CCHI Clinical Procedures and Protocols 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A physician orders an 'NPO after midnight' instruction for a patient scheduled for surgery. The patient's family member, who speaks English, says they already told the patient. The interpreter should:
- Trust the family member's account and skip interpreting the instruction
- Confirm with the physician whether the instruction still needs to be interpreted directly to the patient
- Interpret the NPO instruction directly to the patient to ensure understanding (Correct answer)
- Ask the patient if the family member already explained it
Correct answer: Interpret the NPO instruction directly to the patient to ensure understanding
Critical pre-procedural instructions should be interpreted directly to the patient to ensure accurate understanding, regardless of what family members may have communicated.
Question 2: During a wound care procedure, the nurse uses the term 'debridement.' The patient's language has no direct equivalent word. The interpreter should:
- Use the English word 'debridement' and leave it at that
- Skip the term to avoid confusion
- Use a functional description such as 'the process of removing dead tissue to help the wound heal' (Correct answer)
- Ask the nurse to use a simpler term before interpreting
Correct answer: Use a functional description such as 'the process of removing dead tissue to help the wound heal'
When a direct equivalent does not exist, interpreters use the closest functional description to convey the clinical meaning accurately.
Question 3: A patient is receiving IV fluids and tells the interpreter that their arm 'feels like it is burning.' The interpreter should:
- Tell the patient burning sensations are normal with IV fluids
- Immediately interpret the patient's statement to the nursing staff (Correct answer)
- Wait until the nurse's next routine check to relay the information
- Ask the patient to describe the pain on a scale of 1 to 10 first
Correct answer: Immediately interpret the patient's statement to the nursing staff
A burning sensation with IV fluids may indicate infiltration or phlebitis, which requires immediate clinical attention.
Question 4: An interpreter is working in an oncology clinic. A patient asks the interpreter what 'palliative care' means because the doctor just mentioned it but moved on quickly. The interpreter should:
- Define palliative care based on their own knowledge to save time
- Suggest the patient look it up online after the appointment
- Interpret the patient's request for clarification to the physician (Correct answer)
- Tell the patient it means the same as hospice care
Correct answer: Interpret the patient's request for clarification to the physician
The interpreter should relay the patient's need for clarification to the physician, who is responsible for explaining their own clinical recommendations.
Question 5: During a post-operative assessment, the nurse asks the patient to rate their pain on a scale of 0 to 10. The patient responds with a description of their pain quality rather than a number. The interpreter should:
- Convert the patient's description into a number and tell the nurse
- Interpret the patient's descriptive response accurately and completely (Correct answer)
- Ask the patient to give a number before interpreting their response
- Tell the nurse the patient does not understand the scale
Correct answer: Interpret the patient's descriptive response accurately and completely
The interpreter must faithfully render the patient's actual response; converting it to a number would constitute interpretation of clinical data, not language.
Question 6: A surgeon is explaining a laparoscopic appendectomy to a patient. The patient's companion interrupts the interpreter to add their own explanation. The interpreter should:
- Allow the companion to finish, then continue interpreting
- Ask the companion to let the interpreter do their job, then continue interpreting (Correct answer)
- Stop interpreting until the companion leaves the room
- Interpret both the surgeon's words and the companion's additions simultaneously
Correct answer: Ask the companion to let the interpreter do their job, then continue interpreting
The interpreter should politely redirect the companion and resume accurate interpretation to prevent mixed or inaccurate messages.
Question 7: A pharmacist counsels a patient on a new anticoagulant medication and mentions they should avoid NSAIDs like ibuprofen. The patient asks the interpreter, 'Is Tylenol an NSAID?' The interpreter should:
- Answer 'no' because this is a simple factual question
- Interpret the question to the pharmacist for an authoritative answer (Correct answer)
- Tell the patient to check the label at home
- Explain that Tylenol is acetaminophen, not an NSAID
Correct answer: Interpret the question to the pharmacist for an authoritative answer
Even factual medication questions should be directed to the pharmacist to ensure clinical accuracy and accountability.
CCHI Clinical Procedures and Protocols 5
A physician orders an 'NPO after midnight' instruction for a patient scheduled for surgery.
The patient's family member, who speaks English, says they already told the patient.
The interpreter should: