| Reflections
on Hong Kong
Source: James Rodgers
The opportunity to study the health care system in Hong Kong
gives a new perspective on the U.S. system and the role of
nurses worldwide.
The Hong Kong health sector lies almost exclusively in the
government domain. The differences that arose from the mostly
private American system allowed the students to gain perspectives
on different ways to deliver health care services on a large
scale.
In a city with both Eastern and Western influences, the role
of nurses became the mediator between differing health care
systems, cultures, and generations. There were ample opportunities
to see nurses skillfully navigate a system that uses Chinese
medicine and biomedicine, that is influenced by Chinese and
British cultures, and that has undergone rapid modernization
in a few generations.
The course mixed classroom work and clinical site visits
in a way that allowed for didactic and experiential learning;
the value of studying abroad in a unique city like Hong Kong
is both immediately edifying and also will have an lasting
impact on the practice of the students.
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