Degree opens doors to diversity
Asia's first graduate-entry master's in nursing will not only help hospitals meet the rising demand for quality health care, it also opens the door to the profession for mature students.
The Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital joined forces in 2008 to roll out a master's degree in nursing with the aim of raising care standards and meeting future health-sector needs.
Dr Susan Chow, the postgraduate nursing programme leader at PolyU, says the course opens new opportunities for degree holders of any discipline who want a nursing career. She says applicants have ranged from fresh graduates to mature students with non-medical backgrounds, and from other industries such as hotel management, business management and public relations.
'Hong Kong has a shortage of nurses. We hope to equip open and mature professionals who already have degrees - and/or worldly experience - with a quality master's degree,' Chow says, adding that people from diverse backgrounds can bring new perspectives or thinking to the profession. 'Within three years, students can attain a master's degree as well as a registered nurse qualification. This saves a lot of time because a bachelor's degree in nursing normally takes four years.'
The tailor-made programme follows academic models practised in the United States and combines basic registered nurse training and higher education, so graduates become capable nursing leaders. It embraces all of the theoretical components required for registration with the Nursing Council of Hong Kong, which include subjects on biology, social sciences, professional studies and humanities, and covers child and adult care, maternal care, mental health nursing, community nursing, gerontological nursing and nursing research.
Chow says the collaborative programme focuses on evidence-based practice through which nurses make clinical decisions using the best available research evidence. Students share knowledge and experience in classes, participate in research and present a clinical study project.