Jeanette Crawford, right, and Dr. Becky Craig, center, conduct study groups with international nursing students. From left: Bose Tanimola, Betthie Garcon, and, in back, Corin Ben Harush. Photo by Bill Roa

Is the patient’s pain “acute,” coming on suddenly, or “chronic?”

It’s an important distinction for nurses to know as they assess patients’ symptoms. However, for some of Georgia Perimeter College’s international nursing students, such typical medical terms can be lost in translation.

Enter nursing professors Jeanette Crawford and Dr. Becky Craig and English as a Second Language professor Dr. Rose Camalo-Hernandez. The trio, with aid from a grant, collaborated to develop a program to help.

Camalo-Hernandez read the Fundamentals of Nursing class textbook with an eye for any words, phrases or concepts that she knew could be difficult for an international student for whom English was a second language. She then developed study guides and worksheets for use by students entering the Fundamentals of Nursing class.

In addition to using the new guides and worksheets, Crawford and Craig conduct weekly small study groups to tutor international nursing students on the meaning of typical medical terms and phrases.

“We find that the meanings of various idioms and expressions used by others are often confusing for our international nursing students,” says Crawford. “We meet once a week to discuss key vocabulary words, phrases and concepts.”

The study groups cover a host of terms for pain, rest and sleep, safety and mobility, pharmacology, skin, hair and nails, and loss and grief. The topics are chosen to coincide with the students’ tests.

“Many of these words are new to me,” says Heejin Yoon, a nursing student from Korea. “Coming to this class helps me prepare to go to clinic.”

Other students, such as Nancy Tordzro from Ghana and Joanna Carbajul from Peru, know the “book words,” but may need help with pronunciation and cultural differences.

“I like the idea of small group study, and that’s why I come,” says Carbajul.