Shen Jay J, Xu Yu, Bolstad Anne L, Covelli Margaret, Torpey Miriam, Colosimo Roseann
Department of Health Care Administration and Policy, School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Nurs Econ. 2012 Jan-Feb;30(1):21-8.
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.
国际护士在向美国医疗保健环境过渡和适应过程中面临诸多挑战。语言和沟通障碍一直被雇主、监管机构以及国际护士自身列为首要关切问题。本研究中的研究人员调查了一门为期10周的语言课程对减少国际护士样本中影响外国口音的语音错误的效果。该语言课程似乎通过显著减少语音错误，有效地提高了国际护士的语言能力。此外，该干预措施缩小了来自非英语国家和英语国家的国际护士之间的语言差距。这项研究的结果对于护理质量的实践、政策和研究，以及国际护士的过渡、工作满意度和留用率都具有重要意义。
