Nursing as a Global Career: Meeting the Challenges of the Profession from a Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) Perspective

In today's global environment, the nursing profession is regarded as a noble, challenging and competitive profession. Malaysian trained nurses are highly in demand due to their training and on-going efforts are made to ensure that the standards are well-maintained. This paper describes a part of a larger study. It reports the findings of a study pertaining to the needs of English language communication skills for nurses in a private hospital in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. The study focused on the needs of English language communication skills at the workplace. These skills were written and spoken English communication, reading, listening, and interpersonal communication. By identifying these communicative competency needs, the study has given insights into helping the nurses to increase their work performance, meet their work demands and help the employability of the nurses globally.