Developing a curriculum model of English teaching for master’s degree nursing education in a Chinese medicine university

OBJECTIVE: English for Specific Purpose (ESP) is the essence for developing scientific research capacity, which is a core component for postgraduate education. The objective of this article is to develop a curriculum model for ESP of Master’s level nursing education in a Chinese medicine university. METHOD: A three-year action research approach with continuous reflection and modification was used to develop an ESP curriculum based on the RICH model. A total of 78 students of Master’s Science in Nursing enrolled in 2016–2018 and three course teachers in Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine participated in the study. The ESP curriculum based on the RICH model involved research-based learning topics (R), integrated curriculum(I), cooperative learning methods(C), and humanistic outcome (H). RESULTS: The passing rate of the students was 100%, the excellent rate was 79.5%, with an average score of 83.16 ± 3.43. All students were satisfied with the ESP course design and acknowledged the process of “growing up under the pressure”. Four students have published five articles in the journals included by Science Citation Index (SCI). CONCLUSIONS: The study exerted a positive effect on the ESP teaching and learning and provided new ideas for the ESP curriculum integration of Master’s Science in Nursing in China.