SSC Chan

Abstract

The Department of Nursing Studies and the Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong have co-organised a Diploma programme in Child Health Nursing which is a one year part-time programme and is the first of its kind in Hong Kong. In the past, the only local training programmes available were paediatric and neonatal intensive care courses started by the Department of Paediatrics in 1982. There was no local programme to provide a comprehensive education and training in child health nursing. In-house hospital surveys, and expression by the nurse managers of the Paediatric Units of the Hospital Authority hospitals indicated a significant demand for a training programme for paediatric nurses. With increase in public expectation for more and better services towards child health, nurses have a much greater and critical role to play in the health care setting. The launching of this course was timely to prepare nurses to take on this challenge. The programme aims to provide comprehensive knowledge in preparing nurses to care for well and sick children as well as their families in a holistic manner. It emphasizes not only on the physical care of the child but also the psychosocial and cultural aspects of health and illness. Furthermore, it aims at developing critical thinking and independent judgement of nurses in their care delivery in child health nursing. The paper describes the structure and development of this pioneer programme, the process of conducting the programme, and the evaluation and outcome of the programme. The future directions of the education of child health nurses is also highlighted.

香港大學醫學院護理學系及兒科學系共同組織了一個具有畢業証書的兒童健康護理教育課程。這是香港首個一年兼讀教育課程。以往在兒童健康護理教育方面沒有一個本地課程提供全面的教育及訓練知識。自 1982 年以來，兒科系僅在兒科新生兒深切治療課程中講授部份兒童健康護理教育內容。醫院內部的調查及醫院管理局所屬醫院的護理管理人員均明確要求為兒科護士提供這樣一個訓練課程。隨著公眾對兒童健康護理質素的要求越來越高，護士在健康護理方面起的作用也越來越大，且要求越來越嚴格。兒童健康護理教育課程的開展及時地滿足了護士這方面的需求。課程的目的是讓護士和兒童的家庭成員一起應用整體護理模式照顧健康和患病兒童的全面知識，即不僅強調機體護理，而且強調心理護理及健康與疾病的科普教育。還有一個目的就是護士在護理過程中應用兒童健康護理理論發展自己嚴謹的思維和獨立判斷能力。文章闡述了這種新課程的結構、發展、管理程式、評估和效果。本文還強調了兒童健康教育未來的發展方向。