The article addresses language-based misunderstandings between foreign language-speaking parents of preterm or ill newborns and medical staff at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the maternity hospital in Ljubljana, as well as the use of various communication strategies to resolve them. The research method for this one-year study was autoethnography, a qualitative approach in which the researcher draws on personal experience to describe and inter-pret cultural experiences and practices. The significance of the article lies in the fact that intensive care environments are typically difficult for researchers to access; the author, who is employed at the maternity hospital, is able to combine daily observations and personal reflections with relevant theory. Research indicates that migration numbers are expected to increase year by year, leading to more frequent interactions with foreign language-speaking patients and, in the absence of systemic support, potentially inequal healthcare experiences. The article presents several representative cases of language-based misunderstandings in the intensive care unit, describing how medical staff attempt to resolve them and how any resul-ting lack of information can affect the relatives.
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