[8-18] English and international education for nursing students in English as a foreign language (EFL) environments
Presentation language：English
In this presentation, we explore how nursing school educators draw from a wide range of fields to foster improvement of English communication skills and provide international education opportunities to nursing students in EFL environments.
The communication skills of healthcare providers impact patient safety, health, adherence, and satisfaction. Culturally sensitive care also helps nurses cultivate trust relationships with their patients and improve adherence and other health outcomes. In Japan, where, pandemic notwithstanding, the influx of non-Japanese workers, residents, and tourists continues to rise, it is particularly important for nurses to develop these skills.
As English faculty at a nursing university in Japan, we describe our own curriculum and program design initiatives and experiences, which include the use of roleplay and simulated patients for the development of communication skills, custom-designed study abroad programs, an academic writing desk, a presentation training course, and a nascent health humanities unit, and a strong emphasis on developing reading and writing fluency. We will discuss evaluations and research results in some cases, and we will interweave these initiatives into the backdrop of existing research, identifying consistencies with, departures from, and gaps in the literature within both applied linguistics (specifically English for Specific Purposes) and nursing education.