Braille, Sign Language, and Pictograms All Offer

Braille, sign language, and pictograms all offer nonverbal means of effectively communicating ideas. Each of these nonverbal communications constitutes a type of language, and each has unique applications. It is important to realize that verbal and written languages are only a few of many different methods of communication. A nurse needs to understand the special functions of braille, sign language, and pictograms and be able to identify the different applications and potential uses of each one.

Developed by Louis Braille in the early nineteenth century, Braille is a textured writing system that allows the visually impaired to write and read texts. As with some written languages like Chinese, Braille symbols comprise both of an alphabet and words. Thus, the letter B. In Braille can also connote the word "but" in certain contexts. Braille can be adapted for any human language and is therefore especially important when dealing with people with visual impairments in a diverse cultural environment ("Braille," n.d.).

Nurses do not necessarily need to learn Braille in order to raise awareness about Braille in their health care organizations. Administrators should be aware that all public signs, announcements, and reading material in the health care institution should be printed in Braille in addition to the written languages pertinent to the target population(s) in the area. Directing visually impaired patients to organizations that teach Braille, nurses act as patient advocates. This is another way nurses can help raise awareness about the textured writing system that has revolutionized communication.

Braille books and other reading materials are usually available at public libraries, and Braille printers are also available for patients who need them. Braille is one language system that allows the transcendence of printed or verbal texts. Likewise, sign language transcends the need for verbal communication. Sign language is a "complete, complex language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body," (Davies, O'Brien & Reed, 2001).

A systematic alphabet and language based on gestures, sign language has multiple manifestations (as does Braille) and can convey meaning cross-culturally. The most common sign language systems include American Sign Language and International Sign Language. International Sign Language is more appropriate for use in hospitals serving a broad cultural base with patients from various cultures, nationalities and linguistic backgrounds. Nurses can easily learn sign language if they work with hearing impaired and deaf people in their area.

In fact, nurses who work with deaf or hearing-impaired patients are ethically obliged to learn the primary language of their patient population. Sign language functions like any spoken language does, and can be viewed in the same way as French, Spanish, or Tagalog. Without sign language, the deaf are systematically excluded from human conversations. This means that the Deaf community has created a distinct subculture reinforced and fostered by the use of sign language, much in the way that any culture retains its identity via its language.

Pictograms are unlike either Braille or sign language in that they do not denote or connote a community. However, pictograms are critical components of the culture of safety that every health care organization strives to create. A culture of safety ensures that all residents, staff members, and patients have equal access to safety-related data and information at all times. Staff members and patients need to be aware of emergency procedures, regardless of what language they speak.

Pictograms serve the purpose of presenting critical information to all groups in a way that transcends language. Sign language and Braille serve similar safety-related functions in a hospital or other health care organization. Like the pictograms on clothing labels, the pictograms in hospitals can suggest instructions for how to perform activities. The United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, 2013) has a comprehensive and standardized pictogram system. The OSHA (2013) system should be familiar to all nurses and most patients.

Its symbols are visible in many organizations, and include signs that indicate the presence of hazardous materials. It is important for health care administrators and nurses to remember that pictograms must be accompanied by Braille representations of the same pictograms so that the visually impaired can also have access to the critical information contained therein. Nurses should be aware of Braille, sign language, and pictograms as encouraging human participation. Human participation depends on effective communication. When language excludes large groups of the population, health and safety hazards become apparent.

It is also illegal to discriminate against patient populations, which is why.