Letters | How Buddhist ethics can help Hong Kong’s nursing profession

In an era where technological advancements are revolutionising healthcare, the future of nursing demands an integration of advanced technical healthcare skills and profound ethical understanding of patient rights. Hong Kong Metropolitan University’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences has adopted an innovative approach that integrates Buddhist ethics into the Ethics and Legal Issues, Professional Nursing Practice, module. This curriculum fosters a humanistic care model that resonates with both students and patients.

Nurses today are increasingly required to navigate complex patient interactions, making decisions that are not only medically sound but also ethically grounded. This necessitates a curriculum that prepares nurses to handle diverse clinical scenarios with empathy and respect for patient values.

Buddhist medical literature, with its moral guidelines for healthcare practitioners, parallels medical ethics principles like nonmaleficence, justice and autonomy. Emphasising compassion, mindfulness and interconnectedness, Buddhist ethics offers a valuable framework for nurturing essential nursing skills.

By incorporating principles such as non-harm (ahimsa), loving kindness (metta) and sympathetic joy (mudita), nursing students can develop a deeper appreciation for the human experience. This fosters a care environment that values the dignity and worth of every individual.

The practical application of Buddhist ethics in nursing involves cultivating a mindful presence whereby nurses are fully attentive to the needs and concerns of their patients and family caregivers. This mindful approach not only enhances patient care but also supports the well-being of nurses, helping them manage stress and prevent burnout. Techniques such as meditation and reflective practice can be integrated into nursing education, providing students with tools to maintain their own emotional health while delivering compassionate care in clinical settings.