Study Guide

Objectives (course unit)

The Professional English for Nursing and Health Care course focuses on key communication situations between a nurse (or other healthcare professional) and a patient. The course covers a lot of terminology related to everyday nursing work. If necessary, students also have the opportunity to focus on the contents of their own specialty (e.g. midwives, paramedics, public health nurses).

The core objective of the course is that the student:
understands the significance of English skills, interaction and communication as part of their professional skills
recognizes their own role as a communicator in patient situations in the field of Health Care and Nursing

Content (course unit)

The importance of guidance and patient education
Admission
Patient interview, obtaining information
Describing pain
Wound care
Successful discharge, giving home care instructions
Medical terminology
Human anatomy

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2) (course unit)

The student
- can communicate in familiar, simple and routine situations in a manner that is mostly understandable
Guidance Skills:
The student
- can provide patients/clients with simple oral and written instructions
- can ask patients/clients basic questions regarding their lifestyle, as well as previous and current health status
- can employ basic nursing and health care terminology as required by the situation (e.g. obtaining a consent, giving treatment, giving instructions, referring to further care)
Professional Data Acquisition:
- can search for information in scientific publications and other professional sources but has problems in interpreting and utilizing it
- understands the main points in relatively easy nursing-related texts when consulting a dictionary
Linguistic Skills:
- can communicate in English but has problems with grammar and style
- manages simple conversations provided that the other person talks slowly and clearly, and sometimes repeats the information
- responds to questions in discussions, but pauses, mistakes and reformulations occur
Additional Information:
- understands the significance of knowing professional English, and works purposefully to gain linguistic competence in one’s special field
- is aware of some ways to further develop one’s professional language skills and language learning skills by utilizing different tools and strategies
- makes progress in the course, based on one’s individual level and linguistic needs

Assessment criteria, good (3-4) (course unit)

The student
- communicates clearly in multi-professional and multi-cultural interaction situations (verbal and written reports, documentation)
Guidance Skills:
The student
- can provide patients/clients with individual instructions in the most common patient guidance situations (e.g. home care instructions)
- can conduct a detailed health interview, asking further questions when needed
- can appropriately document the information obtained, as required by the situation (providing treatment, service, or further care)
- can successfully respond to the questions asked by patients/clients
- can employ and utilize relevant nursing and health care terminology
Professional Data Acquisition:
The student
- can search information in scientific publications and other professional sources to promote one’s professional growth
- can critically assess the references
- can apply and utilize most of the information obtained
Linguistic Skills:
The student
- almost invariably communicates fairly effortlessly, and in a way appropriate to the situation
- discusses field-specific topics fairly fluently
- responds to questions in discussions fairly successfully
- can pronounce fairly clearly and effortlessly
- employs grammatical structures fairly successfully, and self-corrects potential errors if causing misunderstandings
- can re-formulate one’s sentences if and when needed
- understands and employs field-specific terminology fairly accurately
- can utilize various resources and dictionaries
- expresses oneself and conveys the message to the reader/listener fairly idiomatically without misunderstandings (H4)
- conveys the information to the reader/listener understandably without misunderstandings, but somewhat non-idiomatically, at times with features from the mother tongue (H3)
Additional Information:
- works in an active and self-directed manner to improve one’s special field English, based on one’s level, linguistic needs and personal interests

Assessment criteria, excellent (5) (course unit)

The student
- communicates successfully even in demanding multi-professional and multi-cultural interaction situations (e.g. oral and written reports, documentation, potential extra-curricular activities, such as projects or international collaboration)
Guidance Skills:
The student
- interviews and instructs patients/clients successfully adapting to the interaction situation, challenging and unexpected situations included
- employs and utilizes specific terminology and field-specific concepts
- speaks fluently and idiomatically
Professional Data Acquisition:
The student
- can search for information in scientific publications and other professional sources, interprets it, and utilizes it with ease to promote one’s professional growth
- can critically assess the references
- can apply and utilize the information obtained
Linguistic Skills:
The student
- communicates effortlessly, almost flawlessly, and in a way appropriate to the situation
- discusses field-specific topics fluently
- responds to questions in discussions appropriately and without delay
- can pronounce clearly and effortlessly
- employs grammatical structures almost flawlessly, and self-corrects potential errors
- re-formulates one’s sentences if and when needed
- understands and employs field-specific terminology accurately
- can utilize a vast variety of resources and dictionaries
- expresses oneself fluently and conveys the message to the reader/listener idiomatically without misunderstandings
Additional Information:
- works in an active and self-directed manner to further improve and maintain one’s special field English, based on one’s level, linguistic needs and personal interests

Assessment criteria, pass/fail (course unit)

Reasons for failing the course:
Written / Oral exam is failed
-the student has considerable problems in linguistic structures and grammar
-one's health care and nursing terminology is very limited, or almost non-existent
-one fails to convey the relevant message across to a listener or a reader
- Negligence or delays in submitting the assignments
- Non-compliance to attendance requirements

Exam schedules

The final (written) exam will take place in electronic EXAM classroom at TAMK campus (or at the campus of other University of Applied Sciences). You will have to enroll to an electronic exam (the link will be provided during the course).

The exam period is 17th Feb - 7th March 2024.
https://intra.tuni.fi/en/teaching/teaching-0/electronic-assessment/instructions-students-use-exam-system

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

Online studying (Moodle). Independent and collaborative studying (participating in activities together with student colleagues). Weekly messages from the teacher. (Instructions and reminders via Moodle, instructing the activities, commenting students' contributions).
The course starts on 15th January 2024 and ends on 3rd March 2024.

Learning materials

Material in Moodle
Activities in TuniMoodle (e.g., H5P -exercises, Quizlet)
Study book: Karhumäki, M., Metsäportti, M. & Tuohimäki. Dear Patient - English for Nursing. SanomaPro 2017.

Student workload

3 ECTS credits = 3 x 27h = 81h student work. (This is an estimation as the time spent on completing the course depends on the student's current level on English.)

Content scheduling

Assignments:
- Moodle activitites: (discussion forum tasks, Flinga, H5P, GoogleDocs etc.)
- The written assignment submitted at the end of the course (evaluated on a scale of T1-K5)
- Oral video presentation at the end of the course (evaluated on a scale of T1-K5)
- Final exam (T1-K5) in EXAM


The final exam will take place in EXAM (electronic exam) at TAMK campus, or at the campus of your own University of Applied Sciences.

Assignments:
- Moodle activitites: (discussion forum tasks, Flinga, H5P, GoogleDocs etc.)
- The written assignment submitted at the end of the course (evaluated on a scale of T1-K5)
- Oral video presentation at the end of the course (evaluated on a scale of T1-K5)
- (Final exam on week )

The final grade will be based on the above assignments.

Topics:
Orientation & Introduction to the Course
Successful Professional Communication
Patient Interview & Obtaining Information

Instructing the patients:
Admission to hospital & daily programme
Preoperative guidance
Vital signs
Asepsis & PPE (Personal protective equipment)

Administration of medication:IV-cannulation
Wound care

Describing and evaluation PAIN
Post-operative nursing
Discharge from hospital & home care instructions

Human anatomy
Medical/scientific terminoloy

Further information

The final exam will take place in EXAM (electronic exam) at TAMK campus, or at the campus of your own University of Applied Sciences.