Family services
Interpreter Orientation

Interpreter professionalism

When it comes to interactions with our patients, families, and their private information, Children’s Minnesota expects the highest-possible standards of professionalism from everyone on our team. As part of that team, we expect all interpreters to follow the guidelines below.

Professional Relationships

To maintain professional relationships with patients, families, clinicians, and other staff, always be aware of your role as an interpreter and maintain appropriate boundaries. Please refrain from:

  • Using a cell phone, text messaging and answering pages during an assignment
  • Marketing yourself for future assignments with a family
  • Receiving gifts of significant monetary value from patients and families
  • Sharing personal information/problems with patients or families (including home phone numbers, addresses and email)
  • Offering or providing transportation to patients or families in personal vehicles
  • Offering gifts or money to families or patients
  • Sharing religious and/or political beliefs with patients or family members
  • Having inappropriate conversations with patients, families, staff or colleagues

Eating at the hospital

Some patients are required to fast before procedures and seeing others eat or drink can make the situation more difficult, especially for young children. If you need to eat, please eat in the food service areas at the Minneapolis and St. Paul hospital campuses.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Protecting patient privacy is part of Children’s commitment to family-centered care with the highest possible ethical standards. At Children’s everyone is responsible for protecting patient privacy including all staff, employees, temporary staff, consultants, contractors, agency interpreters, physicians and community providers, residents, students and volunteers.

Children’s has adopted the following privacy principles:

Protected health information — All information about patients is considered confidential, including demographic and billing information (name, address, medical record number, health plan, dates of birth, etc.)

Minimum access necessary — A person or entity should have access to, receive or distribute only the “minimum necessary” amount of information to perform their jobs.

Communication methods: We are obligated to protect all forms of communication (oral, written or electronic). Please be aware of your surroundings when discussing, creating, or reviewing protected health information.

Computers and electronics — These privacy restrictions apply when using electronic devices:

  • Never share IDs or passwords
  • Log off or use password protected screen savers on terminals
  • Access only information necessary to perform your duties
  • Never leave written materials on a fax machine, verify fax number before sending

Written materials — These privacy restrictions apply to written materials

  • Properly dispose of confidential information in shredding boxes
  • Be sure to remove all written materials after using copy machines
  • All business partners must provide satisfactory assurances of privacy protections