Heritage Snapshot: Part 241

LOMA LINDA>> May 12 each year is International Nurses Day in honor of Florence Nightingale’s birthday. For the first few years, Nursing Service at Loma Linda University Medical Center also gave what ever its nurses received as a small gift to Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital nurses in Hangzhou, China. In 1998, Jan Zumwalt, RN, MS, MBA, the China Project’s nursing liaison, asked what they would like for International Nurses Day. Because Chinese nurses visiting Loma Linda had returned with apparel that was admired by their Chinese colleagues, they responded that they would like to have colorful scrub tops similar to those worn by nurses on the units at Loma Linda University Medical Center. The Chinese nurses chose the color and print, and provided sizes. In May, 1999, Loma Linda University Medical Center sent 300 new scrub jackets, one for each member of the nursing staff at the then 400-bed Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. Instead of white tops, they had new colorful print tops with colorful flowers made with a cotton/polyester material. The wearing of these scrubs was another unique factor that made Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital different from its Chinese counterparts. The flower has become their symbol. Changing their look helped to transform their self-image. The nurses then realized that they were part of an international nursing world. Word spread and other Chinese hospitals started adopting the practice for their nurses. A cherished picture of hospital nurses wearing their new scrubs hangs in the vice president’s office. 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, and 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. Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital is in a unique setting in China with a number of unique advantages. Over the first 20 years, its personnel have become elite caretakers. They continue to innovate and take their place in what is now, with more than 1,200 beds, 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, they are becoming very 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. Health care in China is growing rapidly. In recent years, the Chinese government has provided health-care insurance for the majority of its population. This development has resulted in more patients attempting to access services at the larger health-care 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.