TELELANGUAGE

Guide on
Handling
Difficult
Situations
as a Medical
Interpreter
610 SW Broadway Ave.

Suite 200

Portland, Oregon 97205

(888) 983-5352

e
L
LANGUAGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 JOB SUMMARY FOR A INTERPRETER
2 SITUATION EXAMPLES
3. Controlling The Flow Of Conversation, Working With Difficult Parties
4. Making Sure Your Service Is No Longer Needed Before Ending A Call
5. Difficulties Hearing A Party? Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Them To Speak Up!
6. Unfamiliar Terminologies
7. You Made A Mistake
8. Interruptions
9. Emotionally Difficult Interpretations Encounter
10. Impolite Clients Or LEP
11. I Want To Express My Opinion And Put In My Two Cents!!
12. I Believe The Patient Was Mistreated And Was Treated Unfairly

13 CONCLUSION

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JOB SUMMARY FOR A
INTERPRETER
The interpreter’s responsibility is to act as a bridge between the provider and the LEP (Limited
English Proficiency -non-English speaker), nothing less and nothing more. When handling difficult
scenarios, always keep in mind the standards and ethics to healthcare interpreting (please refer to
Module I Introduction to Healthcare Interpretation guide that was provided to you by your manager).
Understanding your role as the interpreter will greatly assist you in handling difficult scenarios and to
what capacity you are allowed to assist the provider and LEP. Remember, your primary focus is to
make sure you preserve accuracy! This should be the foundation and goal of how you go about any
interpretation session.

When coming across difficult interpretation encounters, always empathize with the situation, keep
your voice/tone leveled and calm. We have a list of tips to help with those difficult situations.

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SITUATION EXAMPLES

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CONTROLLING THE FLOW
OF CONVERSATION,
WORKING WITH DIFFICULT
PARTIES
Scenario
In some medical sessions, the provider may be in a hurry to treat the LEP or they may not be familiar
working with an interpreter. This could lead to the provider speaking too fast or include too much
information at once. Especially in stressful and frustrating situations, it’s very common for someone to
speak very fast and or include a lot of information at once and can be impossible to relay everything
accurately.

Tips:
Politely control the flow of the conversation, by asking the provider/LEP to either speak slowly or
reduce the amount of information he/she relays each time. Do not be afraid or embarrassed to make
these requests, the end goal of every session is to assure that the patient receives all information
accurately. Phrases such as “My apologies could you please repeat that” or “could you please pause
more so I can interpret everything accurately,” will go a long way in managing the flow of
conversation. As long as you assure the parties you’re working with that you are doing your job to
ensure accuracy, many providers will be understanding. Remember, you are not asking anyone to
limit information entirely, but to break it up into shorter segments.

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MAKING SURE YOUR
SERVICE IS NO LONGER
NEEDED BEFORE ENDING
A CALL
When ending an interpretation encounter, don’t forget to ask if there is anything else you can be of
help with. The client or LEP may have been so focused on an issue at hand that they’ve forgotten
about a follow-up question towards the end of the session. A simple “is there anything else I can
assist with?” will avoid many scenarios where the provider poses one final question right before you
disconnect a call.

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DIFFICULTIES HEARING A
PARTY? DON’T BE AFRAID
TO ASK THEM TO SPEAK
UP!
Scenario
Occasionally you might come across a client or LEP that speaks in low volume. Or perhaps everyone
is on speaker phone and a speaker is sitting in the other side of the room. This could make the job of
interpreting accurately and faithfully challenging.

Tips:
Kindly let the party with the low volume know that you’re having a hard time hearing them. Request
that they either get closer to the microphone or that they speak louder. It is imperative that you let the
providers know of any audio difficulties when it happens so they can make adjustments accordingly. If
the issue continues despite different approaches, try having the call be connected with a different
interpreter.

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UNFAMILIAR
TERMINOLOGIES
Scenario
New medical terms are added every year. Even interpreters with decades of experience may come
across a situation where they “blank out” or encounters an unfamiliar term.

Tips:
Once again, the goal is to preserve accuracy! If you didn’t quite hear the word clearly, ask for
repetition. You can also request clarification or definition of the term to explain to the LEP. One of the
most difficult things we can do as a professional is admit that we are not familiar with a term, with the
fear of possibly seeming incompetent or upsetting the doctor.

Please work past this and move forward with the request/clarification, the worst thing you can do is
guess and possibly put the patients at risk. If a session becomes too technical or the topic is
surrounding an industry that is completely unfamiliar, you may opt to have the call be handled by
someone with more experience/familiarity in the industry.

