Ask the Patient

One experience that comes to my mind is when my husband needed to be seen in the Emergency Room. And we were sitting in the waiting room where we noticed other patients coming in after he had initially registered. And then, we noticed several patients going back and being treated. And we were wondering, after a couple of hours, we thought that maybe they had forgotten about my husband, Bill. So, I went up to talk to the nurse, and I asked her: "We're just curious. How is it that we're still waiting?" And she said, "Oh, your husband needs an interpreter." And I said, "Oh, how did you know that?" And she said, "Well, on our computer screen it shows that he's deaf." And I said, "How is it that you know that he needs to have an interpreter?" And she said, "Well, don't all deaf people need interpreters?" And I said, "Well, I happen to be deaf, too, but I'm able to lipread you. Has anybody thought about asking Bill if he would like any communication assistance for his appointment?" And right then and there, they shipped him into the room quickly and he was able to get the care he needed.