A visit to Nanjing Health School
A visit to Nanjing Health School
In May 2016, Mary Crawford, the academic lead for the King’s Nanjing Health School Collaboration, visited Nanjing Health School with Dr Jacqueline Collin, Head of the Department of Child and Family Health.
The King’s Nanjing Health School Collaboration is five-year collaborative partnership between King’s College London’s Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery and the Nanjing Health School in China, initiated in December 2015.
It is recognised in both China and the UK that nurses can play a greater role in our health services. The Nanjing Health School Collaboration is designed to embed world-class education and help disseminate best practice in nursing. It has the potential to have a transformative impact on patient care in China.
Mary’s report on her Nanjing visit:
Jacqui Collin and I visited Nanjing for ten days in May to continue work on our project there. This was Jacqui’s first visit to China, whilst for me it was great to renew acquaintances again. Certainly, parts of the visit felt very familiar.
During our time in Nanjing, Jacqui and I visited three different hospitals for clinical observation. One of the hospitals we visited also had sheltered accommodation for the elderly (meaning people 60 years of age and over!) The sheltered accommodation comprised a double bedroom (for either one person or a couple), sitting room, kitchen and bathroom plus two reasonable size balconies. Meals are mainly provided centrally; there are large gardens with some exercise equipment, physiotherapy is also provided and all for £14 per person per day.
We also visited a dementia unit. The surroundings were spotless, although there were no family photos, as we might expect to see in the UK.
At the weekend, we spent a day with four students who are hoping to come here to undertake their BSc Nursing studies. Their English was good, they just needed to develop their confidence. We also observed a basic life support class being taught in English, and all the students could also answer questions in English.
The highlight of our visit was attending a graduation ceremony. This takes place at the end of the three and a half years theoretical programme, and before the students start clinical practice. It is normally timed for International Nurse’s Day but on this occasion, it was rescheduled to accommodate our visit. After declining the invitation to dress in nurse’s uniforms ourselves, we settled on white coats.
Formal photo with proud nursing students at the ceremony
The ceremony was a grand affair with a stage and huge cameras set up. It began with some Chinese dancing and singing and a re-enactment of Nightingale in the Crimea. As our names were announced in Mandarin and we negotiated our way to the platform where, with the chief nurses from some of the hospitals and the teaching staff from Nanjing Health School, we proceeded to congratulate the rows of students. As ever the ceremony finished with another photo call.
We were delighted to visit Nanjing, and see the progress being made at the Nanjing Health School. We look forward to hosting delegates from Nanjing at King’s in July, as well as welcoming the four Nanjing nursing students studying at King’s next year.
For more news and updates on the work of the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, please visit our website.