Care centres need nurses with clinical and management experience as populace ages
ONE INEVITABLE consequence of the fact that people in Hong Kong are living longer is that more services are needed to take care of the elderly. This means that community service centres and homes for the elderly must not only be equipped to help more people, but must also have enough qualified nurses.
Dolly Leung Man-ying, senior home manager of the Haven of Hope Woo Ping Care & Attention Home, said nurses with clinical and management skills were in great demand. She explained that Hong Kong's population was ageing and therefore more senior citizens needed additional nursing care in community homes.
'In Hong Kong, social workers have generally been employed in supervisory positions in community-based elderly home services. But now, as more elderly people suffer from dementia and other long-term diseases, trained nursing officers are needed to monitor their condition and provide counselling,' she said.
To help meet this need, the Woo Ping Care & Attention Home is expanding to take care of 240 people, up from the current 130, while a new care centre - Sister Annie Skau Nursing Home - has just opened. About 20 extra registered nurses will be hired to meet short-term needs.
The Haven of Hope Christian Service will also open a new hospice next year, adding to the demand for registered nurses. New recruits will supervise or help run a floor, or unit, at one of the centres. They will also provide daily nursing care, counsel residents and handle administrative duties.
