreter utilization through a bundle of multifaceted interventions, many of which were low-cost. NICUs should regard dedicated medical interpreters as a critical part of the care team.