Abstract
BackgroundOrganizational language practice and policy are not neutral elements but reflect social and political power relations. The micro-level of working groups is subject to the influence of political conflicts and power relations at the macro-level. In conflict zones in particular, these involve complex considerations. Consequently, the present research sought to examine tensions arising from the language spoken among mixed Jewish-Arab teams in Israeli public hospitals.MethodsIn-depth interviews were conducted during 2016–2017, with 50 Jewish and Arab healthcare practitioners – 10 managers, 20 physicians, and 20 nurses – employed in 11 public hospitals in Israel.ResultsOur interviews with healthcare practitioners revealed that speaking Arabic in the presence of the patient (not with the patient) may evoke negative feelings and resentment among both Jewish patients and colleagues. Moreover, conflicting attitudes may come into play when Arab practitioners speak Arabic among themselves. Two contexts of language use in Israeli public hospitals can be noticed: the language used in the presence of the patient; and the language used among the practitioners when no patient is present. The former involves the principles of cultural and linguistic competency, and is therefore governed by clear guidelines and procedures. The latter echoes the tensions between the two ethno-national groups in Israel, Jews and Arabs, and is not regulated by a clear policy formulated by the Ministry of Health or by the hospitals’ managements.ConclusionsOur analysis of language practice and policy as a multi-leveled phenomenon, where the micro-level of everyday interactions is influenced by the macro-level of political life, indicates a need for meso-level policy, led by the Ministry of Health. A policy of linguistic competency should be publicized and enforced to ensure that in the presence of the patient, practitioners speak a language s/he understands. This policy should also stipulate that among mixed teams of healthcare professionals every language is permissible, while the language spoken in a particular context should be understood by everyone present.
Highlights
Sometime before we launched this research project, recalls that while conducting participant observation in an operating room in a public hospital located in the North of Israel, she noticed a sign on the wall that read: “Hebrew only.” As a sociologist, the sign aroused her curiosity and she asked the head nurse of Keshet and Popper-Giveon Israel Journal of Health Policy ResearchThe present article focuses on the experiences of healthcare practitioners employed in multilingual hospitals
The interviews conducted with Jewish and Arab healthcare practitioners employed in Israeli public hospitals revealed two contexts of language use in healthcare organizations, around which the following section is constructed: 1. the language spoken with the patient and in the patient’s presence; 2. the language spoken among the practitioners when no patient is present
All the Arab healthcare practitioners employed in Israeli public hospitals speak Hebrew fluently
Summary
The present article focuses on the experiences of healthcare practitioners employed in multilingual hospitals It examines language practice and policy in Israeli public hospitals, which offer an appropriate site for researching the topic. Their medical staffs comprise both Jewish and Arab practitioners, who care for patients who belong to the Jewish majority and Arab minority groups in Israel, in the context of the ongoing violent national conflict between Israel and the Palestinians [1]. Tensions among medical staffs concerning language use may impair professional cooperation as well as practitioners’ linguistic competency, which refers both to their underlying ability and to language actual use during patient-practitioner interactions. The present research sought to examine tensions arising from the language spoken among mixed Jewish-Arab teams in Israeli public hospitals
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