Keywords
healthcare communication
English for Specific Purposes
outcome-based education
professional language skills
How to Cite
Abstract
This study investigates the alignment of Outcome-Based English for Nursing curriculum with the language needs of healthcare settings in Indonesia. Despite national curriculum reforms and the increasing global demand for nursing professionals, there remains a gap in research examining whether current curricula adequately prepare students for English mediated clinical communication. This qualitative case study employed document analysis and semi-structured interviews with seven nursing alumni and three nurse managers. Guided by Tyler’s (1949) curriculum rationale and Brown’s (2016) needs analysis framework, the study explored curriculum structure, stakeholder expectations, and actual communicative needs in healthcare sector. Results revealed that while the curriculum supported foundational communication skills and aligned with national nursing competencies, it needed improvement in terms of materials authenticity, international relevance, and performance-based assessment. Key gaps included insufficient integration of discipline-specific vocabulary, limited instructional time, underutilisation of task-based learning, and minimal stakeholder involvement in course design. Speaking emerged as the most essential skill, yet participants emphasised inadequate practice and the need for structured, context-rich language support. The findings underscore the need for curriculum reform that embeds authentic clinical tasks, stakeholder-driven content, and performance-based assessment. This study offers practical recommendations for enhancing English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in nursing education, particularly in multilingual and export-oriented healthcare contexts.
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