In collaboration with North Middlesex University Hospital, we designed English Language Communication for Clinical Settings to support the needs of internationally recruited nurses who were working in a range of departments. The remit was to develop language awareness, professional confidence and communicative skills to enhance safe practice and strong interprofessional working.
The course was developed in consultation with the education team and the nurses themselves to ensure that we fully understood where the challenges were and how best to ensure engagement and fit in with the nurses' busy schedules.
We developed a blended learning course of both face to face and online tuition, which allowed for flexibility, catered to different needs and offered both group and individual practice and feedback. The course took place over a few months and evolved along with our familiarity with the students' and the institution itself.
The students remarked on how much they enjoyed the course, stating that it enhanced their confidence at work and provided them with new understanding and language skills for their daily interactions with both patients and colleagues.