Public health nurses’ experiences of using interpreters when meeting with Arabic-speaking first-time mothers

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate public health nurses’ experiences of using interpreters when meeting with Arabic-speaking first-time mothers. Design and Sample: An inductive qualitative design was used. Individual interviews were conducted with Swedish public health nurses (n = 11) with experience of working in child health care with interpreters when meeting with Arabic-speaking first-time mothers. Measures: Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis of the interviews resulted in one overarching theme: Having to accept and learn to incorporate interpreters when meeting with Arabic-speaking first-time mothers. Three subthemes were identified: (a) enabling an understanding of the situation of the mothers; (b) contributing to a trustful relationship; and (c) creating disturbing elements in the dialogue. Conclusions: Using interpreters optimized the conversation between the public health nurse and the Arab-speaking first-time mother; however, the complexity of using interpreters was also apparent.