Change of focus as nursing eyes complete care

Wu Ruofan and Yang Meiping

Nursing in the future will focus more on the physical and psychological health needs of patients to provide them with comprehensive care, the Shanghai Health Commission said yesterday, International Nurses Day.

Zheng Jin, a spokesman for the commission, said the concept of nursing services had changed from “disease-centered” to “patient-centered.”

Shanghai currently has more than 97,000 nurses, almost half of the city’s medical workers. Almost 60 percent are under 35 years old.

Since 2005, 15,000 nurses have received training in specific areas, including intensive care, wounds and blood purification.

Special nursing outpatient services such as breast disease and diabetes care are available in many key hospitals.

In the next step, more nursing services, including home care, will be available at every community health center.

For example, the Meixiaohu home care service at the Changning community health center is able to treat 2,000 patients a year.

The city’s nursing team has also made steady academic achievements, with three medical schools doing research in evaluation of nursing equipment, and around 50 nurses joining international nursing organizations.

The commission thanked nurses, not only in celebration of the 109th International Nurses Day, but for their work during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Chen Zhen, a senior nurse from Huadong Hospital, was among the first to head to Wuhan, the hardest-hit city in Hubei Province, on Chinese New Year’s Eve. She was responsible for two wards at Jinyintan Hospital.

“The experience in Wuhan has taught me more than I’d already learned as a nurse. Apart from professional skills, a kind heart willing to help others is very important. The public sent a lot of warmth to us this year and I’m proud to be a nurse,” she said.

Chen Li was a surgical nurse at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, taking care of critical cases during the pandemic.

“Some patients weighed two or three times the nurses, which was really a challenge for us to turn and clean their bodies. It felt like fighting a war after we finished. People might judge my generation as self-centered but we are growing up to shoulder more responsibility,” she said.

Fight COVID-19

“The pandemic taught us again to respect life and be kind to others,” said Zheng Wei, head nurse at the respiratory department of Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and leader of the first nursing team from Shanghai to Hubei.

Zheng and other alumni, who helped fight COVID-19 in Hubei and graduated from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said in an online video for students of the university’s school of nursing that they should carry on the Florence Nightingale spirit and be outstanding nurses in the future.

“Cherish your time at university to lay a solid foundation for your future work. You are the hope and future of our nation,” Huang Feng, head nurse of the critical care units at Shuguang Hospital affiliated to the university, said in the video.

Zhang Cuidi, dean of the school, led 224 students in uniforms to swear by the Nightingale Pledge to fulfill Nightingale’s spirit and take up responsibilities as nurses during the online event.