Students get a career briefing

HEIDI YUNG WING-SUM is superintendent of a private home for the aged and has more than eight years of experience in the welfare sector. She is a registered nurse and was recently chosen by the Social Welfare Department to speak to student nurses about joining the sector after graduation.

Ms Yung said the students showed interest in what the career could offer, but were hesitant about the administrative aspects of the job.

She said these were far less burdensome in private medical environments which had more dedicated administrators.

She said the most challenging aspect of the job in her experience was meeting the requirements of service users.

'Clients have high expectations and, for example, expect the services in an old-age home and a hospital to be equivalent, which is not always possible. We put in a great deal of effort to provide what's needed and, to a certain extent, the introduction of more enrolled nurses to the welfare sector will help to enhance the standard of care,' Ms Yung said.

Her colleague, Suet Ling-kam, who has been in the sector for four years - two as a personal-care worker and two as a health worker - agreed that people had high expectations.