Work community support in professional language learning among culturally and linguistically diverse nurses: Implementation of action research in a hospital setting

Abstract

Effective interprofessional and patient communication remain crucial to nursing, with local languages challenging the international recruitment of healthcare personnel and preventing those recruited from working as educated professionals. This study aimed to improve the local-language skills of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) nurses beyond the classroom and through interactions in the workplace. We describe a pilot study in which the workplace community supported language learning (i.e., Finnish) and organised language workshops in a university hospital. Modelled on the Swedish Språkombud Language Advocat concept, language workshops took place regularly in the workplace and targeted CALD nurses who speak Finnish as a second language (L2). Employing action research, we focus here on the action component—namely, the language workshop—and its impact on language learning. Data consist of audiovisual recordings of and materials produced during the language workshops by participants. We analysed data using thematic analysis, focusing on participant-highlighted learning needs and participants’ evaluations of workshop participation impact. Participants described becoming more fluent in Finnish in professional situations based on workshop participation. Specifically, they received tools to structure their communication during challenging professional situations and improved their ability to act culturally appropriately in such situations. Hospital management can enhance language learning and the wellbeing of internationally recruited nurses by offering supporting structures, such as language workshops, during the orientation process. Communication practices and local language learning can be effectively learnt by doing patient work in the unit and reflecting upon it with colleagues and peers.