Facilitating Communication in a Pediatric Surgery Center: Implementation of an Interactive Communication Board

Abstract

Increasing linguistic diversity has important implications for providers serving limited English proficiency (LEP) populations. LEP patients have decreased understanding, increased risk for adverse events, and lower healthcare satisfaction. Limited interpreting methods affect nurses' ability to provide efficient, culturally competent care. An interactive communication board was implemented to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of LEP patient communication and increase nurse satisfaction with communication in a pediatric ambulatory surgery center. A pre-post survey design evaluated the implementation of an interactive communication board. After a 3-month implementation period, post-surveys assessed nurse satisfaction, perception of time required to interpret nursing tasks, and feasibility of the tool. Nurses reported a 64% increase (2.27 ± 0.88 pre; 3.57 ± 0.76 post; p = 0.0007) in satisfaction with the interpretation process and a 43% increase (2.07 ± 0.70 pre; 3.50 ± 0.76 post; p = 0.0001) in their self-perceived ability to communicate with LEP populations post-intervention. Communication boards and similar tools can improve nurse satisfaction and streamline the interpretation process in peri-operative periods. Similar tools could be implemented in other healthcare settings to increase communication efficiency between nurses and LEP populations. Further projects must be conducted to evaluate the experience and efficacy of this tool from the patient/caregiver perspective.