On December 10th-11th, the "Online International Academic Conference on Nursing " was successfully held by the School of Nursing at Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology(HUST) and the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies(ALCNS), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. Fifteen experts from 12 top universities from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, and other countries participated in the conference and gave keynote speeches on global health, community nursing, cancer research, and other topics. Chen Jianguo, Vice President of HUST, Patricia Davidson, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Wollongong, Emily Ang, Head of the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Chen Jie, Director of the Office of International Exchange of HUST, and Mao Jing, Dean of the School of Nursing, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches, while Xu Hui, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Nursing, presided over the ceremony.
Mao Jing delivered an opening speech, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has sent shockwaves through the global public health system.Our world needs a broad and inclusive academic exchange platform. This online conference aims to train the new generation of nursing researchers and global health elites with an international outlook as well as discussing global health, sharing nursing innovations to tackle challenges and find a path forwarding for a better world for all.
Chen Jianguo congratulated the opening of the conference. He mentioned that nursing is an important part of global health care, and nurses are the guardians of people's lives and health in all countries. 2022 Online International Academic Conference on Nursing follows the trend of building a global community of health for all. At the same time, it firmly advances international cooperation in the field of nursing and echoes our aspiration for a healthy life. Promoting human health is still a long way to go. Achieving the goal of a healthy life for all requires the joint efforts of the international community.
Patricia Davidson, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Wollongong, and former Dean of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, expressed her appreciation for the conference invitation. She said that in the past few years, the whole humanity has experienced unprecedented changes and challenges, and the COVID-19 pandemic has once again made people deeply aware of the importance of cooperation and communication. In 2020, Johns Hopkins University was facing a shortage of epidemic prevention supplies. HUST promptly reached out and donated masks, protective clothing to help them through the hard time. It shows the magnitude and style of HUST in conducting international exchanges.
Chen Jie addressed the meeting, noting that the National University of Singapore has been one of the most valued partners in Asia of HUST, the partnership goes back to 2002 when the first agreement was signed. Over the past 2 decades, several agreements and joint programs have been put in place to facilitate student mobility and collaborative research, in such areas as nursing, management, material science and mechanical engineering. Specifically, the School of Nursing and the ALCNS at NUS maintained very close and pragmatic links in teaching and research. She believed that this conference will inject further impetus into the HUST - NUS partnership.
Emily Ang pointed out that like-minded clinicians, educators, and researchers gathered with a purpose driven objective to co-learn and collaborate, and to re-think the roles of nurses, re-imagine the new era of healthcare and re-invent ourselves to embrace what are ahead of us. We shall discover the new learnings to be had with the pandemic and the trends for the next decade that are evident in shaping the journey for all of us as healthcare professionals.
In the keynote presentation session, Professor Robert Atkins, Executive Vice Dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, made a report on“Disrupting Global Health: The Critical Role of Nurses”. He described the challenges and future strategic directions of global health and emphasizes the importance of nurses in planning and leading effective health care services.
Professor Bei Wu, Vice Dean for Research at the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, made a keynote speech themed “Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Getting COVID-19 Vaccine: Do Age, Gender and Education Matter?”. She explained the differences in vaccination rates for the COVID-19 among different ethnic groups in the United States by age, and the impact of gender and education on vaccination rates.
Professor Sun Hongyu, Secretary-general of the Teaching Steering Committee of Higher School Nursing Specialty of the Ministry of Education focused on "Nursing Professional Accreditation" and explained the development history of professional accreditation and the current achievements. She profoundly analyzed the existing problems of nursing professional construction and put forward suggestions for continuous reform and development.
Professor Wu Ying, Dean of School of Nursing at Capital Medical University, made a presentation on “Usability and Effectiveness of an Intelligent Cardiovascular Application for Risk Elimination (iCARE)”. She introduced the "Intelligent Cardiovascular Application for Risk Elimination" developed by her research team for patients with cardiovascular diseases, which can effectively help patients improve their health behaviors and medication compliance.
Professor Shang Shaomei, Dean of School of Nursing at Peking University, focused on “Healthy China 2030”, elaborated on the current situation of the development of China's postgraduate nursing degree education, the construction of the authorized nursing master's degree and quality assurance.
Professor An Libin, Dean of School of Nursing at Dalian University, shared the requirements of the concept "New Medical Science" that the State Council of China issued for the cultivation of nursing professionals with the topic "Cultivation of Nursing Professionals in the Context of New Medical Discipline”. She suggested that the nursing profession should actively adapt to the new environment and seek reforms.
Professor Patricia Davidson shared a presentation entitled "Preparing to Meet the Challenges of a Changing World". She pointed out the critical role nurses play in the global pandemic.
Assistant Professor Shawn Goh and Assistant Professor Catherine Dong from ALCNS presented on "Moving forward in Mental Health Nursing Pedagogy: A New Era Ahead" and "Heart-Brain Connection: Cognitive Impairment in Heart Failure" respectively.
Professor Jennifer Lingler from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing describe the growing role of biomarker testing in healthcare and outline the criteria for "high stakes" biomarker testing for serious illnesses. Professor Dianxu Ren from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing introduced the associations of APOE Ɛ2Ɛ4 with incident AD dementia and incident of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) among non-Latino white and Africa American respectively.
Professor Elizabeth Reifsnider from Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University, recommends early intervention through nutritional intake in children to prevent childhood obesity in her presentation.
Assistant Professor Streerut Thadakant from Ramathibodi School of Nursing, Mahidol University made a report on“Inter-professional Education During COVID-19 Pandemic: An Experience of 6 Disciplines at Mahidol University”. She shared the experience of online interdisciplinary education at Mahidol University.
Professor Cathrine Fowler from School of Nursing and Midwifery at University of Technology Sydney presented on “Importance of a Relationship-Based Approach when Working with Children & Families”.
Professor Anne Topping, Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery at University of Birmingham introduced the concept of PPIE and the four principles of implementing PPIE in research as well as the its importance in evidence-based medical research.
The conference cumulatively attracted more than 500 online participants from University of Queensland, National University of Singapore, Keio University, Osaka University, University of Hong Kong, Zhejiang University, Fudan University and other schools and institutes.
