Bridging the language barrier: the use of interpreters in primary care nursing.

Language barriers present a major obstacle to minority ethnic communities accessing primary healthcare. Whereas it is recognised that interpreting services are generally inadequate and inappropriate reliance is placed on family members to interpret, little is known about how nurses working in primary care utilise interpreters to overcome language barriers. The present paper reports on a study examining the utilisation of interpreting services by a range of primary care nurses from the perspectives of the nurses, interpreters and minority ethnic communities.