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Biography of characters

Ling Xiuzhen, born in December 1923 in Anxin, Hebei Province, is a famous nursing expert. In December, 1941, he graduated from the Senior Nurse School of Boji Hospital in Shangdong County because of the Pacific War. In January, 1948, he graduated from the Senior Nurse School of Renshu Hospital in Taigu, Shanxi Province, and worked in the Seventh Epidemic Prevention Brigade of Taiyuan City, Beijing Dongsi Qianliang Hutong Maternal and Infant Health Center, and Beijing Fuyou Street Nankou Children’s Hospital. Entered in December 1948, and successively rotated in outpatient department, internal medicine ward, foreign guest ward and obstetrics and gynecology ward. From 1952 to 1953, he joined the voluntary operation team to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, and successively served as the head nurse and secretary of the operation team in the supply room. He was awarded the third-class merit for his outstanding performance. From 1953 to 1990, he served as head nurse in neurology ward and outpatient department. He was a member of the Nursing Committee of the First Academic Committee of China Academy of Medical Sciences.

Ling Xiuzhen loves nursing and always practices the concept of serving patients wholeheartedly in her work. She has been rated as an advanced worker and excellent nurse in the hospital for many times. Under her leadership, the neurology ward has been rated as an advanced ward for many years. In 1982, he was awarded the title of Beijing Model Worker in 1981 by the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, the title of National March 8th Red Flag Bearer by the All-China Women’s Federation in 1983, the title of Excellent Communist party member by Peking Union Medical College Hospital in 1991, and the title of directly under the authority Excellent Communist party member by the National Health and Wellness Commission in 2021.

Wonderful moment

Excerpts from interviews

Rough study will eventually lead to angels in white’s dream

Lin Dong (hereinafter referred to as "Dong"):Where are you from? What was life like as a child?

Ling Xiuzhen (hereinafter referred to as "Ling"): I was born in a poor peasant family in Zengjiazhuang, Anxin County, Hebei Province on November 15th, 1923. Farming is the main task at home, because near Baiyangdian, my father sometimes cooks fish and my mother spins and weaves, thus making a living. When I was a child, I went to primary school in the village for a few days, but later I stopped going because of difficulties at home.

When I was about 11 years old, an American missionary of Baoding Presbyterian Church was also the head nurse of Silo Hospital in Xiguan Presbyterian Church in Baoding. Her name was Kai Aide. She came to our village with several people to preach and treat the villagers. At that time, I had a serious trachoma, and they treated me patiently, and it didn’t take long for me to be cured. They also taught me to read and sing. Kai Aide saw that I was smart, and he heard that my aunt was studying at Xiguan Presbyterian Church School in Baoding, so he discussed with my family and wanted to take me to Baoding to study with my aunt, which was funded by the church. Considering that there are many children at home and life is difficult, my parents agreed.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen in primary school

In 1935, I left home and went to Baoding to go to my aunt. I started primary school in Baoding Xiguan Gospel Girls’ School and graduated from high school in September 1938. After graduation, there was no funding from the church. A primary school teacher introduced me to Tongxian Fuyu Girls’ Middle School [1] for junior high school. This is a work-study school founded by the Christian Congregation, which takes care of the poor, and my conditions are just right.

Dong:How did you continue your studies without church support? Did you ask your family for help?

Ling: Shortly after I left home, the Japanese army invaded Baoding [2]. Anxin County was an anti-Japanese guerrilla zone. Under the war, I was cut off from my family. It was not until Beiping was peacefully liberated in 1949 that I got in touch with my family again.

I haven’t seen Kai Aide since I left Baoding to attend junior high school in Tongxian County. Later, I heard that she has returned to the United States. Fuyu Girls’ Middle School is also a missionary school. After studying, students make cross-flowers by hand and process them into tablecloths and pillow towels. The principal sells the finished products, and the money sold is used to help us poor students. I didn’t have a place to go during the summer vacation, so I stayed at school to continue to do handicrafts and earn some money. My life depended on this until I graduated from middle school in 1941.

▲ In June, 1941, Class 1941 of Fuyu Girls’ Middle School sent a group photo of Baoding’s graduating fellow villagers, and Ling Xiuzhen was the third from the left in the front row.

Dong:Is it your ideal to be a nurse?

Ling: I have long liked nurses. When I was a child, I got trachoma, and the nurse in the mission hospital cured me for free. I am particularly grateful. It would be great to cure the disease in the countryside without spending money. I also want to have the ability to help people treat diseases. When I was in primary school, there was a missionary hospital next to the school. I often saw nurses dressed in white clothes, like angels, and I thought they were beautiful and envied their lives. Since then, I have liked the profession of nurses.

When I graduated from junior high school, the Senior Nurse School of Boji Hospital in Dexian County, Shandong Province [3] came to recruit students. Considering that I have no financial resources and can’t get in touch with my family, I can study as a nurse for the time being without spending money. I also like this profession, so I signed up with my good friend Zhang Shumin [4], and her situation is similar to mine. This nursing school is also a missionary school. The principal is a foreigner, and tuition and meals are free. In order to save money for the trip to Shandong, after graduating from junior high school, Zhang Shumin and I continued to do manual work of picking flowers at school for two months.

In September 1941, we arrived in Shandong. However, I only attended classes for more than two months. In December, the Pacific War broke out. Because the hospitals and nursing schools were in the charge of Americans, Japanese soldiers came soon and announced the closure of hospitals and the dissolution of nursing schools.

Dong:Where did you go after the school was dissolved?

Ling: The nursing school with food and shelter was dissolved, and Zhang Shumin and I had no place to live. We had a primary school teacher named Liu Lanfang, who was working in Tianjin Enguang Hospital, so we went to Tianjin to find a teacher. A friend of the teacher is an old lady, and her lover works as a personnel worker in Beiyang Spinning Factory, Haihe Road, Tianjin, so she introduced us to the factory as female workers.

In the spinning mill, we work 12 hours a day, starting at six in the morning and leaving at six in the evening. Every day, we often don’t see the sun at the end of the day. The factory also stipulates that workers can’t go through the main entrance after work, but only through the small door at the back. They have to be searched from head to toe when leaving the factory, which is greatly insulted. Therefore, Zhang Shumin and I rarely leave the factory, only occasionally go out to see the teacher.

We have worked in Beiyang spinning mill for 20 months, and the monthly salary is only enough to buy a bag of flour. At that time, I mainly wanted to find a place to live. I could earn some money to support myself by working, and I could also save some money, so that I could continue to study in a nursing school later.

▲ In 1942, Ling Xiuzhen (third from left) and Zhang Shumin (third from right) took a group photo with the workers in the spinning mill.

Dong:What kind of opportunity did you have to return to school later?

Ling: In August, 1943, the opportunity came to continue studying nursing school. Teacher Liu told us that the nursing school of Shanxi Taigu Renshu Hospital [5] is recruiting students, and there are our classmates there. Hearing this news, we were so happy that we contacted our classmates as soon as possible. Zhang Shumin and I scrimped and saved a little money, but it was easy to lose money in those days [6], so we bought some flower cloth to take with us, and then we wanted to exchange it for money, so we left the spinning mill and went to Shanxi.

Dong:How do you feel about going back to the nursing school again? What is study and life like?

Ling: I left the spinning mill in darkness and went back to the nursing school that I had been looking forward to day and night. I was in a very happy mood and made up my mind to study hard and become a nurse. The study content of nursing school is similar to that of now, including culture class, operation class, anatomy, pharmacology and so on. After the theoretical class, there will be clinical practice in Renshu Hospital. At that time, I got good grades in my homework and nursing skills, and I won a scholarship. Although I only had a few dollars, I felt great. But I didn’t expect that in December 1944, the Japanese army invaded the hospital and the nursing school was closed.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen during her study in nursing school.

Dong:Forced to leave school again, where did you go?

Ling: After the school closed, many students went home, and my life with Zhang Shumin was lost. I feel very sad because my nursing studies have not been completed. At that time, three sisters Liu Jialan, Liu Jiahui and Liu Jiaqi who had worked with us in Beiyang Spinning Factory also left Tianjin to work in Yangquan. Hearing that we had nowhere to go, they took us to Yangquan. After arriving in Yangquan, I didn’t dare to go out at all. The streets were full of Japanese soldiers and I stayed at home all day. Later, with the help of Wang Jingguo, the husband of my middle school classmate Rong Fenglan, Zhang Shumin and I found a job temporarily. I was introduced to the business office of Yangquan Electric Company to copy the user’s electricity meter and electricity bill.

In 1946, on the second day of the first lunar month, Taigu Renshu Hospital resumed nursing school. After getting the news, Zhang Shumin and I hurried back to Taigu to continue our education until we graduated in January 1948. My nursing school can be regarded as finished, which adds up to nearly four years.

▲ A photo of the teachers and students of the Senior Nursing School of Shanxi Taigu Renshu Hospital, with Ling Xiuzhen in the front row and Zhang Shumin in the fifth right.

Dong:Looking back on this tortuous life and school experience, what do you think?

Ling: This experience has a great influence on me. People’s life is not easy. If you want to live, you have to struggle, and you have to do everything well, otherwise you may not have the opportunity to continue doing this job. If I work in a cotton mill, if I don’t work by the hour, people won’t want you. So is learning to be a nurse. If you don’t study hard, people won’t want you. Especially in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression’s time, it was not easy, so we had to struggle on our own and be a good person. Of course, I also relied on the help of teachers and classmates in this period. They introduced me to work, and I worked hard to earn some money to finish the nursing school, otherwise it wouldn’t work.

Toss and turn to the west and the east to determine the concord.

Dong:What’s your first job after graduation? Did you get your dream of being a nurse?

Ling: When I graduated, there was a Seventh Epidemic Prevention Brigade in Taiyuan. Several nurses in the team graduated from our school, so they introduced us to the past. Their main job was to get vaccination.

Six months later, the captain’s secretary was going back to Beijing. Several people in our team discussed with him and wanted to come together. He agreed. Taking this opportunity, I was also brought to Beijing. I came by plane. It was my first time to fly. A classmate’s brother worked at the airport and helped to buy a plane ticket, so friends helped me everywhere.

