Report on the 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The 18th AGM together with the Scientific Meeting and annual dinner was held on 12th March 2004 at the Royal Pacific Hotel & Towers. It was a very successful, enjoyable and relaxing event. In the AGM, Dr. LEONG Che-Hung, the Patron of the Society, and the Chairman of the Hospital Authority, congratulated the past accomplishments of the Society. He valued the contributions of nursing to the community and would continue to support the development of nursing as well as nursing education. The Honorable Mr. Michael MAK, the Honorary Advisor of the Society, and Legislative Councillor had spoken on his vision on the development of nursing.The title of the Scientific Meeting was 'Development of advanced nurse practice in Hong Kong'. The topic was very timely and important in this era. We were honored to have Dr. Susie Lum, the Honorary Advisor of the Society and the Senior Executive Manger (Nursing) of the Hospital Authority, Hong Kong to deliver her speech on the history and development of advanced practice nursing in Hong Kong. Nurses were delighted to find out that the vision of developing advanced practice nursing was originated in the 1980s in Hong Kong. That was way before we could ever think of! It was also revealed that social and environmental changes had further promoted the development of the Advanced Practice Nurse in Hong Kong. Moreover, the contribution of nurse leaders was essential in advancing this movement. As a result of the well-planned strategies made by nurse leaders for supporting nurses in taking up advanced practice roles, further development of Advanced Practice Nurse is promising. The pilot scheme of Advanced Practice Nurse in the Hospital Authority has opened up promotion opportunities for many nurses since last year. Dr. Lum's visionary endeavors in developing and promoting Advanced Practice Nurse was highly regarded by members of the Society.
In addition to the management perspective, the contribution of nurse clinicians to the development of Advanced Practice Nurse was also shared. There were two well-experienced advanced practice nurses sharing their expertise with the audience. Ms LEE Wai-Kuen, a Nurse Specialist at the Queen Mary Hospital, shared her success and difficulties in wound care. Members were amazed to know how Advanced Practice Nurse could make a difference on the patient's life. Another speaker was Ms Rebecca Wong, a Nurse Specialist at the Prince of Wales Hospital. She shared with the audience her experience in advanced practice journey in diabetic care. The audience was impressed by the significant contribution of advanced nursing practice in this area. As the speakers' presentations were so inspiring and thought provoking, they won great applause from the audience.
The meeting was concluded with the supportive remark given by Dr. Leong Che-Hung on the development of Academy of Nursing in regard to advanced nursing practice accreditation. His precise discussion on the issue had left the audience with ample food for thought. We are very appreciative to all the distinguished speakers.
At the annual dinner after the AGM, we were very fortunate to have two groups of talented young singers (who are nursing students and nurses working in the Hospital Authority) singing beautiful songs for us. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to them. The luck draws also gave us lots of funs and excitement.
We are grateful to the Society's Advisors, guests, members and colleagues who participated in the event for their support to the Society. We look forward to having your continuing support and collaboration in the future.