10th Anniversary Hong Kong College of Urological Nursing

EAUN representative visits urological care units in Hong Kong hospitals

The Hong Kong College of Urological Nursing has organised its 10th annual scientific meeting in Hong Kong on 6 and 7 July 2019. The programme of this scientific meeting was very varied and included lectures about urological cancers as well as functional urology and was attended by nurses from Hong Kong and Macau. Keynote speaker Ms. Corinne Tillier, who represented the EAUN, was proud to be invited and gave several lectures that were very well received.

The Hong Kong College of Urological Nursing is a very active association for nurses working in urology or who have an interest in urology. Part of its mission (it is impossible to include all its objectives) is to promote the interest in and better understanding of urology and urology nursing in Hong Kong and to represent and promote the interests of nurses – particularly of those practising in urology nursing. Furthermore, the College encourages/promotes the education of nurses and improves the standard of urological nursing care in Hong Kong. The College’s council includes 8 councillors with different tasks. The president is Mr. Chink Lok San. All nursing staff in all grades and ranks (public sector or private sector, hospital setting or nursing home) who are interested in urological nursing can become a member of the Hong Kong College of Urological Nursing.

Registered nurses in Hong Kong have a high level of education/training which is comparable to the UK education system. Since 2010, all registered/enrolled nurses can declare to the Nursing Council that they have obtained the Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) points over the past 3 years as prescribed (a minimum of 45 CNE points for a registered nurse and a minimum of 30 CNE points for an enrolled nurse).

Registered nurses possessing a valid Practising Nurse certificate by the Nursing Council of Hong Kong can follow a specialisation course in urology. To specialise nurses must have more than 24 months post-registration experience.

As a guest of the Hong Kong College of Urological Nursing, Ms. Corinne Tillier (EAUN Board Member from Amsterdam (NL)) was invited to visit several colleagues in different hospitals.

Prince of Wales Hospital
Ms. Crystal Li Suk Yin, Urology Nurse Consultant, works in a public hospital, the Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH). The hospital was officially opened in 1984. The PWH urology unit, part of the department of surgery, is one of  the main academic and clinical urology centres in Hong Kong. Under the division of urology, the Lithotripsy & Uro-investigation Centre (LUC) offers services in uro-oncology, andrology, reconstructive surgery, renal transplantation, stone management etc. Services in the LUC include ESWL, transperineal prostate biopsy, flexible cystoscopy, urodynamic investigation and a nurse clinic. The unit has prostate and bladder cancer protocols to ensure the cancer management standard is met. Also, a cancer patient support group was set up to facilitate psychosocial support among patients and caregivers and to improve their understanding of the disease and its self-care management.

Urology ward
The urology ward is a very busy, mixed-gender ward. Nurses and urologists are working together to provide the best care to patients. A digital patient file system will become available very soon. Until then, nurses must read written orders from the urologist and file nursing reports in a paper file.

All urology beds in the ward are arranged in a cubic shape consisting of several boxes (6 patients in each box). This means: boxes for male patients on one side and boxes for female patients on the other side. The doctors’ and nurses’ station is located in the centre of the ward. This facilitates caring for the patients conveniently and supervising the entire ward from the best point of view. Nurses are working in 3 shifts, 07.00 am until 2.00 pm, 2.00 pm until 9.00 pm and the night shift from 09.00 pm to 07.00 am.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Mr. To Hoi Chu, Nurse Consultant Urology in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, explains that in this hospital all patients with bladder cancer are following the ERAS pre-rehabilitation programme before cystectomy. He collects all data for research purposes.

Private clinics
Dr. Bill Wong Tak Hing and Nurse Consultant Urology Ms. Cherry Chau provide care to patients with urological diseases in Pedder Clinic, one of Hong Kong’s private clinics. The advantage of a private clinic is that patients do not have to wait for a consultation with the urologist. The role of the nurse is mostly counselling and planning of patients for e.g. TRUS prostate biopsies. The disadvantage is that patients have to pay for access to this private practice.

Nursing research
Every year the EAUN receives poster abstracts from Hong Kong and the submissions are often successful. Research is part of the work of Hong Kong-based urological nurses and they are happy to share the results of this research with nurses from all over the world. The Hong Kong College of Urological Nursing wants to stimulate nursing research, proposes education for nurses and is aware of the importance of knowledge in urology nursing practice. A high level of education/knowledge allows nurses working in urology to deliver a high level of patient care.

The Hong Kong College of Urological Nursing’s goals are similar to the goals and objectives of the EAUN and we hope this meeting in Hong Kong is the beginning of a long and successful collaboration between both associations!

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Crystal Li Suk Yin, Nurse Consultant Urology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong (HK), lsy160@ha.org.hk

Co-Authors:

  • Cherry Chau, Nurse Consultant Urology at the Pedder Clinic (HK);
  • Hoi-chu To, Nurse Consultant Urology in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (HK);
  • Corinne Tillier, Nurse Practitioner Urology, Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (NL)