Creating a Short Pocket Dictionary of Nursing Terms in Finnish for Finnish as a Second Language Nursing Students

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to provide early-on learning language support tool for Finnish as a second Language nursing students in order to help them develop their ability to perform well in clinical placements and assist their learning. The tool is in the form of a dictionary, and has been further evaluated for potential usefulness as a learning tool by a panel of English program nursing students from Laurea University of Applied Sciences. By doing this, the aim is to help address a gap within the system of English language nursing programs in which students struggle in clinical placements due to a lack of Finnish language skills, especially in the sector of nursing vocabulary. In order to gain feedback of the usability of the tool a small seven student panel was formed to view a prototype of the dictionary and filled out a feedback form assessing the tool’s perceived usefulness and usability. The results highlighted that overall the dictionary was evaluated as useful. The student panel gave feedback concerning the layout of the dictionary, and what would they change or add to the dictionary. The resulting learning tool from this thesis can be used to develop the communication skills of nurses with Finnish as a second language, and can be used as guidance for further development of learning tools to aid nursing students, and the feedback gathered can be used to guide future learning tools developed with a similar purpose.