After arriving in Beijing, through the introduction of Wang Dimin, the former captain of the epidemic prevention brigade, our lesbians were arranged to help in Dongsi Qianliang Hutong Maternal and Infant Health Center and work as nurses. After working for about a month, my colleague Lu Yueying introduced me to the children’s hospital at the south exit of Fuyou Street, where I worked as a night nurse for another month.

Dong:How did you come to work in Peking Union Medical College Hospital?

Ling: In November 1948, a colleague from Taiyuan, Beijing, called me back to the newly established Eleventh Epidemic Prevention Brigade in Qianliang Hutong, which organized doctors and nurses to go to the countryside for epidemic prevention. I still want to be a nurse in the hospital, so I’m going to find another place to work. I discussed with Zhang Shumin and other friends, and they all advised me to come to Concord. I was worried that I was from a nursing school in a small hospital, and I was afraid that I could not keep up with my work, but they encouraged me to try. Zhang Shumin asked for a nurse registration form for me, so I got up the courage and came to Concord with my diploma in nursing school in Renshu Hospital.

I went in from the west gate of the hospital, walked to the nursing department office downstairs in Building 5 of the old building, and found Nie Yuchan, the director of the nursing department. She was the first person I met in Concord. I handed her my diploma. She asked me about my previous work and whether I had ever been to Concord. After chatting for a while, she said, "OK, come for a physical examination on the 13th, and go to work if there is nothing wrong with the physical examination." She is very capable and kind, and she is very organized and decisive.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen (right) and Zhang Shumin (left) took a group photo in front of the Union Nurse Building.

This is the result I am looking forward to, and I am very happy in my heart. One is that I have a fixed job, and the other is that I have finally stabilized. On December 13, 1948, I officially entered Concord, and I have been a Concord person since then. Until I left Concord in the Spring Festival of 1990, I spent most of my life in Concord, so my feelings for Concord are closer than home.

Dong:What impressed you when you first entered the Union Medical College Hospital? What are the differences between nursing work and before?

Ling: After I arrived at Concord, the first thing I felt was the grandeur of the building, which was my first impression. The equipment and facilities are good in all aspects, so it is very convenient to work. Like Shanxi Taigu Renshu Hospital, the conditions are worse, and many of them are simple because of their ignorance.

The other is that the attitude towards patients is really good. After work, I was assigned to the outpatient clinic, which is located on the first floor of Building No.10 in the current old building, mainly to accompany patients to see doctors. I especially remember that a mother came to see a doctor with a child of six or seven years old. The child had a sore on her leg and cried and was afraid to see the doctor. Wu Weiran [8], a doctor who makes house calls, has a particularly good attitude, speaks gently and has skills. When the child chats with him, he stops crying. Dr. Wu Weiran puts the child in his arms and sees the disease. The nurse next to him also said, "Little friend, I’ll get it for you. It doesn’t hurt." When the doctor said this and the nurse was so coaxed, the child stopped crying and went with the nurse to change the medicine. I went behind my mother and followed the nurse. Look how much this has changed. I watched, thinking how good this doctor is, how good this nurse is, and patients don’t suffer. This is my education, so I also learn from them in my later work and never yell at patients.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen (right) and colleagues took a group photo at the platform of the old building of Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

Later, I was transferred from the outpatient department to the obstetrics and gynecology department, and after a period of time, I went to the internal medicine department. At that time, the internal medicine ward was on the second floor of Building 8 of the old building, and the head nurse was Li Yixiu, who graduated from Concord Nursing School. She is very strict and has given me a lot of education. For example, I can’t talk loudly in the ward, I can’t wear hard-soled shoes, and I can’t eat delicious food such as garlic and onions during work. In addition, when you go to work, you should patrol the patient’s bed more, and you can’t get together and chat in the office. She is also very strict in checking. When she sees what you did wrong, she points it out at once, and then checks it after you finish. I don’t know when she will stand behind you and look at you at work. She often gives lectures at morning meetings and encourages us to talk to patients more. I learned a lot of nursing knowledge from her. I think nurses should be like this, serious and solemn, but also cute and gentle.

After coming out of the internal medicine ward, I went to work in the foreign guest ward for a while. In 1951, the hospital wanted to set up a separate neuropsychiatric department, so I was transferred to the neuropsychiatric ward.

Dong:What are the characteristics of the work in the neuropsychiatric ward?

Ling: In order to prevent mental patients from jumping off buildings, the neuropsychiatric ward is located in Building 8 of the old building, with more than 20 beds. The ward is divided into a big room and a small room, and there is a place like a living room in the middle, where patients can do manual work and have work and entertainment treatment. Guo Jufen, the head nurse, also graduated from Xiehe Nursing School, and her working methods and attitude also made me very educated. Different from the patients in the internal medicine ward, the owners of neuropsychiatric diseases are mainly schizophrenic patients, some of whom are completely unconscious, others are clear and sometimes unconscious. In addition to medical and nursing work, we should also prevent them from committing suicide and hurting others. At that time, there were two or three male nurses in the ward, and each staff member had a key. The door should be kept locked, otherwise the patient would run out. Once, a patient ran out and shouted, "I ran, I ran!" " As a result, he was stopped by the doorman and called us quickly.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen (third from left) took a group photo with her colleagues in neuropsychiatric department. On the left, Wang Jichu, on the left, Guo Jufen and on the right, Hou Can.

Later, the neuropsychiatry was changed to neurology, and the ward was moved to the first floor of Building No.8 in the old building, and the number of beds was increased to more than 40. No mental patients were treated, only patients with basically clear consciousness and neuroorganic diseases were treated, among whom there were many comas and urinary incontinence. The patient’s situation is different, and the focus of nursing work is different. The nursing workload of neurology department is very heavy. Take the urine pad replacement of patients with urinary incontinence as an example. Half of the urine pads in the hospital are used in neurology wards, which shows that the number of changes is frequent and many people use them.

To resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea and care for the loveliest people.

Dong:Please talk about your experience in participating in the volunteer surgery team to resist US aggression and aid Korea.

Ling: At the end of 1950, Beijing set up a voluntary surgical team to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and called on all hospitals to actively register. I thought it was a glorious thing, so I signed up. After being approved by the hospital, in April 1952, I followed the surgical team to the 13th Army Hospital in Xingcheng, Liaoning Province, which was the rear battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and all the wounded soldiers who came back from the front were treated there.

▲ In 1951, Ling Xiuzhen (first from the right) and his colleagues took a picture under the banner of "Donating Clinic to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" in the west gate of the old building of Xiehe, with Kuang Bacon on the fifth from the right and Guo Jufen on the sixth.

After I went, I worked as a head nurse in the supply room. At that time, there were many surgical operations. The supply room in their hospital was quite large, and there were several little nurses there. We exchanged experiences. I introduced the situation of Concord to them, and everyone cooperated happily. Although I have never worked in the supply room before, the general nurses know which surgical instruments should be packaged, which should be steamed and how long it should be disinfected. In fact, it is material management. I combined the specific situation at that time and discussed the process with them to make the work more convenient.

After the work was carried out in an orderly manner, I made time to go to the ward. I saw that the soldiers had only one eye, some had missing arms, some had broken legs, some had missing ears, and some had only half their faces … I was particularly unhappy. I will try my best to help them, such as writing letters, reading newspapers and telling stories. But I think it’s more important that they told me how they killed the enemy at the front and how they got their injuries. They were all heroic and selfless acts, which taught me a lot. I think they are really lovely and respectable.

In this way, I ran to the ward as soon as I was free, and I gradually became familiar with the soldiers. Sometimes when I was late or didn’t go all day, they asked me, "Why are you late today?" "Why didn’t you come yesterday?" Everyone has a lot of affection for each other. Some soldiers gave me photos as souvenirs when they left the hospital, and some said to me, "Head nurse, I’m leaving. I don’t know when I can meet again!" They need psychological comfort and help, but while helping them, I am more educated.

▲ In 1952, Ling Xiuzhen (left) took a group photo with his colleagues in the surgical team at the 13th Army Hospital.

Dong:How long have you worked there?

Ling: The operation team rotates every four months. Originally, it was stipulated that everyone only participated in one phase. After I finished my first phase as head nurse, the organization arranged for me to stay and continue to work as the secretary of the operation team. At that time, the team leader was Zhang Jinzhe [9]. So I returned to Concord in early 1953 and worked there for less than a year.

There was tension and happiness in that life. The soldiers in the ward and our diet were good. After dinner, everyone gave back a big apple and put it on the bed, which meant peace. Xingcheng is near the sea. Every Sunday, the team members can go to the sea together. I also use my spare time to organize employees of the 13th Army Hospital to play basketball with the surgical team.

▲ In 1952, Ling Xiuzhen (second from the right in the back row) enriched the amateur life of the volunteer surgical team to resist US aggression and aid Korea by organizing basketball games and other cultural and sports activities.

Dong:What impact does this work experience have on you?

Ling: I haven’t done much work in recent months. If I have time, I can do more. The deeds of the volunteers should be publicized. They fought bravely at the front line, paying for us and bleeding for us. What should we do? We should at least help. After I come back, I often think of those soldiers, especially those who meet soldiers at work. I will be very kind to them. Before I went to work in Concord, I tried my best to live. After I joined the volunteer operation team to resist US aggression and aid Korea, I wanted to not only live, but also know why I lived. This experience is really a great education for me, and I didn’t go in vain.

▲ In 1952, Ling Xiuzhen (second from left) and Zhang Jinzhe (third from left) took a group photo with the military instructors.

Everyone is in charge and manages the ward together

Dong:After you came back from the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, you worked as a head nurse in a neurological ward for more than 30 years. What did you learn from being a head nurse?

Ling: The management of the ward mainly depends on the head nurse. The nurses have done the specific operation. The head nurse should worry more about the management. If there is something to discuss, let’s unite as a fist and move forward. It’s very important for the head nurse to take the lead. If you just say no, you have to do it, and you have to be sincere. If you are sincere, you will keep your word, and comrades will see it.

After working for decades, I have never had a knot in my heart with anyone, but I am very honest with them, so that everyone is happy and the work is done well. At present, our comrades on the eighth floor still often get together and miss their work. This friendship was formed by helping each other and uniting with each other at work. So I think it’s easy and not easy to be a head nurse.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen works in the ward.

Dong:Do you have any innovative practices in nursing work?

