Chinese medicine nursing needs to be strengthened

"Some management departments and hospitals have insufficient understanding of the unique advantages of TCM nursing and the importance of TCM nursing. There is no concept of 'TCM nursing'," said Ma Jianzhong, deputy director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine held a national conference on Chinese medicine nursing in Beijing on the 7th. It reviewed and summarized the progress and effectiveness of Chinese medical care in recent years, and analyzed in depth the difficulties and problems faced by this work.

According to reports, currently there are 205,000 registered nurses in Chinese medical institutions. As of the end of 2012, the number of nursing staff trained in TCM knowledge and skills across the country’s TCM hospital system accounted for 77.21% of the registered nurses. A total of 1,780 Chinese medicine hospitals nationwide have carried out quality care services, and 57% of the total number of wards where quality care services are carried out accounted for 57%. Some of these hospitals have already implemented high-quality care services in all wards.

Ma Jianzhong affirmed the achievements of the Chinese medicine nursing work, but at the same time, he also said that some hospitals still have the concept of "re-medical treatment, light nursing care." They think that nursing is only an auxiliary work, and the benefits are low. The shrinking of traditional Chinese medicine nursing services and the insufficiency of characteristic advantages are still one of the major problems faced by TCM nursing.

Ma Jianzhong believes that the current nursing task of taking advantage of the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine is one of the important tasks facing traditional Chinese medicine hospitals. It is necessary to seriously promote the implementation of Chinese medicine nursing programs. Departments at all levels must carefully sort, summarize, and refine the experience of traditional Chinese medicine and nursing care for common diseases, frequently-occurring diseases, and dominant diseases according to relevant requirements, and actively promote the implementation of Chinese medicine nursing programs. At the same time, we must give full play to the role of nursing staff in the comprehensive treatment of traditional Chinese medicine. We will also strengthen the construction of key specialists in Chinese medicine nursing.