Effects of language barrier on international nursing students in Finland

Abstract

This thesis investigated the impact of language barrier on the effectiveness of nursing students in Finland. That Finnish is not widely spoken outside of Finland makes it inevitable for immigrant nursing students to experience language barriers when communicating with patients, colleagues and supervisors, particularly during internships. The rapidly growing number of international nursing students in Finland due to globalization of healthcare education and the need to enhance their competence in a multicultural setting like Finland informs the rationale for this research. Grounded in the theory of cultural competence which is concerned with challenges of traversing a healthcare environment in a non-native language and culture, the effect of low proficiency in the Finnish language on nursing students' competence in providing quality care to patients during practical clinical placements was examined in this study. Savonia University of Applied Sciences was the commissioner of this thesis. Applying the quantitative research design, numerical data was gathered from twenty-four of the sixty-two international nursing students in Savonia University of Applied Sciences through an online survey platform, Webropol. The results of the analysed data showed that the effectiveness of international nursing students in the delivery of quality care services during practical clinical placements was truly impeded by language barrier. This, invariably, affected their confidence to perform nursing tasks efficiently during internships. The findings also indicated that support from nursing education program and existing language solutions are not fully effective in eliminating the challenge of language barrier. Therefore, it becomes apparent that more targeted and efficient solutions need to be researched and implemented to overcome the challenge posed by language barriers to international nursing students in Finland.