Ling: Shame, there is no innovation in my life, just trying to do a good job in ordinary work.

After the downfall of the Gang of Four, the hospital called for rectifying wards, strengthening clinical nursing and improving the quality of medical care. How to do it? I discussed it with my comrades, and everyone came up with ideas. Some old comrades suggested that we should restore the effective system in the past. We classify the work of the ward, so that "everyone is in charge of everything, and everyone is in charge", and everyone is the master of the house.

Rectifying the ward begins with the companion system. At that time, there were 43 beds, 23 accompanying family members, plus doctors and nurses, and dozens of people were going back and forth in the ward. It was really chaotic. Some people said that our ward was a small Dongan market, so we must reduce our companionship. There was a patient who was completely paralyzed, but he was conscious and weighed more than 200 kilograms. More than one person at home took care of him, and two nurses in the ward struggled to turn him over. Hearing that the ward asked the family members not to accompany the bed, the patient immediately began to cry, and the family members were also uncomfortable. We patiently explained to him, and the comrades also took good care of him. Three days later, the patient said, "Head nurse, I don’t need my family to accompany me. You are doing better than them!" We have completed the task of the hospital, and the patients feel quite good, which is the result of our joint efforts.

To prevent patients from falling out of bed, one of our nurse comrades, Lao Sun, thought that patients fell because there were no fences on both sides of the bed, so it might be useful to weave nets. I brought him a thick rope, and he made a net and put it on both sides of the bed, so that the patient was safe. When a nurse visited, she found a patient in a net bag, so she quickly got him up. So for so many years, we have never had a patient fall.

Ward clothing management is also a difficult problem, because there are many serious patients and frequent changes, we will arrange special personnel to take charge of it, set a number of rules, and strengthen the inventory when handing over to the laundry room to ensure that the number is correct and will not affect everyone’s use.

One of the ways to improve the quality of medical care is to strengthen morning and evening care. Because there are many patients in the neurology department who are bedridden and have urinary incontinence, they are prone to bedsores, so we give them a "small bath" in the morning and evening, so that the patients are clean and comfortable, and we can also carefully observe and detect the changes in the patient’s condition in time. When the shift is over at the bedside, patients with slight early signs of bedsore will be marked at the bedside, so no patients here have ever had bedsore.

Besides clinical nursing, other auxiliary things should also be done well. We also rectify the ward environment, standardize the management of goods, make everything in its place, clean the environment and so on. When the hospital summarizes the work of rectifying the ward, I will be assigned to make a report to the whole hospital to introduce our experience on the eighth floor.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen gave a report on ward management experience to the whole hospital in Concord Auditorium.

Dong:"Everyone is in charge of everything, and everyone is in charge of something" is a particularly good idea, which is why the neurological ward has been rated as an advanced group for many years, right?

Ling: Work depends on everyone’s efforts to do it together, so everyone is happy to have achievements. Although things in the ward are trivial, everyone has the idea of being the master of their own affairs, and it is easy to manage them well if they are serious and responsible. We often check the established rules and measures. For example, at the morning meeting, everyone has a piece of paper and a pen, so I ask, where is the laundry bag? Where is the treatment tray? What should be in the first aid tray? Like an exam. In addition, there are good people and deeds that I also focus on promoting at the morning meeting. Mobilizing the masses and doing things is also training the masses, which is one of my gains. Our ward has produced five head nurses.

We emphasize not to get together in the office, encourage all nurses in the ward to patrol and observe the patient’s condition, and also find many patients’ condition changes in the process. A nurse found that a patient had a bad complexion, poor breathing, rapid pulse and unequal pupils during her patrol, and she was particularly anxious. She quickly said to her colleagues passing by, "You should prepare 20% mannitol as soon as possible and pull the rescue vehicle, and I will tell the doctor!" When the doctor came, the rescue vehicle was in place, and the infusion was given immediately, and the patient’s pupil slowly recovered. Later, neurosurgery consultation was invited, and after the operation, the patient recovered and was discharged. Without solid professional knowledge, the patient could not be found and rescued in time.

In addition to improving nurses’ knowledge of diseases in clinical practice, we also organize training, such as asking senior nurses to tell young or unfamiliar nurses about some nursing technical operations; Some professional knowledge, we ask a specialist doctor to talk about it, and everyone has improved through learning. The medical staff in the first ward on the eighth floor are very United and the working atmosphere is harmonious, so everyone is not bitter or tired when working.

Dong:Are there any patients who impressed you particularly during your work in the neurology ward?

Ling: There was a 21-year-old boy, Xiaoliang, who I remember very clearly. He was a patient with Guillain-Barre syndrome, with quadriplegia, respiratory muscle paralysis and lobar pneumonia. He went to the ward for immediate rescue and entered the iron lung [10]. He can’t breathe by himself, and he relies entirely on iron lungs to press him to breathe, and he sucks oxygen. Despite the shortage of manpower, we took out three classes of people to do intensive care, sucked sputum for him under protection and isolation, and observed the amount and color of sputum. His body can’t move, so we scrub and move his limbs. He can’t speak, but he is conscious and has an expression on his face, so we will write and communicate with him. Write "Your leg hurts, doesn’t it?" Show him. As soon as he closes his eyes, we will know that he is right. Once, I wrote several wrong words, but I accidentally touched his nose. He smiled, so we wrote "Is it a nose?" He closed his eyes and it turned out that his nose was itchy.

He can’t leave oxygen for a moment. Once, Comrade Lao Sun knew that the oxygen in the hospital was running out. On his way to work, he ran back to tell the comrades in the ward: "Our hospital’s oxygen truck is back, so you should change it quickly!" On another occasion, the iron lung could not support Xiaoliang’s breathing, and the Haiyan ventilator needed to be replaced. The Union Medical College Hospital didn’t have it, so it was necessary to borrow it from the 301 hospital. Comrade Lao Wang forgot to eat and immediately borrowed the machine. However, it takes several hours to borrow the machine. During this period, Xiaoliang’s breathing is not stable. We quickly made a careful nursing plan. Before the ventilator was borrowed, we organized nurses to maintain his breathing with artificial balloons without interruption, in order to gain valuable time for treatment. You see, everyone is working hard for a patient. How lovely these actions are.

Xiaoliang was treated in neurology for 318 days, including 4 months and 22 days of intensive care, 71 days of artificial respirator, more than 200 barrels of oxygen and more than 120 infusions. With the joint efforts of many departments, through the treatment of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine and the close cooperation of medical care, Xiaoliang finally recovered and was discharged. Everyone was overjoyed to see the patient cured and discharged from hospital.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen (third from the left in the front row) took a group photo with her colleagues.

Dong:Do you regard the ward as another home?

Ling: It’s not another home. I wish it were a main home. I think the work in the ward is the main thing, and a lot of work is also taken home. When children are young, they don’t have time to take them to the park to play. As for my half, he is also quite supportive, because he works in the Chinese History Museum and has time to go to and from work, which is not necessarily the case here. What’s more, the neighbors are also good. They help look after the children, so they also worry.

My family told me that you have no home. I said, isn’t my ward home? Ha ha. This ward is a home. It’s a pleasure to do it well. The patient is grateful to you and the doctor is happy. I didn’t do enough work all my life. After retiring in 1986, Corey kept me, and I was willing to stay in the clinic for another four years.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen’s family portrait

On-duty clinic to help patients with heart

Dong:What are the differences in nursing work from ward to clinic?

Ling: The job content is really different. Although they are all neurological diseases, the patients in the ward usually lie still there, while the patients in the outpatient department are mobile. They leave as soon as they come today, which is different in nature and different in work focus. When I was in the outpatient department, I also stressed the need to observe patients more.

For example, I once met an old lady holding a boy and sitting in a chair in the waiting room crying without talking. I asked her why she was crying, and she said that they were from other places, and the doctor didn’t prescribe medicine for the child, so she called them back for treatment. The local hospital diagnosed encephalitis sequela, and there are not many treatments in neurology. We advised her not to feel bad, and found an old doctor to see her. It was also this diagnosis that gave the child some nutritional medicine, and the old lady went back with confidence. If we hadn’t observed and found the old lady’s problem, it wouldn’t have been solved. How uncomfortable she was with her child in her arms, and so was her family when she went back to her home. Everyone who gave them that piece said that they were not satisfied with the Union Medical College Hospital. If this is solved, she will be calm and there will be no problem.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen is at the neurological service desk.

Another time, I saw a gay man yelling there, and the little girl next to him was crying, so I went over and asked what was going on. The gay man said that the doctor would give the child an EEG examination, but the child had lice on his head and had to get a haircut first. The girl was seven or eight years old. She wore two pigtails and didn’t want to get a haircut. As soon as she said it, she began to cry. I took them to Dongdan to find a barber shop and asked them to give the girl a haircut with a curtain. The girl looked in the mirror and was very happy. When she came back, she had her EEG done. They are Mongolians, and they don’t speak Mandarin very well. They keep saying thank you to us. Outpatient service is basically this kind of thing, that is, more care and observation are needed to help patients solve problems in time.

It seems quite simple to work in the outpatient department, but sometimes there are many problems, involving many aspects, such as patients from other places, ethnic minorities, farmers, overseas Chinese, etc. We should all think about what the party’s policies are for different groups and implement them.

▲ In 1989, neurology medical staff took a group photo in the outpatient clinic. From the right in the front row: Ling Xiuzhen, Huang Huifen, Tan Mingxun, Feng Yingkun, Zhao Baoxun, Guo Yupu, Tang Xiaofu and Li Shunwei.

Dong:I heard that you also carry out health education for patients, mainly through what forms? What effect has it achieved?

Ling: We also think it is very important to educate patients. At that time, it was mainly through oral preaching, blackboard newspaper, small cards and other forms. In addition to disease knowledge, there are also common sense science such as preventing gas poisoning. Some patients read it and said, I have to go back and clean up the stove at home.

Besides listening and watching, there are also thoughts. We guide patients to think carefully about when they got sick, whether they saw a doctor, what treatments they had, what the treatment effect was, and what the situation is now … So when they see the doctor, they will be comprehensive and the doctor can better understand the condition.

We do this propaganda, everyone is quiet, and the order of seeing a doctor is better. Later, the hospital encouraged us and awarded us a tape recorder, so we recorded well and told stories related to people’s health and life, which everyone loved to hear.

