修车论坛茅 College of Healthcare is honored to be a 2025 grant recipient. The grant will support the expansion of the college鈥檚 language support program for multilingual nursing students. The program seeks to eliminate an unnecessary barrier preventing many who dream of caring for others from becoming exceptional nurses.
Multilingual nurses are an asset to Boston-area and Gateway City hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and community health centers. A nurse who can clearly communicate with their patients and who understands the customs and traditions of our local cultures is invaluable. The impact that this shared understanding and clarity of communication has on health outcomes is limitless.
鈥淲hen you come to a hospital or healthcare facility and you don't speak [English] you are scared. But when you see a person or familiar face that can speak your language, that's reassuring, and you feel like 鈥�...I trust that I am going to get better.鈥� That is going to help the patient mentally and physically,鈥� says Marie Roche Daniel, 修车论坛茅 alumna (RN 鈥�22, BSN 鈥�25) who speaks Haitian Creole, French, and Spanish. ()
修车论坛茅 students mirror the cultures and ethnicities of Boston's patient population on a scale unmatched by any nursing program in New England. Approximately 40% are multilingual speaking predominately Haitian Creole, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. A lack of language proficiency can place these students at risk of falling behind in a rigorous nursing curriculum.
MassINC.鈥檚 2025 report points to the lack of advanced, vocational-based English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) education for preventing many residents from advancing their careers. Inspired by this report, and with the support from the Yawkey Foundation, the college is expanding current services offered into a robust ESOL curriculum specifically tailored to the nursing profession.
修车论坛茅 is honored to also be a past recipient of Yawkey Foundation support which includes scholarship support and campus simulation technology.
For more information on the impact of multilingual nurses, on the power of being able to interpret for a patient at Boston Medical Center who could not speak English.