Letters | Hong Kong’s nursing leaders standing tall in the face of challenges
- The story of Hong Kong Academy of Nursing tells of a thoughtful group of citizens committed to promoting the best practices in advanced care
In a miraculous way, nursing leaders from 19 nursing bodies, two statutory bodies, major employers of nurses, and four universities in Hong Kong came together with a shared vision to form the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing Preparatory Committee in 2006.
The committee strived to institute an advanced nursing practice accreditation system. Nurses from various specialties worked collaboratively to form associations, conduct education and demonstrate competencies in nurse-led clinic practice.
Seeing that the time was ripe, we envisaged the formation of an academy as an important milestone to ensure quality advanced nursing practice through leadership and regulations; give accreditation to relevant training and examinations; protect the public by delivering safe and quality care; accelerate nursing commitment to community health education; extend nursing roles in the continuum of care – especially in health promotion and maintenance, disease prevention and management, and rehabilitative and community care.
In 2009, we were blessed with a Fulbright consultant, Dr Tanya Whitehead, who guided us to explore education, accreditation and regulation of advanced nursing practice with over 500 nurses, and to confirm our strategic steps.
These included enhancing communication with stakeholders for consensus in specialties clustering, establishing management structures for academy colleges, working out a business plan for the development of certification programmes and specialty competencies, starting fundraising and applying for charitable status, organising programme evaluation workshops, and seeking government support.
