The English language proficiency of internationally trained nurses is an important issue for patient safety but there are global concerns about the appropriateness of the testing process, writes Tiffany Lynch.

The Australian healthcare sector is expected to experience an unprecedented nursing crisis. The recent 2012 federal budget was a disappointment with no policy or funding to address the most recent projected shortfall, of approximately 64,500 registered nurses by 2025, from Health Workforce Australia. The supply of registered nurses exceeds demand early in the projection period until approximately 2014, after which demand exceeds supply. One of the reasons that the supply of registered nurses appears to exceed the demand is the assumption that graduate nurses will remain in the profession, but...