QUT reshaping healthcare in Vietnam: Governor General visit
Resource type: News
Queensland University of Technology | [ View Original Source (opens in new window) ]
Governor-General Ms Quentin Bryce visited the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, last week to mark International Nurses Day. A speech by the Governor-General recognised Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) partnership with Vietnamese universities and nursing organisations to build the capacity of nursing educators in Vietnam.
QUT’s School of Nursing and Midwifery has been working with the University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Hanoi Medical University since 2008 to help train nursing educators and to assist in curriculum development. This work, funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, will reshape the way healthcare is provided in Vietnam.
“Until recently, nurse education in Vietnam was largely in the hands of doctors. This perpetuated the role of nurses as simply being assistants to doctors. While it provided technical education, it was not patient-centred and therefore the quality of patient services was not high,” said QUT’s Dr Yvonne Osborne, who is responsible for working with the Vietnamese universities in the development of their new curriculum.
She said that in Australia nursing education had a far more holistic approach, and this approach was being transferred to their Vietnamese counterparts through the relationships QUT had forged.
The Governor-General visits the nursing laboratory
During her Ho Chi Minh visit, the Governor-General was able to witness the positive impacts of QUT’s work when she observed a nursing class at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The class was being taught by two Vietnamese teaching fellows who spent time at QUT in Brisbane last year learning new teaching methods.
As the visit occurred on International Nurses Day, the Governor-General spoke about the contribution that nurses made to health care worldwide.
“When I think about the theme for International Nurses Day 2011: ‘Closing the gap and increasing access and equity’, it seems to me pertinent to the challenges you face here in Vietnam,” the Governor-General said.
“Inequity is a worldwide problem… As primary healthcare providers, you are essential to improving equity and access to health services, and adding quality to the outcome of care.”
The Governor-General presented plaques to leaders from the Vietnamese partner universities and colleges, recognising their relationship with QUT and their contribution to nurse education in Vietnam.
Professors Helen Edwards and Genevieve Gray and Dr Osborne attended as representatives from QUT’s School of Nursing and Midwifery. Representatives from major hospitals in Vietnam, The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Ministry of Health and the Vietnamese Nurses’ Association were also present.
Media contact: Michaela Ryan, QUT media officer, 07 3138 4494 or michaela.ryan@qut.edu.au
Queensland University of Technology is an Atlantic grantee.