In the article: “Clinically speaking: A communication skills program for students from non-English speaking backgrounds” by Miguel, Rogan, Kilstoff and Brown (2006).
In a qualitative study, they survey first year students of Bachelor of Nursing degree at an Australian University to investigate the difficulties faced by the first-year undergraduate students from non-English speaking background during clinical placement. This article focuses on three issues which are structure of the program, some major issues faced by the nursing students in the clinical setting and teaching strategies to solve these problems. The main idea presented in this article is that communication skills program is crucial for non-English speaking students during nursing practices.This article has been written by four researchers who are highly qualified and experienced professionals and academics. The article is based on the qualitative method which provides detail information about the needs of the communication skills program for international students. One strength of the article is that a comprehensive study of the literature focuses on developing skills such as self-awareness, empathy, critical thinking and assertiveness. However, some of these studies focus on the use of the culture and language in an appropriate way to demonstrate these skills. The researchers obtained results from first year undergraduate students at Australian University.
However, these results cannot be generalized because it is based on small number of students (fifteen students -13 females and 2 males) from China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Vietnam. The researchers provide the evidence of the important of communication skills for overseas students during the clinical practices. However, the researchers only focus on the involvement of the nursing students, academic expertise and clinical facilitators, they did not mention other health care related person such as doctors, patients, visitors, etc. The writers provide background information and analytical study on research that has already been conducted on this topic.
However, some of the sources stated to little outdated as they are from 1995 and 1998.Overall, this article would be useful for nursing students who may feel they need to improve their communication skills during the clinical placement because communication skills plays crucial role in nursing study. It may be beneficial for clinical facilitators for educational support which help to increase their skills while assisting the students from non-English speaking background. In addition, this article may be beneficial to the patient-provider relationship as well as patient’s care satisfaction because nurses who have effective communication skills may be better at sharing information and care with patients.