Dong:You have done a lot for patients. Have any patients done anything that moved you?

Ling: A female middle school teacher from Taipusi Banner, Inner Mongolia came to see a doctor and did many tests, but the results haven’t come out yet. She told us that she couldn’t wait any longer because the school was about to start and she couldn’t delay the students’ class. I say you go first, and we’ll concentrate these test results on the doctor and write a diagnosis for you after reading them. Later, I sent her the examination and diagnosis results, which solved her problem. She was so moved that she wrote a thank-you letter and sent a big bag of soybeans. We have "three disciplines and eight points for attention" [11], and we don’t take the needle and thread from the masses, so we sent the soybeans back to her.

Some brought us potatoes and wrote letters of commendation, and some suggested that we print out popular science materials and sell them to everyone as a bonus for nurses … People still have to get along with each other in good faith. From the interests of patients, you did the right thing, and everyone will support you. On this correct basis, we will unite and work together, and gradually it will get better and better.

▲ Ling Xiuzhen works at home.

Be indifferent to fame and fortune and walk with love

Dong:How is your life arranged after retirement?

Ling: My life is quite dull. I went abroad to stay with my daughter for two years after retirement. When I came back, I thought it was not a problem to just stay here, so I ordered a lot of newspapers and magazines. Some articles were quite good, so I cut them out and pasted them into a book. I sorted out ten boxes of state affairs, heroes, health knowledge, flowers and birds, Chinese paintings … I wanted to wait for the children to come back and show them how many great events have taken place in the country. This is an education for them, and this is the most content of my life. In addition, I also learn health knowledge from the Internet. I insist on walking for 30 minutes every day in the corridor outside the door. It was very difficult at first, but it became natural after a long time. I haven’t thought about how to live a long life, and I don’t think I’m old now. I don’t feel that way.

▲ In 1996, Ling Xiuzhen took a photo at the Washington Botanical Garden.

Dong:What do you think of the profession of nurse, from the dream of being a nurse to the life of nursing?

Ling: I chose this profession and still love it. Nurses are an indispensable and important part of medical treatment. I don’t have much knowledge and technology, and that’s all I can do, so I’ll do it well and contribute my strength to this. I’m glad to help others a little.

Dong:During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, you won the third-class merit. In 1981, you were named as a model worker in Beijing, and in 1983, you won the national March 8th Red Flag Bearer, and you were the first national March 8th Red Flag Bearer in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. After several decades, what do you think of these awards?

Ling: I don’t think it’s anything. I don’t think all these praises seem like a thing. When the prize is awarded, this meaning will pass.

▲ In 1981, Ling Xiuzhen was rated as a model worker in Beijing, and her photos and deeds were exhibited at the Working People’s Cultural Palace. Ling Xiuzhen and her lover Ao Ping took a group photo in front of the photo.

▲ In 1982, Ling Xiuzhen was awarded the honorary title of Beijing Model Worker in 1981.

▲ In 1983, Ling Xiuzhen won the honorary title of National March 8th Red Flag Bearer.

Dong:What is the most fulfilling thing for you?

Ling: I didn’t achieve anything, but I worked hard to unite my comrades in my work and accomplish the tasks assigned by the party together. In response to the hospital’s call to clean up the ward, after half a year’s work, I was able to report to the whole hospital as a typical example. Although it was a small achievement, it was the result of the joint efforts of comrades, who forged a deep friendship in the process. Up to now, they still miss me. I think this is an achievement. I hope I can pass on the story of the eighth floor and inspire young people to do a good job.

▲ On November 10th, 2022, a "sister" on the eighth floor celebrated Ling Xiuzhen’s centenary birthday. From the left in the front row: Jiang Xueling, Liu Xiuying, Ling Xiuzhen, Cui Liying and Gao Meili; From the left in the back row: Liu Xiurong, Wang Weihong, Wang Lifang, Zhang Yuzhen, Mei Chen, Zu Yunling, Yu Guoying, Ao Hong and Yu Hongyue.

Dong:What messages and instructions do you have for young people?

Ling: For young comrades, I hope that one should listen to the Party’s words, and the other should be strict with oneself, work hard and strictly abide by various rules and regulations. Without rules, Fiona Fang cannot be established. At the same time, we should innovate, strive to be a nurse who has both ability and political integrity and serves patients wholeheartedly, be the vanguard of the nursing field in China, and win glory in the world.

Concord has trained many medical and nursing talents. Concord’s work is very rigorous and strives for perfection, and it has treated countless difficult and serious patients, which is a great contribution. I hope that in the future, we will continue to protect people’s health, walk with love and create greater glories.

▲ In the Lantern Festival in 2023, Ling Xiuzhen was at home in Beijing.

annotate

[1] The school was founded in 1904 by American missionary Fu Shan and his wife Fu Kemud. It was originally a seven-year primary school. In 1923, it was changed to a six-year primary school and enrolled junior high school students. In 1927, the school name was changed from Fuyu Girls’ School to Fuyu Girls’ Middle School, and it is now the second middle school in Tongzhou District, Beijing.

[2] On September 24, 1937, the Japanese army occupied Baoding until it surrendered in August 1945. In the past eight years, the Japanese army carried out a cruel "three-light policy" in Baoding, causing numerous tragedies.

[3] The school was established in 1915, with a four-year academic system. The courses are set according to the requirements of the Chinese Nurses’ Association. Besides theoretical study, we also need to practice in Boji Hospital.

[4] Zhang Shumin, a former head nurse of beijing jishuitan hospital internal medicine clinic.

[5] Taigu Renshu Hospital is a missionary hospital, which was founded in 1904 by the American congregational couple Willoughby A. Hemingway, and is now the Taigu District People’s Hospital in Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province. In 1917, Renshu Hospital established the first nursing school in Shanxi. In 1920, the Nursing School of Renshu Hospital was officially registered in the Chinese Nurses’ Association, with a four-year academic system. The school accepts both men and women, and must be at least 18 years old. Women who are married do not accept it, and they are not allowed to marry before graduation. Students can only obtain the graduation certificate after completing the four-year course and passing the examination of the Chinese General Nurses Association.

[6] That is, the meaning of currency depreciation and inflation.

[7] Nie Yuchan (1903-1997), a native of Funing, Hebei Province, was a famous nursing scientist and educator, the first China-born principal of the Nursing School of Peking Union Medical College, and once served as the director of the nursing department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

[8] Wu Weiran (1920-2016), a famous surgeon, was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu.

[9] Zhang Jinzhe (1920-2022), born in Tianjin, was an expert in pediatric surgery and an academician of China Academy of Engineering.

[10] Iron lung is the first machine to replace the function of human organs. The air pump in iron lung can adjust the internal air pressure by pumping air and exhausting air, so as to press the chest to stimulate breathing, which can help patients who cannot breathe spontaneously to maintain normal breathing and prolong their survival time.

[11] The three major disciplines are: First, all actions are subject to command; Second, don’t take the masses; Three, all seized to the public. The eight points for attention are: first, speak kindly; Second, the sale is fair; Third, borrow things to return; Fourth, you have to pay for damaged things; Fifth, don’t beat people and swear; Sixth, do not damage crops; Seven, do not molest women; Eight, do not abuse prisoners.

Oral history column of old experts

Since 2017, Peking Union Medical College Hospital has set up the "Old Experts Oral Historical and Cultural Heritage Education Project". Through the collection and arrangement of words and images on the personal life history, major historical events and witnessed discipline development of Concord’s predecessors, it records and reflects the struggle history of Concord people in adhering to tradition, making great efforts and creating brilliant achievements, combs the historical context of the hospital and various disciplines, and analyzes the mystery of Concord’s century-old foundation. WeChat official account, the official WeChat of Concord, opened a column on the oral history of old experts, and published some oral contents of the old-timers in the form of interviews for readers.

Producer: Wu Peixin

Editor: Chen Mingyan

Finishing: Dong Lin Yan Xiaobo

Photography: Sun Liang

Camera: Liu Yushuan

Video: Li Yuanjing

Editor: Chen Xun Li Yuanjing

The contents of this article are excerpted from two interviews with head nurse Ling Xiuzhen, some of which are from Ling Xiuzhen’s personal file, and some of the pictures in this article are provided by Ling Xiuzhen.

Last weekend, the North American box office champion was unexpectedly killed by Spider-Man: The Universe. The film continued to be shown in 3,785 theaters in North America, earning $19.3 million at the weekend box office. Followed by the Pixar animated film Crazy Element City, which earned $18.5 million at the weekend box office. The DC remake of the superhero blockbuster "The Flash" continued to be shown in 4,256 theaters, but it only earned $15.26 million at the weekend box office, ranking third in the box office list.

The box office of "The Flash" dropped sharply.

In fact, although the opening box office of "The Flash" is not ideal, the so-called skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and it is at least a superhero blockbuster adapted from DC comics. The industry originally expected the film to remain at the top of the box office list on the second weekend after its release, and predicted that its box office dropped by about 60% year-on-year over the past three days, which was basically the same as those DC movies with poor reputation.

"Flash" poster

As a result, the box office of The Flash dropped by 72.3% on the second weekend, which was staggering. In a horizontal comparison, Ant Man 3 in February this year dropped by 69.9% on the second weekend because of its poor reputation, but after all, the opening box office of others was no matter how bad it was, it also had $106 million, nearly double that of The Flash. In a vertical comparison, the decline of box office in this next week ranks the second highest among all the films that have changed from English to English, only after 73.8% of Doctor Night: Morbius in 2022. At present, its global cumulative box office is only $210 million.

At this point, the loss of The Flash, which cost $220 million to produce, is a foregone conclusion, which is a great blow to Zaslav, the head of Warner Exploration Group. According to American media reports, Zaslav has always been fascinated by this ill-fated superhero blockbuster for some reason. Therefore, at the Las Vegas Film Festival in April this year, he personally promoted it and vowed to tell someone at the venue that this was the greatest superhero movie he had ever seen in his life. I don’t know whether the current top-ranking Warner who started as a documentary watched less drama films or adhered to the spirit of selling melons by the old woman. In short, the whole market was full of confidence in The Flash from April to June.

