Heritage Snapshot: Part 229 Hospital Nurses

LOMA LINDA>> The 1,200-bed Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, China, has introduced whole-person care while integrating the Western practice of medicine and nursing care, a concept promoted by Loma Linda University Medical Center. Instead of treating the patient’s disease, the patient is seen and treated as a human being with a variety of needs. Nurses undergo intensive training relating to an assortment of patient needs. They are prepared to offer excellent, uniform and consistent service no matter what the diagnosis. A designated nurse is responsible for educating both patient and family in disease prevention and self-care at home. Thus, the nursing role is extended to the teaching of health awareness and health promotion. In comparison to other Chinese hospitals, patients notice that the Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital nurses are gentle, nice and polite in the way they address patients. In 2015, about 35 nursing experts from all over China organized by the National Ministry of Health came to SRRSH to discuss criteria to evaluate the good hospitals. One of the questions they asked was "how did SRRSH become like it is?" In 2015, almost 800 nurses from all over China studied at SRRSH for at least one month; some up to six months. Participants call it “The Shaw Model” and “the Shaw Phenomenon.” Since 2006, more than 6,000 nurses had participated in this program. The hospital also conducts five-day intensive courses on management, which really changes the way of learning. Instead of just copying what SRRSH nurses do, they learn the theory behind everything. The Shaw Model includes nurse’s involvement in nursing management. Nurses advancing their knowledge is more prominent than in other hospitals. They are recognized as “active learners,” engaged in quality improvement programs. They set up a management program style called “shared governance.” Nursing units have five and six-member unit councils, chaired by a clinical nurse, not a nurse manager. By doing so, they invite their nurses to be decision makers, to contribute to management, quality improvement and research activities. In so doing, staff nurses are involved with decision making and evidence-based practice by sitting on hospital committees and help make decisions. Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital nurses are described from a variety of sources, including visiting nurses from other hospitals, as bright, caring, confident, positive, collaborative and willing to share their experiences. Many believe nursing in China has been transformed by Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. Even in the early days, people came from all over China to learn what was happening, how Eastern and Western nursing was combined to create something totally different. Nursing directors and nurse managers were quick to publish the information throughout China. Word got out fast because nurses wanted to learn. For example, establishing a Nursing Education Department and requiring continuing nursing education every year was different. Nurses continue to innovate and take their place in what is now one of the leading teaching hospitals in China. They are meeting the consumer demands of a different kind for health care. As China rapidly develops, and as the population has access to health insurance, many believe they are becoming knowledgeable, expecting health care to be geared to them. Because the physicians and nurses at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital have been exposed to Western clientele in Loma Linda, they understand probably better than any other hospital in China, how to address the new health-care expectations by this segment of the Chinese population—better customer service and individualized care. In recent years, the Chinese government has provided healthcare insurance for the majority of its population. This development has resulted in more patients attempting to access services at the larger healthcare facilities, including Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. It is forcing the large hospitals to collaborate with smaller hospitals in rural areas to improve their quality of patient care. It has also resulted in more serious and complex cases being referred to Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. The larger hospitals, therefore, must keep up to date with advancing technology.