Malaysian Government funds Nurse Tutor visit

From the left: Nurse Tutors Pathmavathi Annqmalai; Esther Wong; Sia Seng Mui; Vicknespari Subramaniam; Han Sui Lan; Beatrice Freni Affrin.

The group consisted of specialists from oncology, renal and midwifery funded by the Malaysian government to develop further their understanding of educational management, career structures, practice developments and nurse academia in the UK. During their stay, they managed visits to several hospitals, including Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College Hospital, St George’s Hospital and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

The Nurse Tutors reported enthusiastically on the success of their trip, many of whom had not been to the UK before. They noted many differences between the Malaysian and UK systems, most noticeably that Malaysian nurses are generally less qualified than in the UK (although they are working towards a degree only profession) and nurses in Malaysia have less autonomy than their UK counterparts in decision making.

The Nurse Tutors have returned to Malaysia with many ideas to improve their existing systems. Sia Seng Mui (pictured third from the left) was especially impressed with the School’s Sign-Off Mentorship scheme. This is where nurses act as mentors to nursing students in clinical settings and use NMC standards to support learning and assessment in practice. Sia Seng Mui, who works in oncology, was keen to propose this idea on her return. Lecturer-practitioner roles, where nurses share their time between an educational role and practice, impressed Vicknespari Subramaniam, a Nurse Tutor specialising in renal nursing. This system currently does not exist in Malaysia and was seen by the group as an excellent bridge between the Malaysian ministry, which governs education, and the separate services offered by hospitals.

On top of important educational visits, the Malaysian team managed to squeeze in sightseeing trips around the capital and outings to historic sights in York, Cambridge and Scotland. They even managed to get as far afield as Paris. The team expressed their appreciation of all the help and organisation the School, and especially Dr Louise Barriball, offered.