Home → Current news → Specialised English skills key to culturally sensitive care

Specialised English skills key to culturally sensitive care

Monday 7 April 2008

A new book designed to provide Chinese healthcare professionals with specialised communication skills has been launched in anticipation of the influx of English-speaking tourists to Beijing for the Olympic Games.

Mr Craig Louey, a Master of Applied Linguistics student at the University of Newcastle, is the author of Real Nursing English - A Western healthcare language and communication guide for Chinese nurses. This is the first bilingual book with an English CD to be written by an Australian healthcare professional on communication for Chinese doctors and nurses.

Mr Louey, who also works as a registered nurse with Hunter New England Health, said the book was in response to increasing demand for resources on the values informing healthcare communication in English-speaking countries.

"Real Nursing English will help Chinese healthcare professionals understand the communication values necessary to deliver the culturally sensitive care expected in the English-speaking West. It is a learning resource which reflects real English language patterns as they occur in English-speaking hospitals".

Mr Louey said the book would also be extremely useful following the dramatic increase in the recruitment of overseas health professionals to Australia.

"Given the cultural and linguistic shock many Chinese healthcare professionals initially face here, it is to be expected that they will struggle to communicate smoothly with patients and colleagues in their first few years in Australia.

"This book provides them with a chance to learn how to provide culturally sensitive care to Western patients in the same way that an Australian nurse is expected to provide care to Chinese patients."

Mr Louey said use of the book would translate into better care for patients and less stress for Chinese healthcare professionals, by allowing them to communicate much more smoothly and effectively with both patients and work colleagues.

Real Nursing English - A Western healthcare language and communication guide for Chinese nurses is published by Peking University Medical Press. The English text in the book was edited by staff from the University of Newcastle's School of Nursing and Midwifery.

For interviews: Mr Craig Louey on 02 4962 5756 or 0432 025 236.