ESL undergraduate nursing students in Australia: Some experiences

Abstract

This study explored some experiences of nine English as a second language (ESL)/international nursing students during 1 year of their studies at a large Australian university. From the student narratives, two broad categories emerged to describe the nature of their experiences, namely, challenges and supports. First, the challenges encompassed the themes of: language, which included the technical aspects of language, speaking and listening, and interaction in tutorial group situations; perceptions of ethnocentrism; and lack of orientation. Second, the supports included: University‐related support; support from friends and family; and the students' own personal strengths and strategies. The participants of this study faced various challenges and also struggled to overcome their difficulties through diverse means. Suggestions arising from this research include improving student support systems and increasing awareness of cultural differences among the nursing faculty and registered nurses.

Research-based design of a medical vocabulary videogame

“…International nursing students with English as a Second Language (ESL) sometimes find they are unable to fully engage in their university studies and clinical placements as a result of communication difficulties (for example, see Chiang & Crickmore, 2009;Donnelly, McKiel, & Hwang, 2009;Guhde, 2003;Gunn-Lewis & Smith, 1999;Shakya & Horsfall, 2000;Starr, 2009). The factors contributing to their communication problems include: the range of language registers (from colloquial to specialist language), the physical environment (usually a noisy clinical placement or group-based tutorial/laboratory space), and communicative pressure (quickly, accurately, and under pressure) (Author, 2011).…”

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

“…Shakya A, Horsfall J M, interviewed 9 ESL nursing students to explore their experiences during one year of study. All participants experienced difficulty achieving the higher levels of verbal/written proficiency required to understand lectures, interact in tutorial groups and learn the more technical aspects of language in health terminology [10] The findings of the qualitative study entitled "the lived experiences of students as English language learners in the nursing classroom", by JoAnn Mulready-Shick, suggest that the key to participants' academic progress involves additional academic learning time dedicated to studying the English language, along with learning the language of health care and nursing concepts [11].…”

How can we help minority nursing students?

“…Nursing faculty may label students as slow when their need to translate what they heard, prepare an answer, and translate it back to answer in English is the issue [10] . Specific problems students experienced in clinical included unclear pronunciation, lack of initiative in communicating with staff, nodding and smiling when asked to do something rather than responding verbally, and failing to explain and reassure patients when providing care [11] .…”