title: [Internationalized medical care services increase need of health care providers to improve English communication skills].
abstract: English is the most important language used in international communication. Nurses today have significantly more opportunities to come into contact with clients of different nationalities. Therefore, English communication abilities are a critical to the effective care of foreign clients. Miscommunication due to language barriers can endanger the health and safety of foreign clients and hinder their access to healthcare resources. Basic English communicate skills allow nurses to better understand the feelings of foreign clients and to affect their satisfaction with healthcare services provided. The majority of clinical nurses in Taiwan are inadequately prepared to communicate with foreign clients or use English when delivering nursing care services. Although English is not an official language in Taiwan, strengthening English communication skills is necessary for Taiwan's healthcare service system. Faced with increasing numbers of foreign clients in their daily work, first-line nursing staffs need more training to improve English proficiency. In order to do so, support from the hospital director is the first priority. The second priority is to motivate nursing staffs to learn English; the third is to incorporate different English classes into the medical system and schedule class times to meet nurse scheduling needs; and the fourth is to establish international medical wards, with appropriate incentives in pay designed to attract and retain nursing staff proficient in English communication.
authors.affiliation: Medical Ward, Mackay Memorial Hospital, ROC. mmh18w@ms2.mmh.org.tw
authors.forename: Chia-Ling
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013624:Taiwan