What Does a Hospital Interpreter Do?

Important Facts About this Occupation

Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Duties

Your main duty as a hospital interpreter is to manage the flow of communication between a doctor or other hospital employee and a patient. Hospital interpreters may serve as translators of the written or spoken word and must earn the trust of patients, doctors, and administrative support staff in order to succeed.

Communicate with Patients

Your first task is to build trust with the patient. You will discuss any concerns the patient has with your translating and position yourself in such a way that you can easily speak with your client and listen to the physician. As you interpret, you will retain the vocal inflections of both parties, while accurately translating their words.

Convert Medical Forms and Materials

Many medical insurance and permission forms are available in other languages. As a hospital interpreter, you are responsible for translating the often confusing paperwork that patients must sign before treatments and procedures.

Communicate with Health Professionals

Hospital interpreters need to be effective liaisons between patients and doctors or nurses. You must be able to develop good relationships with physicians of many specialties so they will feel confident that you will communicate their views to the patient correctly. Communicating with nurses is essential, since patients have much more interaction with the nursing staff.

Communicate with Administrative Personnel

There's a lot of paperwork to fill out while entering and leaving the hospital. Most of these forms are in English. You'll interpret insurance forms, prescription information, and other important papers given to a non-English-speaking patient while in the hospital.

Employment Outlook and Salary Information

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the projected job growth for interpreters and translators was 20% from 2021-2031. In May 2021 the BLS reported the mean annual wage for interpreters and translators as $58,400. Language professionals employed by general and surgical hospitals were reported to have earned an average salary of $59,110 as per the BLS in 2021.