CUHK
News Centre

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has appointed Prof. Lee Tze-fan, Diana, Professor of Nursing, as director of the Nethersole School of Nursing with effect from 1 January 2008.

Prof. Lee Tze-fan, Diana received her MSc (Nursing and Education) from the University of Edinburgh in 1993 and her PhD from CUHK in 2000. She joined CUHK in 1994 and has been the assistant dean of the Faculty of Medicine since 2004. Prof. Lee is also a visiting professor of the University of London and a consulting professor of the Fudan University.

The research interests of Prof. Lee are in the areas of gerontology and community care for older people. She has published more than two hundred papers in important scholarly journals and conference proceedings. Her research has a profound impact on the formulation of health care policy and health care service development in Hong Kong. Last year, Prof. Lee was awarded the Excellent Research Award at the “Health Research Symposium 2007–Building Bridges Between Research, Practice and Policy” organized by the Food and Health Bureau. Her project, “A care protocol to reduce hospital readmissions of elderly residential care home patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)”, was selected by the assessment panel on its cumulative outcome and impact on health care policy and practice.

In addition, Prof. Lee has successfully obtained a HK$74 million funding from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust in 2007 for the development of the “CADENZA Training Programme”. Commencing on 28 March, this 5-year interdisciplinary programme is designed to provide general and professional education in gerontology for the general public, informal caregivers of older people and professional social and health care workers who are working with the aging population.

The Nethersole School of Nursing is committed to excel in teaching and research and in the promotion of the highest standards of nursing practice. Through serving the community with quality education, caring practice and the advancement of nursing sciences, the School maintains its leading position in academic and clinical nursing development.

Prof. Lee remarks, “I am very pleased to be appointed as the director of the Nethersole School of Nursing. The School shall continue to revitalize and thrive, going from strength to strength, and to become a centre of excellence in academic nursing, both locally and internationally. We will work proactively with strategic partners and stakeholders for innovative initiatives to bring the School to new heights of excellence in teaching, research, practice and to serve the community with compassion.”

To ease the nursing manpower shortage in Hong Kong, the School will increase the number of intake into its Bachelor of Nursing (BN) programme from the existing 180 students per year to over 200 by 2009. The JUPAS statistics have indicated that our students have maintained the highest entry qualifications in Nursing since the programme first started in 1995. The University has also submitted a proposal to the University Grants Committee (UGC) for funding of an innovative programme to prepare more qualified nurses for Hong Kong.

The School is mindful of producing nurses who are able to anticipate and respond to the ever-changing health and health care challenges of Hong Kong and beyond. It is working towards extending students’ learning in a globally oriented environment. The new “3+3+4” educational reform offers an excellent opportunity for the School to prepare graduate nurses who have depth in nursing and breadth in general knowledge, bilingual proficiency and cross-cultural sensitivity. This will allow nursing to continuously adapt to the changing health-care demands of the 21st century.

To further enhance the professionalization of nursing in Hong Kong and equip nurses with advanced nursing competence, the School will further develop its existing post-graduate programmes such as the Master of Nursing Programme. This will prepare nurses for advanced practice roles such as nursing consultants which the Hospital Authority is prepared to pilot towards the middle of 2008. The School will also be actively engaged in the preparation of the Academy of Nursing in Hong Kong which is to regulate the practice and promote the professional development of advanced practicing nurses in Hong Kong.

The School is proud of its excellence in research to inform and develop nursing knowledge and practice. It has focused its research in major areas that reflect the health needs of the population in Hong Kong. These include “cardiovascular disease prevention and management”, “genrontology and long term care”, “cancer prevention and management” and “mental health”. A particular focus of its work is to address cultural issues specific to the Chinese populations. The scholarly output of the School is highly recognized by the local, national and international nursing community. For example, in 2007, one of its studies was honored by the British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care with two awards: “Excellence or Innovation in Acute or Critical Care” and “Excellence or Innovation in Cardiac Intervention or Surgery”.

The School continues to make contributions to evidence-based research with the purpose of improving patient care and well-being. The first nursing practice research unit in Hong Kong–the “Nethersole Nursing Practice Research Unit”, was set up to design and test innovations in nursing practice that can then be utilized in health care settings. The School also houses the “Hong Kong Centre for Evidence-Based Nursing” which works closely with the Joanna Briggs Institute in Australia to conduct systematic reviews and implement evidence-based practice in the hospitals.

In addition to its efforts to improve care in the hospitals, the School also focuses its efforts to enhance awareness of and promote healthy lifestyles among the general public. A “Nethersole Wellness Centre” has therefore been established in the Shatin district to provide residents of the community with the opportunity of a detailed health assessment. Targeted health education will then be offered to maximize their health and adoption of a healthy lifestyle. This work also enables the School to develop a database of the health needs of our population.