Once The Flash was officially released, it immediately showed its true colors. The $55 million premiere box office was actually worse than the DC remake Green Lantern released in 2011, if the ticket price increase was included. There is a word hype in English, which is specially used to describe such a misnomer propaganda. It is said in advance that the flowers are good and the rice is good, but it is actually not worthy of the name; In short, it is what we often call a big bluff. Today, the American media has labeled The Flash as the biggest hype movie in 2023.

In fact, it is not clear to the outside world why Zaslav has worked so hard to personally promote The Flash. After all, the film is the product of the last generation of DC movie universe, and it is the legacy left by the former president of DC Film, Walter Hamada, who left at the end of last year. Hamada even found someone to write a script for Flash 2 early. Now that we have decided to let James Goon start over, and ezra miller, the star of The Flash, has already become a "negative asset" because of various scandals, Zaslav can actually keep a certain distance from the film. The only explanation, I’m afraid, is that Zaslav feels from the bottom of his heart that The Flash is really an excellent movie, and it will definitely get excellent box office results and hopefully shoot a sequel.

Aquaman 2 poster

What is in trouble is not limited to the movie "The Flash". The Blue Beetle, which will be released in August, and Aquaman 2, which will be released at the end of the year, are also the legacy of Hamada Walter. According to the current situation, including Shazam 2 and The Flash, the four DC movies released in 2023 are likely to fail to meet the expectations at the box office. The reason why the audience is no longer willing to pay for it is actually not difficult to understand: since DC movies will be fully restarted in 2025 with james gunn’s "Superman: Legacy", why spend time and money on the "old universe" that will be eliminated in 2023?

Blue Beetle poster

For Zaslav, "Shazam 2" and "The Flash" have become the past, and the lessons are not profound. So, what about The Blue Beetle and Aquaman 2? The production cost of "Blue Beetle" is $120 million. Originally, it was intended to be put directly on the streaming media platform without being released in theaters. However, james gunn is said to be quite optimistic about this IP, and it has been included in his restarted DC universe, so it will not only be released in theaters, but also be released with a lot of investment. Aquaman 2, whose production cost is $205 million, should still be in post-production, but in the future, it is likely to be abandoned by james gunn as a whole, just like Wonder Woman of Gal Gardo. If so, how much should Warner invest in Aquaman 2’s post-production and publicity to stop the loss in time?

The box office of the restricted comedy "Don’t take offense" was better than expected.

In the face of blockbusters, you can sing me out. Last weekend, the only new film that was fully released was the restricted comedy No Hard Feelings from Sony Pictures. The film was released in 3,208 theaters, and earned $15.1 million at the opening box office, which was better than the industry’s expected $10 million, but it was not very good.

"Don’t take offense" poster

"Don’t take offense" is directed by Gene Stupnitsky, and jennifer lawrence, the winner of the Oscar for Best Actress, takes the lead. It tells the story that her Uber driver is forced to agree to a couple’s strange request for a living: to date their son, who is about to enter college, and to help this shy and introverted boy bid farewell to his virginity. At present, the film’s freshness on the film review website "Rotten Tomatoes" has reached 68%, and it seems that it is not good enough to boost the subsequent box office.

Restricted comedies like this have always been reserved items in North America’s summer programs, and this year is no exception. Besides "Don’t take it amiss", there will be three similar films of Lionsgate’s "Joy Ride", Universal Pictures’ "Strays" and MGM’s "Bottoms" to meet the audience one after another. However, the box office performance of "Don’t take offense" has sounded the alarm for these other three films. The opening box office of $15.1 million, compared horizontally, is not only inferior to the opening box office of $21.4 million in 2019 of director Stupnitsky’s previous film "Good Boys", but also far inferior to the opening box office of $23.2 million of the similar film "Bear Hey" released in February this year.

Once upon a time, the youthful comedy represented by the American Pie series was also a big fist product of Hollywood movies, which earned good revenue in both domestic and overseas markets. However, with the change of social atmosphere and the change of audience’s appreciation taste, such works are declining day by day. Even the successful "Hangover" series has been the product of ten years ago.

Moreover, readers who pay attention to Hollywood movies may also find that the production cost of these new films released recently, no matter what kind of cassette, has increased significantly compared with the past. On the one hand, this is because most of these films were shot during the epidemic, and the strict epidemic prevention policy imposed by Hollywood brought a lot of extra expenses (masks, vaccines, nucleic acids, social bubbles, etc.). On the other hand, in the past, many parts of the world have experienced a serious round of inflation, and everything has gone up. Even films that are not filmed in the United States will still cost more money than in the past.

Therefore, it is said that the production cost of a comedy film like "Don’t take offense" is as high as $45 million, and there are even rumors that it is $70 million-I believe a considerable part of it is paid by jennifer lawrence. For reference, Don’t Look Up earned $25 million the year before last.

PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that China’s box office will lead North America in the next five years.

On the whole, in the last weekend of June, no movie grossed more than $20 million, and the total box office in North America in these three days was only about $110 million. From 2015 to 2019, the box office in North America was about $200 million this weekend. Even in the same period last year, when the epidemic was not far away, the box office was about $25 million more than the same period this year.

Interestingly, just last week, PricewaterhouseCoopers released a latest forecast report on the global film market, and made a number of bold predictions. They estimate that the global film market will reach 7.2 billion movie-goers in 2027, still slightly lower than the 7.9 billion in 2019, but the actual box office revenue will definitely exceed that in 2019 because of the price increase of tickets. Specifically, they predict that the global box office in 2024 will be $38.8 billion, which is close to $39.4 billion in 2019. By 2025, the global box office will reach $43 billion, exceeding the level before the epidemic. By 2027, the total box office value will jump to an unprecedented $52.1 billion.

In addition, according to the forecast of PricewaterhouseCoopers, during the five years from 2023 to 2027, the film market in China will basically keep ahead all the way, ranking first in the world. By 2027, the movie box office in China will be as high as $13.2 billion, far exceeding the $11.9 billion in North America.

Historically, China’s mainland movie box office surpassed the United States in 2020 and 2021, ranking first in the world. However, these two years are special periods when the world is affected by the epidemic. Last year, affected by multiple factors, the annual box office in mainland China was only $4.3 billion, which was surpassed again by the $7.5 billion North American market. So far this year, the box office in North America is about US$ 4.2 billion, and the total box office in China is RMB 25 billion. The former is still ahead.

Regular press conference of the National Health and Wellness Committee on May 10, 2018

Time: May 10, 2018

Venue: Press Release Hall, Building 2, National Health and Wellness Commission.

Jia Bin: Jiao Yahui, Deputy Director of Medical Administration and Hospital Authority

　 　 　 　 Wen Daxiang, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission

　 　 　 　 Wu Xinjuan, Director of Nursing Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Liu Zhefeng:

Hello, friends from the media, and welcome to the regular press conference of the National Health and Wellness Committee in May. The theme of today’s conference is to introduce the development of nursing in China. First of all, I’d like to introduce all the guests seated on the stage, Ms. Jiao Yahui, deputy director of the Medical Administration and Hospital Authority, Mr. Wen Daxiang, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission, and Ms. Wu Xinjuan, director of the nursing department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, chairman of the Chinese Nursing Association and winner of the 43rd Nightingale Prize. Welcome to our press conference.

The day after tomorrow is the International Nurses’ Day. Nurses from all over the country give their patients care and dedication day and night, and they give them scientific care and guidance. With the comprehensive cooperation of nursing work, the comprehensive recovery of patients can be promoted. On the occasion of the International Nurses’ Day, we would also like to say hello and pay tribute to the nursing workers all over the country and our fellow nurses. We also hope that through the reports of friends in the media, the whole society can understand and pay more attention to our nursing work and show more care and love to our nurses. Let’s start today’s press release. First of all, please ask Deputy Director Jiao Yahui to introduce the development of nursing in China.

Jiao Yahui:

Good morning, friends from the media. First of all, I would like to thank my friends from the news media for their concern and support for the nursing work. On the occasion of the upcoming "5.12" International Nurses’ Day in 2018, I also take this opportunity to wish the majority of nursing workers across the country a happy holiday. This year is also the tenth anniversary of the promulgation and implementation of the nurses’ regulations. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce the overall situation of the development of the national nursing cause in recent years, especially since the tenth anniversary of the implementation of the nurses’ regulations.

"Three-point treatment and seven-point nursing" is an important part of health and health undertakings, which is closely related to people’s health interests and life safety, and is of great significance for stabilizing growth, promoting reform, adjusting structure, benefiting people’s livelihood and winning the battle to build a well-off society in an all-round way. Strengthening the construction of nursing staff and promoting the reform and development of nursing career and nursing industry is an important content of implementing the strategy of healthy China, and it is also an objective requirement of establishing a health service system covering the whole population and the whole cycle.

The State Council promulgated the Nurses’ Regulations in January 2008, which was implemented on the International Nurses’ Day on May 12 of the same year. It protects the legitimate rights and interests of nurses from the legal level, clarifies the rights, obligations and practice rules of nurses, promotes the healthy development of nursing, and guarantees medical safety and people’s health. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the implementation of the Nurses Ordinance. In the past ten years, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, governments at all levels, health administrative departments and medical and health institutions have implemented the Nurses Regulations and taken effective measures to stabilize and develop the ranks of nurses. The majority of nursing workers consciously fulfill their responsibilities and obligations, actively practice high-quality nursing services, and make great contributions to improving the health level of the whole people. Since the implementation of the "Regulations on Nurses", nursing has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results, mainly in the following aspects.

First, the team of nurses has developed vigorously, and their quality and professional ability have been significantly improved.

By the end of 2017, the total number of registered nurses in China exceeded 3.8 million, accounting for 42.3% of health and family planning professionals. There are two important time nodes. In 2005, the first "Eleventh Five-Year" nursing plan was promulgated and implemented, and in 2008, the Nurses Regulations was promulgated and implemented. Compared with 2005 and 2008, the number of nurses in 2005 was 1.35 million. In 2008, the number of nurses reached 1.678 million, which was 181.6% higher than that in 2005 and 126.5% higher than that in 2008. The number of nurses per thousand population increased from 1.03 in 2005 to 1.208. The national medical care ratio increased from 1: 0.66 in 2005 to 1: 0.79 in 2008, and reached 1: 1.1 in 2017, which reversed the inverted medical care ratio. In 2017, the doctor-nurse ratio of tertiary hospitals reached 1: 1.54, and that of secondary hospitals reached 1: 1.46. There are nearly 800 thousand nurses engaged in nursing work at the grassroots level. According to statistics, 67% of the nurses have college education, and the level of specialized nursing has been continuously improved, which has played an important role in daily nursing work and medical service for major emergencies.

