Abstract
BACKGROUND: English has served as the predominant language for academic communication on a worldwide scale. There is a growing demand for nursing professionals that possess international competency. However, the experience of utilizing English as a medium of instruction (EMI) for teaching nursing academic courses in mainland China is inadequate. PURPOSE: In depth explore the Chinese nursing students' learning experience under EMI teaching mode. METHODS: Thirty-two undergraduate students from Nursing EMI program were selected using convenience sampling to participate in Focus Group Discussion (FGD). RESULTS: Three major themes have been extracted: advantages of English Medium Instruction, challenges encountered during the process of EMI learning, students' suggestions on Nursing EMI program. These three major themes encompass fifteen sub-themes. CONCLUSION: The Nursing EMI program has improved students' comprehensive professionalism and international competency, however, coping with using English as the medium of instruction in China's Nursing education remains in exploratory stage, and requires further educational reform.