Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1992

A New Depar tment to Meet the Educat ion Needs of Hong Kong Nurses • Prof. Ken Sellick 'This is... a “conversion “ programme that ‘ will enable registered nurses in Hong Kong to upgrade their basic nursing qualification to the level of a university degree …， ‘The demand for the programme is clearly evident, with over 1,000 nurses in 1991 and 730 this year competing for the 50 full-time and 40 part-time places offered annually.‘ The First Department of Nursing in a Local University There has long been a recognized need to upgrade the level of nursing education in Hong Kong. With the support of the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee and the China Medical Board of New York, a new department of nursing was set up within the Faculty of Medicine on 1st August 1991 and became the first nursing department to be established within a university in Hong Kong. As such it is now well placed to offer high quality education programmes in nursing to Hong Kong nurses, at both the post- registration and postgraduate levels. The Department of Nursing is currently housed in the Lady Shaw Building on the central campus but will later move to the Tsang Shiu Tim Building at United College. Its main support facility, the Nursing Arts Laboratory, is located on the fifth floor of the Basic Medical Sciences Building, and comprises a simulated hospital ward well equipped for teaching advanced counselling, nursing and health assessment skills, using video process-recall techniques. Bachelor of Nursing Programme Very Much in Demand The mainstay programme of the department is the Bachelor of Nursing Programme. This programme which began in September 1991 is a 'conversion' programme that will enable registered nurses in Hong Kong to upgrade their basic nursing qualification to the level of a university degree, thus providing them with opportunities for postgraduate and higher degree studies in the discipline of nursing. The Bachelor of Nursing is offered as a two-year full-time or four-year part-time programme of study and has as its major aims to broaden and deepen the nurse's knowledge of nursing and the related biological and behavioural sciences, foster a problem-solving approach to the nursing practice, develop critical appraisal and research skills, and promote leadership in the delivery of quality nursing care. In particular the programme prepares graduates to function effectively as professional nurses in meeting the health needs of patients in an increasingly complex health care system. The demand for the programme is clearly evident, with Department of Nursing 13