As a nursing student, during my clinical practice in the long-term care setting; I had a resident who did not speak English when communicating, however, the resident understood what was spoken in English. Oftentimes medication was refused, displaying a communication style of raising one hand at me, which was a clear indication that I should go away. My approach was to express my understanding and re-approach the resident several times. Whenever there was continuous, I would involve my preceptor to help to address the situation. Another approach was to respect the resident’s autonomy whenever there was continuous refusal, then I would document the refusal and report it to my preceptor for further assessment.
