TAR ASL Interpreter

Responsibilities

• Interprets in healthcare setting: Autonomously interprets individual, multidisciplinary, and group encounters. Settings include inpatient, ambulatory, video, and emergency environments.
• Manages flow of communication throughout the healthcare encounter.
• Prepares for interpreting encounter.
• Setses clarification and self-corrects as needed to remain faithful to source message.
• Maintains transparency throughout entirety of clinical encounter.
• Promotes patient autonomy, maintains impartiality.
• Works collaboratively with team interpreter when indicated to ensure comprehension and message accuracy for all participants.
• Outside of office hours: Responds to pages and interpreting requests. Triages and prioritizes interpreting requests, collaborating with team or back-up interpreter when necessary to ensure most efficient responses.
• Communicates and coordinates with care team to provide optimal, timely services. Conducts patient rounds as necessary.
• Mediates Cultural Nuance: Understands language as an expression of culture, recognizes the underlying assumptions of each party, including the interpreter, about the encounter, its content and context; uses this understanding to empower patient and provider to better understand each other.
• Facilitates building of rapport between patient and provider through bridging cultures.
• Responds to cross cultural challenges to ensure understanding by all interlocutors.
• Provides ad-hoc education to URMC staff regarding best practices for working with interpreters and deaf/hard-of-hearing patients.
• Directs patients to appropriate hospital resources (social worker, financial case manager, care coordinator, etc).
• Interdisciplinary Collaborative Communication: Collaborates as a member of the clinical and non-clinical teams to ensure effective communication, delivering a faithful rendition of each party’s message, considering the patient’s health literacy.
• Confirms context and goals of encounter with each party to gain situational context whenever possible.
• Some cases may require immediate patient care and life-saving interventions.
• Internal Communicates consistently with interpreting leadership. Engages in open dialogue with leadership, scheduling, and team to suggest optimal patient care approach based on best practices and knowledge of patient/provider dynamics.
• Collaborates closely with program dispatcher, lead, and scheduling team to optimize patient care coverage.
• Collaborates with team and back up interpreter to make effective and autonomous decisions.
• Communicates with agency partners for continuity of care, when applicable.
• Participates In Continuing Education: Maintains and enhances skill level as demonstrated on hire. Broadens knowledge through self-directed investigation, webinars, interpreter conferences, and professional development.
• Maintains and documents certification as applicable.

Requirements

• Must be fluent in English and ASL.
• Required Knowledge of human anatomy, physiology, pathology, clinical tests and procedures in working languages.
• Strong customer service and communication skills.
• Licenses and Certifications: RID, NAD, BEI level II (written required, performance within 18 months of hire).

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Preferred 2 years healthcare interpreting experience.
• Strongly Preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience.