English competency forinternationally qualified nurses

Yunjia Tian, M1

• Internationally quali ed nurse or midwife (IQNM) who are interested in working inAustralia• Meeting the registration requirements:• Criminal History• English Language Skills• Recency of Practice• Professional Indemnity Insurance Arrangements• Registration standards de ne the requirements that applicants must meet to beconsidered t to practise as nurses and midwives

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• Quali cation criteria de ne the minimum acceptable education and training thatIQNMs must have completed.

English Language Skills

Approved English language test providers• International English Language Testing System - (IELTS)• Occupational English test - OET (both nurses and midwives are able tosit the nursing OET)
• Test of English as a foreign language internet-based test - TOEFL iBT• Pearson test of English academic - PTE AcademicOccupational English test - OET• assesses the English language pro ciency of overseas-trained healthcare
professionals seeking to register and practise in an English-speaking environment• designed in the late 1980s by Professor Tim McNamara, under the guidance ofthe Australian National Of ce for Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR)• has been developed speci cally to re ect workplace tasks for 12 healthcare
professions:• Dentistry, Dietetics, Medicine, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy,Podiatry, Radiography, Speech Pathology and Veterinary Science• recognised by regulatory healthcare boards and councils in countries around theworld:

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• Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Dubai and Singapore

Assessment structure• Covers all four language skills (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking),with an emphasis on communication in a healthcare environment.

Listening• Approximately 40 minutes long
• Three parts and a total of 42 question items• Part A – consultation extracts: identify speci c information during a consultation• Listen to two recorded health professional-patient consultations and complete the health professional’s notes
using the information that was heard.

• Part B – short workplace extracts: identify the detail, gist, opinion or purpose of extracts fromworkplace• Listen to six recorded extracts (e.g. team brie ngs, handovers, or health professional-patient dialogues) andanswer one multiple-choice question for each extract• Part C – presentation extracts: follow a presentation or interview on a range of accessible
healthcare topics

fifi• Listen to two different extracts and answer six multiple-choice questions for each extract

Reading• Consists of three parts and a total of 42 question items• All three parts take a total of 60 minutes to complete• Part A – expeditious reading task: locate speci c information from four short texts in a quick and ef cient manner• The four short texts relate to a single healthcare topic, and must answer 20 questions in the allocated time period• matching, sentence completion and short answer questions• Part B and Part C – careful reading tasks:• Part B: ability to identify the detail, gist or main point of six short texts sourced from workplace• The texts might consist of extracts from policy documents, hospital guidelines, manuals or internal communications, such as
emails or memos.
• one three-option multiple-choice question for each text.

• Part C: ability to identify detailed meaning and opinion in two texts on topics of interest to healthcare
professionals

fi• Answer eight four-option multiple choice questions.

Writing• 45 minutes long and is profession-speci c• One task set for each profession based on a typical workplace situation and the demands of the profession• The task is to write a letter:• usually a referral letter• Alternative letter types:• letter of transfer and a letter of discharge.
• A letter to advise or inform a patient, carer or group is sometimes used in Pharmacy, Veterinary Science and occasionallyfor Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy.
• Written response to a complaint (for Radiography).

• Stimulus material will be given (case notes and/or other related documentation)fi• two trained Assessors marking the letter against six criteria (purpose, content, conciseness & clarity, genre &style, organisation & layout and language)Speaking• delivered individually and takes around 20 minutes• Using materials speci cally designed for examinee’s profession• Short warm-up conversation about professional background• three minutes to prepare and each role play takes about 5 minutes• Role-plays:• Examinee takes the professional role
• Assessor plays a patient, a client, or a patient’s relative or carer• minimum of two trained OET Assessors - apply speci c assessment criteria：• Linguistic Criteria: intelligibility, uency, appropriateness of language, resources of grammar and expression

flfi• Clinical Communication Criteria: relationship-building, understanding and incorporating the patient’s
perspective, providing structure, information-gathering and information-giving.