title: Effects of a short-term linguistic class on communication competence of international nurses: implications for practice, policy, and research.
abstract: International nurses face a host of challenges in their transition and adaptation to the U.S. health care environment. Language and communication barriers have been ranked consistently as a top concern by employers, regulatory agencies, and international nurses themselves. Researchers in this study examined the effects of a 10-week linguistic class on the reduction of phonologic errors affecting foreign accent in a sample of international nurses. The linguistic course appeared to be effective in improving the international nurses' linguistic competence by reducing their phonologic errors significantly. Moreover, the intervention narrowed the linguistic gap between international nurses from non-English and English-speaking countries. Findings from this study have important implications for practice, policy, and research regarding quality of care, as well as for the transition, job satisfaction, and retention of international nurses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Administration and Policy, School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
authors.forename: Jay J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Anne L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Bolstad
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Covelli
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torpey
authors.forename: Roseann
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colosimo
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D005551:Foreign Professional Personnel; D006291:Health Policy; D008037:Linguistics; D009726:Nurses; D015399:Nursing Research; D011361:Professional Competence