‘Are we on the same wavelength?’ International nurses and the process of confronting and adjusting to clinical communication in Australia

doi:10.1558/cam.28953

Communication & Medicine, Vol 13, No 3 (2016)

‘Are we on the same wavelength?’ International nurses and the process of confronting and adjusting to clinical communication in Australia

Tonia Crawford, Peter Roger, Sally Candlin

Issued Date: 16 Jun 2017

Abstract

Effective communication skills are important in the health care setting in order to develop rapport and trust with patients, provide reassurance, assess patients effectively and provide education in a way that patients easily understand (Candlin and Candlin, 2003). However with many nurses from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds being recruited to fill the workforce shortfall in Australia, communication across cultures with the potential for miscommunication and ensuing risks to patient safety has gained increasing focus in recent years (Shakya and Horsefall, 2000; Chiang and Crickmore, 2009). This paper reports on the first phase of a study that examines intercultural nurse patient communication from the perspective of four Registered Nurses from CALD backgrounds working in Australia. Five interrelating themes that were derived from thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews are discussed. The central theme of ‘adjustment’ was identified as fundamental to the experiences of the RNs and this theme interrelated with each of the other themes that emerged: professional experiences with communication, ways of showing respect, displaying empathy, and vulnerability.

Download Media

PDF (Price: £17.50 ) Restricted Access

DOI: 10.1558/cam.28953

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013) Doctors and nurses. 4102.0 - Australian Social Trends (April). Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features20April+2013#p7

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (2015) Registration process. Retrieved from http://www.ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Registration-Process/Overseas-Practitioners.aspx

Burns, R. B. (2000) Introduction to Research Methods. Fourth edition. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Longman/Pearson Education.

Candlin, C. N. and Candlin, S. (2003) Health care communication: A problematic site for applied linguistics research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 23: 134–154. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190503000230

Candlin, S. (2002) Making meaning out of experience: The nursing perspective. Paper presented at the BAAL conference: Colloquium on health communication.

Chiang, V. and Crickmore, B. L. (2009) Improving English proficiency of post-graduate international nursing students seeking further qualifications and continuing education in foreign countries. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing 40 (7): 329–336. https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20090623-03

Cordella, M. and Musgrave, S. (2009) Oral communication skills of international medical graduates: Assessing empathy in discourse. Communication and Medicine 6 (2): 129–142.

Couser, G. (2007) Twelve tips for developing training programs for international medical graduates. Medical Teacher 29 (5): 427–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/01421590701317843

Deegan, J. and Simkin, K. (2010) Expert to novice: Experiences of professional adaptation reported by non-English speaking nurses in Australia. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 27 (3): 31–37.

Dörnyei, Z. (2007) Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gibbs, G. (2007) Analyzing Qualitative Data. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849208574

Grant, J. and Luxford, Y. (2011) ‘Culture is a big term isn’t it?’: An analysis of child and family health nurses’ understanding of culture and intercultural understanding. Health Sociology Review 20 (1): 16–27. https://doi.org/10.5172/hesr.2011.20.1.16

Hamilton, J. and Woodward-Kron, R. (2010) Developing cultural awareness and intercultural communication through multimedia: A case study from medicine and the health sciences. System 38 (4): 560–568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2010.09.015

Hearnden, M. (2008) Coping with differences in culture and communication in health care. Nursing Standard 23 (11): 49–58. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns2008.11.23.11.49.c6726

Hoekje, B. J. (2007) Medical discourse and ESP courses for international medical graduates (IMGS). English for Specific Purposes 26 (3): 327–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2006.09.002

Howard, T. C. (2003) Culturally relevant pedagogy: Ingredients for critical teacher reflection. Theory into Practice 42 (3): 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_5

Kingma, M. (2008) Nurses on the move: Diversity and the work environment. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession 28 (1–2): 198–206. https://doi.org/10.5172/conu.673.28.1-2.198

Major, G. and Holmes, J. (2008) How do nurses describe health care procedures?: Analysing nurse-patient interaction in a hospital ward. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 25 (4): 58–70.

O’Grady, C. (2011) Teaching the communication of empathy in patient-centred medicine. In B. H. S. Tipton (ed.) English Language and the Medical Profession: Instructing and Assessing the Communication Skills of International Physicians. Bingley, UK: Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2041-272X(2011)0000005009

O’Neill, F. (2011) From language classroom to clinical context: The role of language and culture in communication for nurses using English as a second language. International Journal of Nursing Studies 48 (9): 1120–1128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2011.02.008

Omeri, A. and Atkins, K. (2002) Lived experience of immigrant nurses in New South Wales, Australia: Searching for meaning. International Journal of Nursing Studies 39 (5): 495–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7489(01)00054-2

Popay, J., Rogers, A. and Williams, G. (1998) Rationale and standards for the systematic review of qualitative literature in health services research. Qualitative Health Research 8 (3): 341–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/104973239800800305

Roberts, C., Moss, B., Wass, V., Sarangi, S. and Jones, R. (2005) Misunderstanding: A qualitative study of primary care consultations in multilingual settings, and educational implications. Medical Education 39 (5): 465–475. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02121.x

Roper, J. M. and Shapira, J. (2000) Ethnography in Nursing Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483328294

Sarangi, S. (2017) Mind the gap: ‘Communicative vulnerability’ and the mediation of linguistic/cultural diversity in healthcare settings. In H. Coleman (ed.) Multilingualisms and Development, 239–258. London: British Council.

Shakya, A. and Horsefall, J. M. (2000) ESL undergraduate nursing students in Australia: Some experiences. Nursing and Health Sciences 2 (3): 163–171. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1442-2018.2000.00050.x

Shen, J. J., Xu, Y., Bolstad, A. L., Covelli, M., Torpey, M. and Colosimo, R. (2012) Effects of a short-term linguistic class on communication competence of international nurses: Implications for practice, policy, and research. Nursing Economic$ 30 (1): 21–28.

Strauss, A. L. and Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Second edition.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Turner, D. S. and Beddoes, L. (2007) Using reflective models to enhance learning: Experiences of staff and students. Nurse Education in Practice 7 (3): 135–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2006.04.011

Ulrey, K. L. and Amason, P. (2001) Intercultural Communication between patients and health care providers: An exploration of intercultural communication effectiveness, cultural sensitivity, stress, and anxiety. Health Communication 13 (4): 449–463. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327027HC1304_06

Walters, H. (2008) The experiences, challenges and rewards of nurses from South Asia in the process of entering the Australian nursing system. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 25 (3): 95–105.

Xu, Y., Shen, J., Bolstad, A. L., Covelli, M. and Torpey, M. (2010) Evaluation of an intervention on socio-cultural communication skills of international nurses. Nursing Economic$ 28 (6): 386–392, 408.

Refbacks

There are currently no refbacks.

Equinox Publishing Ltd - 415 The Workstation 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)114 221-0285 - Email: [email protected]