Rihab Kasem
February 2021
Rihab
Kasem
,
RN, BSN
WIS- PP
Banner Estrella Medical Center

 

 

 

Several times Rihab went and spoke to the patient and it was like you could see the fear and insecurity leave her- from then on, the patient was completely different.
I am a nurse who works with this nurse and one night I had a patient who was admitted to postpartum. This patient was from Afghanistan and did not speak English. This patient was all alone during her stay as her husband had recently been killed while at a gas station here in Phoenix. She was only 24 years old and now had three small children. She was scared and very timid. Her husband had been the one to help her transition and take care of tasks while taking care of her. I tried to get an interpreter who was female and spoke her language and was only able to one time. The other times, a female was not available, and she would not speak to the male interpreter because of her strict Muslim culture. I was unsure of what to do and was doing my best to understand her, but it was very difficult. While I was speaking to the Charge RN, another nurse working that night, Rihab overheard me and offered to try to speak to the patient because she herself was from Iran and spoke Kurdish. I was so excited but knew how busy she was with her own assignment and did not want to put more on her. Rihab did not hesitate. She went into the room with me and began speaking. The patient had a huge smile on her face. It was like she finally had something familiar and this extra effort that Rihab made completely changed this patient's experience. Several times Rihab went and spoke to the patient and it was like you could see the fear and insecurity leave her- from then on, the patient was completely different. She was comfortable for quite possibly the first time during her stay. I checked in on her the next day when I worked using the VRI, a female interpreter told me how thankful she was.