2026-01-28
Blog
A pilot project at Oslo University Hospital explores how digital language support can help families feel safer, informed, and involved during time-critical pediatric cardiac care.
In a thoracic intensive care unit (ICU), where children with serious congenital heart defects undergo vital – often urgent and complex – treatment, unambiguous and accurate communication is crucial. Parents are confronted with an overwhelming situation involving unfamiliar medical devices, medications, daily procedures, and profound uncertainty about their child’s health status.
Although ICU staff would prefer to have an on-site interpreter available around the clock, this is often not realistic in the demanding everyday workflow of an intensive care unit. For this reason, the healthcare team at the Thoracic Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Oslo University Hospital (Rikshospitalet) has launched a pilot project that evaluates both standardized phrases and real-time communication using the Care to Translate app.
Care to Translate offers rapid, medically accurate translations in 49 languages. The app is intended to complement traditional interpreter services so that parents can ask questions, stay continuously informed, and to clearly understand their child’s treatment and health status. The app also helps ensure that parents’ perspectives are incorporated into the child’s care team and that they feel secure in the thoracic intensive care unit.
The pilot study is conducted by a multidisciplinary team at thoracic intensive care, Oslo University Hospital (Rikshospitalet). Oda Istre, a critical care nurse and professional development nurse at the Thoracic Surgical Intensive Care Unit Oda works closely with colleagues Britt Elin Fredriksen (Critical Care nurse and Hypoplastic left heart syndrom- coordinator), Anne Alvestad Berglund (liaison nurse for children with congenital heart defects), and Irene Lie. The pilot study is led by Irene Lie, Critical Care Nurse, PhD, FESC and Professor II at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Irene Lie is also Senior Researcher and Head of the Centre for Patient-Centered Heart and Lung Research at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, within the Division of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Diseases at Oslo University Hospital.
In recent years, we have seen a clear rise in the need to strengthen communication support for parents with minority-language backgrounds who are not fluent in Norwegian or English. When language turns into an obstacle, anxiety can quickly increase, and the chances for real participation and understanding are diminished.
Irene Lie has previously led a similar study focusing on adult patients within cardiothoracic care, where communication and patient experience were central themes. One of the most significant findings from that study was the patients experience of feeling safe particularly in situations marked by serious illness, complex treatment and high emotional strain.
“When care is at its most advanced and situations are at their most vulnerable, trust becomes absolutely essential. For many patients and families, the ability to understand – and to be understood in their own language – is a fundamental prerequisite for feeling confidence in the care provided and in the decisions being made.” – Irene Lie, Critical Care Nurse, PhD, FESC, Professor II, NTNU
In the current pilot study at the department of thoracic surgery, the focus now shifts to children and their parents. The study seeks to deepen understanding of how digital language support can contribute to:
By combining clinical expertise with patient-parents centred research, the team aims to generate new knowledge on how language and communication can be integrated as a natural part of quality and safety in healthcare.