Multilingual nursing education: Nursing students' and teachers' interests, perceptions and expectations

Abstract

This study investigates the interests, perceptions and expectations of nursing students and teachers with respect to multilingual nursing education. This mixed methods study included a student survey and teacher interviews from two Dutch speaking institutes of higher education in Brussels. Results show that students preferred separate targeted language skills courses to integrated content and language courses. The teachers were mostly positive towards the idea of integrated multilingual nursing education. Teachers expected more time allocation and linguistic support from experts for integrating foreign languages into the curriculum, as well as setting clear objectives for students. The study concludes that successful multilingual integration in nursing education depends on implementation policies that take into account proper support for the teachers and clear learning objectives for the students.