CUHK
News Centre

Professor Chair Sek-ying from the Nethersole School of Nursing of The Chinese University of Hong Kong has been awarded this year’s First Prize of Cardiac Nursing Award in “Excellence or Innovation in Acute or Critical Care” and Third Prize in “Excellence or Innovation in Cardiac Intervention or Surgery”. These inaugural awards, organised by the British Journal of Cardiac Nursing, the academic journal dedicated to Cardiac Nursing, in association with the British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care, play an important role in setting standards, encouraging excellence and promoting enthusiasm for the challenging work of nurses working in cardiac care in the UK and throughout the world.

Professor Chair was honoured for her contributions to evidence-based research with the purpose of improving patient care and wellbeing. Her research proved that nurses can be of an independent and crucial role in promoting the physical comfort of the patients and thus, in turn, speeding up recovery and enhancing therapy.

“A nurse can be of a more pro-active and positive role in promoting patient care. They take care of the patients from a wholistic approach. One of my studies looked into the back pain of patients after coronary angiography. Conventionally, post surgery care has been mainly guided by physician discretion rather than based on empirical knowledge. And the current practice protocol restricts patients for up to 24 hour bed rest. My research proved that nursing intervention, in this case helping the patients to change positions in bed, will help decrease patients’ discomfort due to prolong bed rest without causing any increase in complications as originally believed,” said Professor Chair. She hopes that with more quality and clinical research, nursing specialists can contribute more to promoting patients’ greatest wellbeing.

Professor Chair joined the Chinese University in 2001 and is currently assistant professor of the Nethersole School of Nursing. Professor Chair is a registered nurse. Specialising in cardiac nursing, she obtained her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, USA in 2004.