Clinically speaking: A communication skills program for students from non-English speaking backgrounds

Abstract

This paper reports on the design, delivery and evaluation of a pilot oral communication skills program for first year students in a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) degree at an Australian university. This program was introduced in 2004 to meet the needs of first year undergraduate students from non-English speaking backgrounds who had experienced difficulties with spoken English while on clinical placement in hospitals. The program consisted of early identification of students in need of language development, a series of language classes incorporated into the degree program to address students' needs and a clinical placement block at the completion of the language classes. The paper describes how the program was integrated into the BN , discusses some of the major problems students faced in the clinical setting, and presents some of the teaching strategies used in the language program to address these problems. Finally the paper discusses evaluations of the program, which suggest that students' language skills and confidence improved as a result of the language classes, resulting in a more positive clinical experience for the majority of students.

Diversity characteristics and the experiences of nursing students during clinical placements: A qualitative study of student, faculty and supervisors’ views

“…They experienced difficulties in understanding conversations between patients and clinicians, how the use of technical terms and Australian idioms was like a 'third language' (Crawford & Candlin, 2013). Similar findings were reported in an earlier study and also included difficulty understanding handover reports as the nurses spoke quickly and used terminology and abbreviations with which students were unfamiliar (San Miguel et al, 2006).…”

“…Our findings indicated that males were welcomed and treated positively during their placements, which may indicate more of an acceptance of male students than shown in previous studies (O'Lynn, 2004;Stott, 2007). Poor language skills have been shown to have negative experiences during clinical placements (Mattila, Pitkäjärvi, & Eriksson, 2010) and that support prior to clinical placement can improve communication skills and confidence and lead to a positive clinical experience (San Miguel et al, 2006). It would appear that language literacy remains a real problem, with suggestions that linguistic support may not be taken up by some students.…”

“…No literature explored how ethnicity impacted on clinical experiences although there is more Students who are perceived to be different or perceive they are different can have negative clinical placement experiences (San Miguel, Rogan, Kilstoff, & Brown, 2006). These students are more likely to encounter prejudice and discrimination from staff and patients during their acute care clinical placements (Amaro, AbriamYago, & Yoder, 2006;Levett-Jones & Lathlean, 2009).…”

The traditional-faculty supervised teaching model: Nursing faculty and clinical instructors’ perspectives

“…Studies have revealed that ESL students may experience challenges in clinical settings with the use of terminology, communicating or understanding patient requests, or providing explanations. [39,40] In a study by Bosher and Smalkoski, [39] when ESL students communicated with patients, CIs noted lack of eye contact, low volume speech, and inappropriate voice intonation. Therefore, as Starr [38] suggested, a positive instructor's response to language challenges is crucial to ensuring the learning of the continuing growing numbers of nursing students from culturally diverse backgrounds.…”

English Reading Comprehension as a Predictor for Academic Successes in First Year B. SC. Nursing Course in India

“…Authors further suggested that a specially designed clinically speaking program improved the experience of students from non-English speaking backgrounds during clinical placement and assisted the majority to successfully gain a satisfactory grade for their clinical placement [12].…”