ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: English-as-a-second-language (ESL) nursing students fail to graduate from programs at alarming rates. For many of these students, academic failure results from poor performance on multiple choice examinations, which frequently contain linguistic errors. A remedy for these errors is to linguistically modify examination questions. This study assessed the effects of linguistic modification on examination scores. METHOD: Scores of ESL and non-ESL nursing students were compared on an experimental multiple choice examination and a control examination. RESULTS: After exclusion, 67 ESL and 252 non-ESL students completed the experimental examination; 68 ESL and 257 non-ESL students completed the control examination. CONCLUSION: Both ESL and non-ESL students scored higher on the experimental examination than on the control examination. For ESL students, the increase in observed means between the experimental and control examination was 0.6%; for non-ESL students, the increase was 0.48%. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(6):309-315.].
Subject(s)
Communication Barriers , Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate , Educational Measurement/methods , Linguistics , Multilingualism , Adult , Comprehension , Female , Humans , Male , Nursing Education Research , ReadingABSTRACT
Influenza vaccine is essential to preventing influenza among health care workers and their patients. Therefore, the staff of the employee health clinic worked diligently to provide an opportunity for all employees to receive influenza vaccinations. Despite these efforts, a significant percentage of employees declined the vaccine. During the 2007-2008 influenza season, employees were instructed to either receive the influenza vaccine or decline in writing. The vaccination rate for all staff members and direct caregivers, during the 2007-2008 vaccination season, was 52%, with 35% declining and 13% not participating. In response to the 35% declining, data were analyzed to develop an effective educational tool focused on reasons for declination. This article presents an overview of the study, the reasons employees declined influenza vaccine, and strategies for improving vaccination rates.