Second, the enthusiasm of nurses has been further mobilized.

Improving nurses’ working conditions and ensuring nurses’ treatment are the important contents of the Nurses’ Regulations. In the past ten years, through implementing the Nurses’ Regulations, especially in the process of deepening medical reform, aiming at the common problems in nurse management in medical institutions, and exploring the reform from identity management to post management, we have increased the incentive and publicity for outstanding nurses. At present, 79 nurses in China have won the Nightingale Medal, and many nurses have won the titles of Bethune Medal, National Advanced Worker of Health and Family Planning System and National Model Worker.

Third, the level of nursing professional technology has been continuously improved to ensure medical quality and safety.

All kinds of medical institutions at all levels and nurses provide patients with quality nursing services in accordance with the requirements of the Nurses Regulations. The concept of nursing service has changed from "disease-centered to patient-centered", and the service model has changed from cooperating with doctors to focusing on patients’ physical and mental health needs. The technical level of nursing specialty has been continuously improved, and nursing work is closer to patients, clinic and society. In 2017, high-quality nursing services have achieved full coverage of tertiary hospitals, and nearly 90% of secondary hospitals have also carried out high-quality nursing services, and patients’ sense of access to medical treatment has been significantly enhanced. According to the evaluation of the third-party effect of improving medical services, the masses are most satisfied with nursing work.

Fourth, the connotation of nursing is constantly enriched to meet the multi-level health needs of the masses.

Nursing work serves the whole process of people’s birth, aging, death and illness, and plays a role in all stages of diagnosis and treatment of patients’ diseases in acute stage, rehabilitation in chronic stage and care and care in dying stage. At present, many regions and medical institutions in China actively adapt to the changes in disease spectrum and the aging process of the population, constantly enrich the connotation of nursing specialty, gradually extend nursing services to communities and families, and provide services such as aged care, chronic disease management, rehabilitation care, long-term care and hospice care for the masses, further satisfying the diversified and multi-level health service needs of the masses.

At present, compared with the people’s diversified multi-level health needs, there are still problems of unbalanced and insufficient development in nursing work. In the next step, the National Health and Wellness Committee will fully implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of the National Health and Wellness Conference, take Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era as the guide, closely follow the changes of major social contradictions, pay attention to the structural reform on the supply side and improve the people’s feelings, make efforts at the same time, highlight key points, make up shortcomings, strengths and weaknesses, and accurately meet the diverse and multi-level nursing service needs of the people. First, under the guidance of implementing the strategy of healthy China, we will continue to implement the Nurses Regulations and the 13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Nursing, strengthen the construction of nurses and promote the healthy development of nursing. The second is to issue guiding documents to promote the reform and development of nursing service industry, innovate nursing service mode, increase the supply of nursing service and vigorously promote the reform and development of nursing service industry in accordance with the principle of "government-led, diversified investment, market operation and industry management". Third, actively respond to the aging population, vigorously develop elderly care and elderly care, strengthen the construction of employees, expand social employment, and promote the rapid development of the nursing industry. Fourth, strengthen nursing propaganda, actively publicize the achievements and typical experiences in promoting the reform and development of nursing; Establish the emerging advanced nursing deeds and outstanding models, and create a good atmosphere for further promoting the healthy development of nursing cause and nursing industry in the new era.

Liu Zhefeng:

Next, please ask Deputy Director Wen Daxiang to introduce the development of nursing career and elderly nursing service industry in Shanghai.

Wen Daxiang:

Good morning, friends from the media. First of all, it is a great honor to introduce the achievements in the development of nursing in Shanghai, as well as the elderly care and long-term care work on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the implementation of the Nurses Regulations in our country and the upcoming Nurses’ Day this year.

In recent years, the administrative departments of health and family planning at all levels in Shanghai, as well as the medical subjects and medical institutions, have fully implemented the "Regulations on Nurses" and the main tasks put forward by the national and Shanghai nursing career development plan. Shanghai has made remarkable achievements in strengthening the construction of nursing team, promoting high-quality nursing service and expanding the field of nursing service. At the same time, in order to cope with the challenge of aging population, Shanghai has continuously strengthened the management of medical care for the elderly, and gradually explored the formation of an elderly care service system consisting of institutional care, community care and home care. I will introduce the work in Shanghai from two aspects. First, I will introduce the achievements in the development of nursing in Shanghai.

From the height of building a well-off society in an all-round way and improving people’s health level, Shanghai has combined the development of nursing with the development plan of Shanghai’s medical and health undertakings. According to the spirit of the outline of the national development plan for nursing undertakings and related documents, combined with the actual development of nursing undertakings in Shanghai, it has studied and formulated the implementation plan for the development of nursing undertakings in Shanghai, and strengthened organizational leadership to ensure the effectiveness of the work. At the same time, actively promote the health and family planning administrative departments at all levels and medical and health institutions to comprehensively and thoroughly implement the provisions of the Nurses Regulations, effectively protect and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of nurses, and standardize the practice of nursing. In this process, the nursing career in Shanghai has developed rapidly.

(1) The number of nurses has increased and the knowledge structure has been optimized.

The number of nurses in Shanghai has grown rapidly. By the end of 2017, the number of registered nurses had reached 84,000, an increase of more than 72% compared with 2008. According to the statistics of resident population, the number of nurses per thousand population increased from 2.58 in 2008 to 3.47 in 2017, and the ratio of practicing (assistant) doctors to registered nurses increased from 1.05: 1 in 2008 to 1: 1.23 in 2017. In addition, in terms of structure, the proportion of nurses with college degree or above in Shanghai’s nursing team has increased year by year. By the end of 2017, nurses with college degree or above in Shanghai have accounted for 83.54% of the total registered nurses, and a large number of highly educated and high-quality nurses have enriched the clinical front line, laying a solid foundation for promoting the development of nursing career and the progress of nursing medicine in Shanghai.

(two) the professional and technical level of nurses has been significantly improved.

Shanghai has continuously strengthened the training of clinical specialized nurses and improved the professional level of nurses. In intensive care, blood purification, emergency and first aid and other 11 key areas with high requirements for specialized nursing knowledge and skills, professional nurses’ competency training was carried out. Cultivate higher-level specialized nurses with professional development ability. At present, Shanghai has trained nearly 12,000 clinical nursing backbones. In addition, the international training of nurses has been continuously strengthened, and the training funds for nurses have been greatly increased. In the past five years, all kinds of medical institutions at all levels in the city have sent nurses abroad for training, including studying for master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing abroad, which has exceeded 10,000 person-times.

(3) The quality of nursing service has been further promoted and the quality of nursing has been continuously improved.

Since 2010, Shanghai has started the "Demonstration Project of Quality Nursing Service" and gradually promoted the deepening of this work. At present, all secondary and tertiary hospitals in the city have achieved full coverage of quality nursing services, and community health service centers are also actively carrying out quality nursing with community characteristics. Since the end of 2016, Shanghai has actively promoted the radiation of high-quality nursing resources to the grassroots, further exerted the radiation effect of high-quality nursing resources in tertiary hospitals in this city, extended high-quality nursing services, and improved the nursing service capacity of grassroots medical and health institutions in the city. There are 11 hospitals, 37 wards and 63 individuals in Shanghai who have won the titles of former National Health and Family Planning Commission, state administration of traditional chinese medicine Advanced Hospital for Quality Nursing Service, Advanced Ward and Advanced Individual. In addition, since 1996, a nursing quality control center has been established in Shanghai, and a perfect two-level nursing quality control network has been established in the urban area. The city has unified the nursing management system of various medical institutions, studied and formulated seven general nursing quality control standards and five specialized nursing quality control standards such as pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology. At present, more than 30 nursing quality control standards in Shanghai have been included in national related standards. By establishing nursing quality control standards, establishing nursing quality information data platform and database, constructing nursing quality index system, organizing nursing management training and full coverage of nursing quality control supervision in medical institutions above the second level. Shanghai’s nursing quality and service ability have been continuously improved. Through the third-party satisfaction measurement, the average patient satisfaction in Shanghai hospitals in the past three years has been above 93%.

(D) The level of hospital nursing management and the ability of long-term nursing service have been continuously improved.

In accordance with the national requirements for deepening medical reform and nursing reform and development, Shanghai has continuously reformed and innovated nursing management system and mechanism, actively explored nursing human resource management, continuous improvement of nursing quality, improvement of performance appraisal and salary distribution, strengthened positive guidance and encouragement, fully mobilized the enthusiasm of clinical nurses, and strived to achieve scientific, professional and refined hospital nursing management. The long-term nursing service capacity of medical institutions has also been further enhanced, paying more attention to the continuous care and rehabilitation of patients. Medical institutions at all levels provide continuing nursing services by carrying out nursing clinics, organizing health education salons, home nursing and other forms, which meet the increasingly diversified health service needs of the masses and broaden the development space for nurses.

(5) Accelerate the reform of nursing education, and promote the academic exchange and discipline development of nursing.

With the goal of cultivating high-level nursing practical talents, Shanghai has carried out the training of undergraduate, master and doctoral nursing students. At present, there are 6 colleges and universities of nursing undergraduate education in the city, 5 independent nursing master’s programs and 3 doctoral programs. In the past three years, 199 masters of nursing and 20 doctors of nursing have been trained. In addition, Shanghai has continuously strengthened cooperation and exchanges with other provinces and cities in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as international nursing colleagues. By building brand academic exchange platforms at the municipal level, such as Shanghai International Nursing Conference and Shanghai International Nursing Forum, Shanghai has learned from advanced experience at home and abroad and promoted the development concept and model to be in line with international standards. In terms of the construction of nursing discipline, Shanghai regards nursing discipline as the most important discipline in the city, and it is also an important and weak discipline that needs to be supported. The municipal finance provides special funding, and medical institutions at all levels have set up special funds for nursing, or regard nursing discipline as the key specialty of hospitals, so that the status of nursing discipline has been continuously improved.