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YOU MADE A MISTAKE
Scenario
It happens. Everyone makes mistakes, this is a human service and it will happen to all of us
eventually. Whether it be minor or major.

Tips:
Put your ego aside and honestly evaluate the situation, as objectively as possible. As soon as you
realize, step outside first person mode and announce “Excuse me, this is the interpreter speaking….”
Apologize, and let them know that you acknowledge an error was made and provide the correction.

Being truthful is critical in a case like this, we are working with information that affects the well being
of others. Correct the misinterpretation immediately and show the client empathy.

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INTERRUPTIONS
Scenario
You might come across an LEP or a family member that frequently interrupts the interpretation
encounter in an attempt to add forgotten information or to change the information they’ve provided.

Tips:
First, always keep the client in the loop. Politely let the client know about the interruption and inform
them that you will be gathering additional information from the LEP.

Second, kindly collect the new information from the LEP and politely let them know that they need to
allow you to finish the interpretation before adding information.

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EMOTIONALLY DIFFICULT
INTERPRETATIONS
ENCOUNTER
Scenario
When working with so many industries needing interpretation service, you will occasionally take on
emotionally draining calls. E.g a 911 call, an end of life or hospice call, legal calls related to arrest or
imprisonment, custody calls, etc.

Tips:
While it’s understandable that these scenarios can be extremely emotional, it’s imperative that you
maintain your composure and interpret faithfully. Transparency and neutrality is critical. If you’re
unable to do this, or are personally affected by the nature of the call to the point where it affects your
job, please communicate this with the client and inform them that you will be connecting them to
another interpreter. You can also let your manager know that you wish to opt out on certain types of
calls such as 911, as these calls can be extremely time sensitive and getting another interpreter can
cause additional time taken away from assisting the caller.

Sometimes, we need an outlet after stressful assignments. Log out, take a step away and clear your
mind. We are also bound by HIPAA and other privacy guidelines that we can’t share with our family
and friends. Feel free to contact your manager, just to talk, it may help greatly as we have all
encountered difficult sessions in the industry over the years.

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IMPOLITE CLIENTS OR LEP
Scenario
Although it is not common, sometimes you might come across a client or LEP that is short, curt, or
even just downright rude.

Tips:
Working with impolite parties is not easy. You will immediately feel defensive and that you’ve done
nothing to deserve this type of treatment. It is critical that the interpreter remains professional and
uphold standards. Anyone can handle a pleasant situation in a cordial manner, but a true
professional is able to do so in difficult situations. If a party is being uncooperative or intentionally
making the assignment difficult, please make sure to inform this to the provider.

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I WANT TO EXPRESS MY
OPINION AND PUT IN MY
TWO CENTS!!
Scenario
You have a suggestion and or opinion you really want to share with the patient, perhaps a solution
that may have worked for you in the past. Perhaps you may have been in a similar situation and want
to strongly suggest alternative options and or difference in moral/religious thoughts.

Tips:
As interpreters, our job and role is to provide accurate interpretation service, nothing more and
nothing less. Opinions and suggestions should be kept to ourselves during sessions. The only time
an interpreter can take on the role as an advocate is if there is critical information that may possibly
affect the well being and or life of the individual or the community.

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I BELIEVE THE PATIENT
WAS MISTREATED AND
WAS TREATED UNFAIRLY
Scenario
During an interpretation session, you feel the LEP was mistreated, taken advantage of or treated
unfairly due to their limited communication skills in English and you feel uncomfortable.

Tips:
We’ve all gotten complaints about our service and sometimes it feels like a one way street. This is
definitely not the case. You are always able to report any such incidents to your direct manager. The
best way to proceed is filing a formal report to your manager in writing, with the date and time of the
incident included. DO NOT confront the situation during the live session as this often comes back as
“the interpreter not fulfilling their duty and not being transparent and neutral.” Once the management
team receives your report, we will review the report and call, send a formal report to their
administrator so they can conduct an internal review.

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CONCLUSION
These are some examples of how to deal with difficult customers. Following a plan of action like the
ones outlined can help you handle the rough situations you may find yourself in. Finally, be sure to be
familiar with the National Standards and Ethics of Healthcare Interpreting. Having strong knowledge
of your role as the interpreter and the boundaries that surround your position will help you make the
best decisions and choices in any given situation. Remember, safety and accuracy first, we are
committing our service to those that are oftentimes most vulnerable.

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