The vicarious trauma of being a medical interpreter
By: Maddie Gadbaw ‘21
Erin Neff-Minyard works as a staff interpreter at Legacy Hospital. Photo courtesy of Neff-Minyard.
When someone has a family member in the hospital, it is a tragic experience for everyone involved. There are lots of long days and nights shared between families and doctors as they tirelessly work to help their patients. But one member of the team that is often less known is someone needed when the family cannot communicate with the doctor directly. Translators and interpreters, such as Erin Neff-Minyard, are a necessity in this process.
Neff-Minyard is a Spanish staff interpreter from Legacy Hospital. She was inspired to become an interpreter when volunteering at a Youth for Earth Service conference in Seattle. Neff-Minyard describes it as a lightbulb moment that immediately made her want to be involved with interpreting because of the impact it made on other people’s lives.
She says that one of the most important things for an interpreter to do when communicating with patients and doctors is sticking to the code of ethics. The code of ethics is a list of guidelines that all healthcare interpreters have to follow when working with patients. This includes maintaining confidentiality and not including personal opinion when interacting with others.
“The goal is to create a seamless flow as if the two people who don’t share the same language are talking right to each other as if the interpreter wasn’t even there,” she said.
As a staff interpreter, Neff-Minyard emphasizes the relationships she has with doctors, patients, and other interpreters. These relationships are especially helpful when dealing with more tragic cases.
“One of the benefits of working with other staff interpreters is being able to share experiences. In most cases, we have all interpreted for the patient and we can relate to each other in that way,” she said.
However, despite the relationships she has, Neff-Minyard still has to deal with the impact of working with a family going through unfortunate times. Everyone has their own ways of dealing with the emotional impact of working in a job where they regularly hear about trauma.
The effect of hearing about traumatic experiences for people working in the medical field is called vicarious trauma.
Catlin Gabel School (CGS) counselor Casey Mills says that one of the most important things professionals can do to deal with vicarious trauma is to compartmentalize the trauma they hear about.
“The work is not about me, it’s about them. And so I’m able to just take what they say matter-of-factly and process it,” he said about how he deals with his own clients.
When Neff-Minyard is meeting with a patient, she is also able to process what she hears.
“...I always bring a notepad with me,” she said. “It helps me focus when the content is emotionally difficult. And you never know when a difficult topic is going to come up, so it’s best to be prepared.”
Even though her job sometimes means that she is a part of a family’s darkest moments, Neff-Minyard expresses a lot of joy for the work that she does.
“I find it challenging and rewarding to represent each person’s voice as best as I possibly can,” she said
Being an interpreter at a hospital is not an easy job. At times it can be devastating and emotionally draining. But at the end of the day, Neff-Minyard reflects on her job as something that has brought a lot of meaning to her life, and the lives of those she works with.