Training of nurses in Hong Kong must change with times, school head says

Reforms should incorporate STEM curriculum and enhanced community care training, says PolyU’s Professor Janelle Yorke

Reading Time:3 minutes

Professor Janelle Yorke is an expert in developing electronic patient-reported outcome measures,. Photo: May Tse

Published: 10:00am, 10 Feb 2025Updated: 4:09pm, 10 Feb 2025

Nursing education in Hong Kong can be reformed by incorporating a STEM curriculum and enhancing community care training, preparing students with essential skills to address the challenges of an ageing population, the head of a university school has said.

Professor Janelle Yorke, head of the nursing school at Polytechnic University (PolyU), said one of the challenges was to ensure the curriculum “stays modern and keeps evolving” according to changes in society. STEM is an approach to learning and development that integrates science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“[Because of] the changing landscape of the way we live and healthcare, people are living longer, so there’s an ageing population in Hong Kong. So how do we educate and train our nurses to deliver high-quality care for older people?” she said.

One way in which PolyU’s nursing school is addressing the challenge is by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in its curriculum.

The chair professor of nursing said while encouraging students to incorporate STEM into their work, she would teach them to think from the perspective of patient care.

“What you need to think of as a nurse is: what is the unique contribution of nursing science and practice to that digital technology, to the science, to the mathematics? And to me, it was about always putting the patient at the centre,” she said.