Second, the situation of elderly care and long-term care in Shanghai

As we all know, Shanghai is one of the earliest cities in China with an aging population, and the social speed of aging population in Shanghai is very fast and the degree is very high. By the end of 2017, the elderly over 60 accounted for 33.2% of the registered population in Shanghai, and the elderly aged 80 and over accounted for 5.5% of the total. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of urban aging care services, under the principle of paying equal attention to government-led and market-driven and optimizing the distribution of regional health resources, Shanghai has continuously strengthened the management of medical care for the elderly, and the ability and level of medical care for the elderly have been significantly improved.

(A) to strengthen the elderly medical care service system.

Since the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", Shanghai has continued to implement the policy of increasing the number of beds for elderly medical care. Through the combination of stock consolidation and moderate development increment, the number of nursing beds for the elderly will be gradually increased. On the one hand, the existing treatment beds in public secondary medical institutions and community health service centers are gradually transformed into nursing beds. In 2013, Shanghai issued the "Implementation Opinions on Setting Elderly Care Beds in District and County General Hospitals", requiring that all district general hospitals set no less than an average of 50 elderly care beds. For district general hospitals with elderly care beds, a one-time subsidy of 10,000 yuan per bed was given through the Shanghai Welfare Lottery Public Welfare Fund. On the other hand, encourage and support the establishment of nursing institutions for the elderly and encourage diversified development of nursing stations. In 2016, Shanghai has issued the "Shanghai Nursing Station Management Standard" and the "Notice on Encouraging Social Forces to Develop Nursing Stations" to promote the extension of medical care services to communities and families and meet the people’s growing demand for basic medical care services. In 2017, Shanghai studied and formulated the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for the Development of Elderly Medical Care Service System in Shanghai", which further explicitly requested to increase the supply of elderly care service resources in this city and improve the level of elderly medical care services. By the end of 2017, there were 26,599 beds for elderly medical care in the city. There are 46 nursing homes in the city, of which 9 are run by the government and 37 by the society, with 7913 beds. There are 108 nursing stations in the city, of which 9 are run by the government and 99 by the society.The number of elderly medical nursing beds set up by social capital in the city has reached 6051, accounting for 22.7% of the total.

(2) Explore the establishment of a long-term care insurance system.

In 2013, Shanghai has explored the pilot work of the medical care security plan for the elderly. Since January 2017, Shanghai, as one of the first 15 cities in China to carry out long-term care insurance pilots, has piloted the long-term care insurance system in Xuhui, Putuo and Jinshan, and achieved initial results. According to the deployment of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, the pilot project of long-term insurance protection will be carried out in the city from January 1, 2018. For the long-term disabled people who have reached a certain level of nursing needs after assessment, providing services or financial guarantee for their basic life care and medical care closely related to their basic life not only provides urgently needed long-term nursing services for the long-term disabled elderly, but also effectively reduces their economic burden. According to the unified division of labor in the whole city, the Shanghai Health and Family Planning Department will make great efforts to promote the formulation of evaluation standards, carry out the management of evaluation institutions, the training of evaluators and the quality management of evaluation together with the people’s society and the civil affairs department, strengthen the construction of service institutions such as social nursing stations, strengthen the construction of evaluators and nursing staff, and cooperate with relevant departments to study and formulate relevant supporting policies. By the end of 2017, Shanghai has carried out more than 80,000 evaluations in the city according to the evaluation standards.

(three) to further promote the family doctor system and the combination of medical care.

Shanghai has continuously promoted the construction of the family doctor system, actively explored the signing of "1+1+1" medical institutions, and made the elderly group the focus and priority object of signing services. As of April 23, 2018, the number of "1+1+1" contracted permanent residents in the city has reached 3.92 million, including 2.77 million elderly people over 60 years old. The signing rate of elderly people over 60 years old exceeds 60%, and 73% of the contracted residents’ outpatient visits occur in the "1+1+1" medical institution portfolio. Among them, 52% of the contracted clinics took place in the community health service centers with which they signed contracts. In order to further promote the combination of medical care and nursing care, Shanghai regards community health service centers as an important platform to provide health services for the elderly. At present, the workload of community health service centers for the elderly accounts for about 60% of the total workload, and the service rates of community health service centers with pension institutions and foster care institutions in the city have achieved full coverage.

During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, Shanghai will accelerate the construction of a healthy city and strive to become an Asian medical center city. Shanghai’s nursing work will also fully implement the spirit of the 19th Party Congress, implement the health and health work policy in the new era, and further strengthen the nursing team around the overall requirements of the China Nursing Development Plan (2016-2020) and the Shanghai Nursing Development Implementation Plan (2017-2020). Here, finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my high respect and holiday greetings to angels in white people all over the country. Thank you.

Liu Zhefeng:

Next, please ask Director Wu Xinjuan to introduce the work progress from the front line in deepening the field of quality nursing.

Wu Xinjuan:

Dear media friends, good morning, first of all, I am entrusted by President Zhao Yupei, and on behalf of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all sectors of society who have long cared for and supported the development and construction of Union Medical College. Below I will briefly introduce some measures and achievements of Peking Union Medical College Hospital in deepening quality nursing service and enhancing patients’ sense of acquisition.

First, the general situation of hospitals and nursing work

Peking Union Medical College Hospital is the national guidance center for the diagnosis and treatment of difficult and severe diseases designated by the National Health and Wellness Committee. It has been ranked first in the "Best Hospital Ranking in China" published by the Institute of Hospital Management of Fudan University for eight consecutive years. In another three years, Peking Union Medical College Hospital will celebrate its centenary birthday. Under the cordial care of the party and the country, it will improve patient satisfaction by "treating patients like relatives; Under the guidance of the concept of "treating colleagues like family members and improving employee well-being", the hospital continues to develop at a high speed. Now there are 2,005 open beds with a total construction area of 530,000 square meters. In 2017, there were 3.7 million outpatient visits, 99,000 hospitalizations and 52,000 surgeries, with an average hospitalization day of 6.7 days.

Nurses are the backbone of hospital development and construction. There are 1806 nurses in the hospital, including 1775 front-line nurses, accounting for 98.3%; Bed protection ratio is 1: 0.9; Nurses with bachelor degree or above accounted for 72.8%. Xiehe Nursing has established a good reputation in the hearts of ordinary people, ranking among the best in all previous national and Beijing third-party patient satisfaction surveys, and won the honors of National March 8th Red Flag Group, Women’s Civilized Post, and "National Excellent Nursing Service Outstanding Performance Group", and won the Top Ten Value Cases of Nursing in the National Challenge Competition of Medical Service Improvement Action Plan for three consecutive years.

Second, do a good job in top-level design, and continue to promote the power of the whole hospital.

In 2010, the hospital took the lead in developing high-quality nursing service in the whole country. Dean Zhao Yupei attached great importance to this work, and always listed it as a "top-ranking project", and established a cooperative communication mechanism among various departments to solve the difficulties and problems in nursing work. Continue to exert strength in all aspects such as people and property. In recent five years, more than 400 new nurses recruited by our hospital have all been assigned to the clinical front line, and nearly 400 nurses have been employed by the hospital to assist nurses, and the logistics support system has been continuously improved and perfected, such as visit management, field service, equipment inspection, drug delivery, etc., all of which are undertaken by the logistics support system, so that nurses can devote themselves to clinical work wholeheartedly. Continuously improve nurses’ welfare benefits, increase the inclination in performance bonus and night shift fee, set up three types of special performance allowances for nursing, implement paid vacation system, provide dormitories for nurses outside Beijing and suburban counties, actively apply for public rental housing for young people and study and study opportunities abroad, etc., and increase nurses’ happiness.

According to the principle of "top-level design is unified with batch promotion, and tradition is unified with reform and innovation", high-quality nursing service is promoted efficiently. In 2011, 100% ward coverage of quality care was achieved; In 2012, the hospital coverage of ward-outpatient-auxiliary departments was realized; After 2013, we will continue to consolidate and improve, focusing on the post management, personnel training and quantitative assessment of nurses, so as to continuously improve the nursing service ability and refined management level.

Third, continuously improve the service level and increase the people’s sense of gain.

Advocate the service concept of "six ones and six haves" in the whole hospital, carry out the theme activities of "cleaning and quietness" to optimize the medical environment and the activities of changing nurses’ "four hearts", and strengthen the detailed service and humanistic care, such as implementing the responsibility system of first inquiry in outpatient department, seeing doctors in different periods, carrying out voluntary service and setting up special windows for the elderly to facilitate patients to see a doctor. The emergency department took the lead in establishing five-level triage standards, red card procedures for emergencies, and evaluation standards for the transfer of critically ill patients, and opened green channels for multiple diseases to ensure priority treatment for critically ill patients. Wards, operating rooms, etc. fully implement the responsibility system of holistic nursing, establish a one-to-one relationship between nurses and patients, and realize the whole process and seamless nursing of patients from admission, hospitalization, surgery and discharge. Enrich health education and expand extended nursing. Disseminate health knowledge to patients and the public through diversified propaganda manuals, videos, WeChat official account, health lecture halls and popular science lectures; 100% wards have carried out continuous nursing services with distinctive specialties, including telephone or APP follow-up, patients’ meeting, etc., so that the nursing objectives of "close to patients, close to clinic and close to society" can be fully implemented in Xiehe.

Fourth, continuously optimize the quality of nursing and increase the trust of the masses.

Taking system construction as the center to ensure nursing quality and safety. Xiehe Nursing has established a set of nursing system that meets the requirements of modern hospital management characteristics, and this achievement won the first prize of 2017 Hospital Science and Technology Innovation Award of China Hospital Association. Among them, the core safety management systems such as Clinical Nursing Routine and Quality and Safety System require every nurse to master them skillfully and strictly implement them to ensure standardization and homogenization of work. Focusing on the construction of specialized subject, creating excellent nursing quality. As a national center for diagnosis and treatment of difficult and severe diseases and the first batch of national key clinical nursing specialty projects, Concord has continuously improved the nursing level of difficult and severe patients. In recent five years, a total of 187 nurses have been sent abroad for further study, and more than 300 specialized nurses have been trained in 17 specialties or special technical fields to be responsible for the nursing and consultation of difficult and severe patients in the hospital. Nine specialized nursing teams have been set up, and more than 600 specialized nursing backbones have been trained. They are based on clinical practice and go deep into the community, which has promoted the nursing level of hospitals and regions. Eight specialized nursing clinics were opened to provide patients with professional consultation and specialized treatment. In 2017, in order to accurately meet the national second child opening policy, breast-feeding clinics and female pelvic floor rehabilitation clinics were newly opened, serving 9,937 pregnant women in 2017 alone. At present, the nursing level of seven specialties in Concord has reached or exceeded the domestic or international advanced level. Through the formulation of standards, norms and consensus, the quality of nursing in China will be promoted.For example, our hospital has taken the lead in formulating the Technical Operation Standard of Intravenous Therapy and Nursing, the Consensus of Hospital Transport Nursing for Critical Patients, and the Consensus of Nursing Experts on Common Complications of Bedridden Patients, which has fully played the role of radiation and driving of Concord.

