Aiming for regional and international integration in professional work, 108 Military Central Hospital always focuses on training and improving English proficiency for medical staff, including nurses, who play an important role in improving the quality of patient care and are considered by the World Health Organization as one of the pillars of the health system.

Nurses at 108 Military Central Hospital participate in learning and improving English.

If the nursing team has good English skills, it will be easier for them to use and manage many types of foreign medicines and modern equipment, thereby helping to minimize unfortunate medical errors. English will help nurses have the opportunity to participate in studying and improving their skills at major medical centers around the world , access foreign documents, medical research projects, as well as many modern nursing techniques. From there, it will create momentum to become a senior nursing staff, even a "global nurse".

Many nurses and technicians of the 108 Military Central Hospital have achieved impressive results in foreign language competitions such as Lieutenant Bui Bich Lien - Technician, won the Encouragement Prize in the 2nd English Olympic Competition for Young Cadres in 2020; Ms. Le Cam Linh - Nurse of the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Department, won the Third Prize in the Final Team of the 3rd English Olympic Competition for Young Cadres in 2021... In addition, a number of nurses have participated in reporting at prestigious international conferences in the industry. Many doctors, nurses, and technicians of the hospital meet the foreign language proficiency standards to participate in Level 1 and Level 2 Field Hospitals at United Nations peacekeeping missions. Up to now, the 108 Military Central Hospital has contributed to the Vietnamese Level 2 Field Hospital teams in South Sudan doctors and nurses who not only have high professional qualifications but also good foreign language skills to complete their tasks.

However, to change the mindset, overcome the psychological barrier with the wrong prejudice that "Nurses are only the ones who carry out treatment orders, do not need to learn foreign languages", thereby helping the majority of the nursing team approach foreign language learning voluntarily and confidently communicate in English, is extremely difficult. Moreover, with the pressure and workload of taking care of busy, tired, and sometimes even exhausted patients, how can nurses optimize the time spent on learning and improving foreign languages?

Head nurse Ngo Hoai Thu encourages staff who have good achievements in learning English vocabulary of the week.

From those concerns, with the attention, support and enthusiastic assistance of the hospital leaders, department commanders, the nursing team of the Cardiovascular Resuscitation Department - A2D launched a movement to learn and use English in the daily working environment to improve foreign language proficiency. English activities associated with practical work and creative, unconstrained learning methods have aroused interest and a serious learning attitude for the staff in the department. Some people who do not know English have been "cleared of ignorance", while those who know but are still shy and hesitant in using it have gradually been "cleared of embarrassment" when speaking English and use English more confidently in professional work.

Doctor, Doctor, Lieutenant Colonel Do Van Chien - Deputy Head of A2D Department is one of the commanders who inspires the staff in the department to learn English. Doctor Do Van Chien is the first medical student to defend his doctoral thesis in English in Vietnam and has many years of studying and working abroad thanks to his good English ability. He is also one of the doctors who are also interpreters in the hospital's cooperation activities with foreign experts. Together with the department commanders, Doctor Do Van Chien always encourages and motivates the nursing team in the department to actively study and improve their English to become "Global Nurses" according to the hospital's development orientation of "Specialization, dedication, reaching international level". The department leaders hope that the movement will contribute to promoting the further goal of A2D Department to achieve international certifications in the care, management and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Vice Dean Do Van Chien (far left) gives gifts to encourage nurses who won the English game.

To promote the goal, the A2D Department has established a nursing English group for members to support each other in practicing and learning English every day, in work and life... Learning starts with the first simple and easy ways so that everyone can participate such as: Labeling English items in the department, playing vocabulary memorization games with rewards, practicing English conversation situations, moving towards patient handover between nurses in English, in order to create more environments for using English as well as specialized vocabulary...

The movement aims to build a specific plan and schedule, ensuring flexibility and meeting the specific needs of the job, while maintaining a regular schedule to ensure the quality of learning. The advantage is that the nursing staff of the department has a relatively young average age, so accessing and learning foreign languages is also easier.

After only a short time, the effectiveness of the English learning movement in the department has been clearly demonstrated, not only contributing to improving the quality and capacity of the staff in general and the nursing force in particular, but also creating a "useful playground" for the nursing team who are always full of enthusiasm and dedication, always eager to learn and improve their qualifications for the goal of serving and caring for patients better and better.

The leaders and commanders of the A2D Department hope that the English learning movement of the nursing staff in the department will spread throughout the unit through sharing experiences, inspiring and helping each other learn foreign languages, thereby contributing to improving the international integration capacity of nurses at the 108 Military Central Hospital in particular, contributing to creating the first steps and basic premise for Military Nursing in general to reach international standards.

Article and photos: MAI LIEN-PHAM THOA