Press Release - Caritas joins the 8th International Nurse Education Conference Nursing students’ first time to share their experiences of online learning in Hong Kong 2022-11-17

Caritas joins the 8th International Nurse Education Conference Nursing students’ first time to share their experiences of online learning in Hong Kong

Students from the Caritas Institute of Higher Education's ("CIHE") Bachelor of Nursing programme participated in an international conference and shared their experiences on online teaching with international scholars.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, tertiary education institutions have adopted online classrooms, which greatly affected many educators' method of teaching. CIHE was no exception to this change. This led 梁永彦 (Igor) and 李寶茹 (Stephanie), along with six other students under the instruction of 楊敏儀 (Monly), a senior lecturer of the School of Health Sciences to produce their graduation thesis entitled, "探索香港護理學生以網上形式學習護理技巧的經驗."

Igor and Stephanie attended the 8th International Nurse Education Conference held in Sitges (near Barcelona), Spain in October this year. During the 4-day conference, research results were exhibited on a poster and questions from attendees were answered. Stephanie indicated that scholars and researchers were present, who expressed their support and appreciation for the undergraduates' participation in the conference.

For their research, 12 Caritas Nursing students from varying years of study were interviewed to learn about their opinions towards online learning under the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicated that students experienced flexible learning, saving a lot of time commuting to and from campus, which gave them more time to revise, rest, self-learn or work part-time, after classes.

Igor however, highlights that when learning some practical nursing skills, such as cleaning wounds and nursing procedures on new born babies, watching videos as a method of online learning is not as good as actual practice and the knowledge is difficult to internalise. For students with low learning motivation, online learning further reduced their motivation and negatively affected their efficiency.

Stephanie mentioned that with the support of their supervisor, they submitted their thesis online to the 8th International Nursing Education Conference and had the opportunity to present their research as a poster. The two students also used the opportunity to learn about the research of other scholars. Stephanie was impressed by a study where some scholars used a video simulation to show patients in a hospital who received no medical care when pressing the nurse call button on their bed. Working as a nurse in a public hospital, this served as a profound reminder for Stephanie. She is reminded of the video when she is at work and resolves to pay more attention to the feelings of the patients and their family members.

Igor informed that despite initially not being interested in doing academic research, his participation in this conference opened him up to the possibility of doing research again. He intends to enrol in a nursing-related master's programme in the future.

The above programmes are now accepting applications for the academic year 2023/2024, with a quota of 520 places. This programme provides subsided places under the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors (SSSDP) under the Education Bureau. Students can enjoy a tuition fee waiver of HK$78,280 in 2023/2024.

Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) candidates must apply through the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS). For those applying for the Bachelor of Nursing (Honours) (Applied Degree Places), if they have their HKDSE results and are studying or graduated from a sub-degree, they can also apply through JUPAS. If you solely hold a sub-degree, you will need to apply directly to CIHE.