The party, the government and the masses have given many honors to Concord and Concord Nursing, which we cherish all the more. Standing in the new era, Concord will base itself on the new needs of the people, constantly explore and innovate, strive to provide better all-round and life-cycle nursing services for the people, and make new and greater contributions to realizing the grand blueprint of healthy China. thank you

Liu Zhefeng:

Thank you, Director Wu. That’s all for the release session, followed by the question session. As usual, please inform your media before asking questions.

Health News reporter:

My question is that nurses are playing an increasingly important role in nursing work under the new situation of implementing the healthy China strategy and actively coping with the aging population in China. May I ask Director Jiao, what are the plans of the National Health and Wellness Committee in accelerating the development of aged care and aged care?

Jiao Yahui:

Thank you for your question. At present, we are facing a great challenge, that is, the problem of aging population. In China, according to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, there are about 240 million elderly people over 60 and 160 million elderly people over 65, and some of them are disabled and semi-disabled. If families have such disabled and semi-disabled elderly people, the burden is very heavy for families. On the one hand, it is an economic burden. In fact, the greater burden is to care for these elderly people.

The National Health and Wellness Committee will start with solving the most urgent medical care problem for the elderly and is studying relevant policies. In the next step, on the one hand, we will continue to consolidate the achievements made in nursing, implement the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" for nursing, continue to strengthen the construction of nurses, expand quality nursing services, and gradually meet the health needs of patients. Although the number of nurses in China has reached 3.8 million at present, the gap between supply and demand is still relatively large, and the contradiction between unbalanced and insufficient development and social needs is more prominent in the nursing field. Therefore, the next step is to do a good job in elderly care and elderly care, focusing on solving several problems. One is to solve the problem of who will take care of it. According to the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", by 2020, the number of nurses in China will reach 4.5 million. Now we also propose to extend nursing services from hospitals to communities and families. On the one hand, we should vigorously develop the number of nurses, on the other hand, we should vigorously strengthen the team building of elderly nurses. Therefore, to develop medical care for the elderly, we must first solve the problem of who takes care of it.

Second, we need to solve the problem of who to take care of. We now have 240 million elderly people aged 60, including health of the elderly, some elderly people with chronic diseases, and disabled and semi-disabled elderly people. We are formulating standards for the evaluation of elderly care. Just now, Director Wen also introduced that evaluation standards have been issued in many places, that is, whether the elderly can take care of themselves, whether they can take care of themselves in part or not, and they need to be evaluated. Through evaluation, it is decided whether these elderly people need institutional care. In this different way, he may pay through different channels. In medical institutions, he may need to be paid by medical insurance, and some in institutions or communities may be paid by long-term care insurance. There are also some ways to solve the problem of paying part of the expenses at home by developing commercial insurance models. This is to solve the problem of who to care for.

The third is to solve the problem of taking care of there. At present, some elderly people in the country are receiving rehabilitation in medical institutions, as well as nursing care for chronic diseases, as well as some nursing centers, nursing homes and nursing stations. There are also many elderly people receiving some medical care here, and there are also some nursing homes. Another policy that we are vigorously promoting is the well-known combination of medical care and nursing care. Some elderly people are in old-age care institutions, and we encourage old-age care institutions to set up some medical institutions to solve the problem of combining medical care and nursing care. In addition, our primary medical and health institutions and our community health service centers provide community care and home care for the elderly by signing contracts, setting up family beds and providing on-site services. There are also some elderly people who need our standardized and trained nursing staff to provide some home care services at home. Judging from the national conditions of our country, institutional care is not our main direction. In the future, the main body and main mode of care for these elderly people should be the community and family, especially in the community. Now many places are exploring mutual support for the elderly. In cities, there are such concentrated apartments and communities for the elderly, and in rural areas, there are "happy homes" for the elderly as promoted by civil affairs departments, as well as mutual support for the elderly. In the vicinity of village clinics, village doctors provide daily health services. This is the solution.

The fourth is to solve the problem of who will pay for the care, that is, to raise funds. We know that when it comes to long-term medical care, learning from the experience of other countries, such as Japan, has done a very good job in this regard. Besides medical insurance, there is also long-term care insurance, which is to solve the problem of long-term medical care for the elderly in Japan. Our country is led by the human and social departments, and some cities in the country are also selected to do the pilot project of long-term care insurance, which solves the problem of long-term medical care cost burden to some extent. Of course, the mode of each place and the channels for raising funds are not exactly the same.

Besides long-term care insurance, we also think that commercial insurance should be vigorously developed in China, which is also a very important source of financing. Through some commercial insurance companies, insurance products for long-term care and care of the elderly can be developed to play a supplementary role. So I think, in the next step, we should focus on solving these four problems in medical care for the elderly. Now we are also actively studying relevant policies, and we are also preparing to work with relevant departments to formulate relevant guiding documents, so as to vigorously promote the solution of our elderly medical care problems in the next step. Thank you.

Xinhua News Agency reporter:

My question is for Director Wu Xinjuan. Excuse me, from the perspective of your own work, what role do you think nursing can play in ensuring the health service of ordinary people throughout their life cycle? What do you think of Peking Union Medical College Hospital’s fine and professional management of nursing team? Thank you.

Wu Xinjuan:

It should be said that nurses are the closest group to patients, and the whole process of human birth, aging, illness and death is inseparable from nurses. Therefore, the level of care is good or bad, which directly affects the patient’s safety and medical experience. In the life-cycle health service of the people, it should be said that nurses are indispensable. With the arrival of China’s aging society and the change of disease spectrum, nursing is expanding both in connotation and extension. In order to improve the nursing level, I think we should do it from two aspects: first, improve the service level; The second is to improve professional ability. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of nursing connotation and the training of nurses themselves, to provide patients with warm care, and to improve the professional and technical level of nurses. At present, China has trained many specialized nurses, who have played a very important role in solving difficult and serious problems.

In addition, there are more and more chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes, and the incidence rate is getting higher and higher. Therefore, nurses should also play an important role in popular science propaganda and health education. Yesterday, the Chinese Nursing Association held a celebration meeting for the International Nurses’ Day, which was also the launching ceremony for the popularization of health science in China. More than 3.8 million nurses in China should be very good propagandists of health science. In the past, nursing service was disease-centered, but now it is going to be human health-centered. To make the public healthier, it is very important to do a good job in disease prevention and develop a healthy lifestyle. In the hospital, we provide health education for patients at all stages, such as health guidance before operation, after operation and before and after discharge. In addition, various forms of continuing nursing services have been carried out, because many patients have not fully recovered when they leave the hospital. In this case, the guidance of nurses needs to be extended to families or referral medical institutions, thus reducing the rate of re-visit after discharge.

On the other hand, it is how to sink the quality nursing service resources. Large hospitals should play a very good role in transferring advanced concepts and technologies to primary medical institutions. At present, we have also carried out a series of work such as aiding Xinjiang, Tibet and Mongolia, and carried out accurate assistance according to the needs of grassroots and remote areas. At the same time, as a national training base, Peking Union Medical College Hospital trains more than 800 advanced nurses for the whole country every year, which plays a very good role in promoting radiation. I also hope that through our efforts, we can jointly promote the construction of a healthy China. Thank you.

Liu Zhefeng:

Thank you, Director Wu. Please keep asking questions.

Reporter of the People’s Political Consultative Conference:

My question is for Director Wen in Shanghai. When you introduced the materials just now, you said that from the end of 2016, our nursing work and high-quality nursing resources in Shanghai began to tilt to the grassroots. What effect has it achieved now? What is the original intention of our work? Thank you.

Wen Daxiang:

Thank you for your question. With the aging of the population, chronic diseases are on the rise. Grassroots medical and health institutions should play a more important role in chronic care, disease rehabilitation, home care and pre-hospital first aid. Therefore, in order to continuously and deeply promote high-quality nursing, implement the requirements of graded diagnosis and treatment, and further improve the service capacity of primary care in Shanghai, from the end of 2016, we have actively explored the sinking and radiation of high-quality nursing resources in tertiary hospitals to primary care, with the main purpose of improving the overall service capacity of primary care. There are various forms. At present, we help and drive primary medical and health institutions to improve their nursing service capabilities, including nursing management capabilities and clinical nursing technical service capabilities, through professional skills training, thematic nursing rounds, consultation with suspected and particularly difficult nursing experts, clinical nursing and advanced nursing management, etc., and gradually hope that primary nursing capabilities and our hospitals at the next higher level will develop in the same direction.

From the work that has been carried out and some achievements have been made, I will introduce them to you through some data. In 2017, Shanghai tertiary hospitals organized 169 special trainings, with nearly 7,000 primary nursing staff trained and 91 community nursing rounds, with more than 1,000 participants. In addition, 214 nursing consultations were organized and 240 nurses from community health service centers were accepted. Through these specific practices, the sinking of high-quality nursing resources in tertiary hospitals has been effectively realized, the core competence of nursing professional care in primary medical and health institutions has been enhanced, and the balance of medical and nursing resources utilization has been promoted, so that elderly patients and chronic patients can get high-quality and continuous nursing care.

At the end of 2017, Shanghai put forward the implementation opinions on strengthening the construction of medical complexes in this city. In the next step, through the construction of medical complexes, including the construction of regional medical centers and the construction of specialist alliances, the focus of nursing disciplines will be included in the construction of these medical complexes, so as to promote the further sinking of high-quality resources and play a better role in radiation. Thank you.

Liu Zhefeng:

Thank you, director Wen. Due to time, today’s press conference is over. Thank you.