In September 2016 three TWU Nursing faculty were invited to Zhengzhou in Henan Province to explore possibilities for nursing exchanges between Canada and China. Dr. Sonya Grypma, Dr. Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham and Dr. Barb Astle spent three days visiting various sites, including the Henan Provincial People’s Hospital and two university nursing schools, in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng. This opportunity was envisioned and organized by Dr. David and Maria Yang of Langley, BC and Dr. Gu Jiangqin, Executive President of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital.
Established in 1928 the Henan Provincial People’s Hospital is one of 16 public hospitals in China with more than 3000 beds. The hospital has been rapidly expanding in recent years, as has the demand for nursing education and professional development. In addition to touring the various hospital buildings and specific units—including a cardiac unit, intensive care unit and private wards—the TWU nursing faculty were invited to provide presentations to audiences of nurses, many of who were current masters or PhD students.
In both Zhengzhou and Kaifeng the nursing audiences were receptive and asked insightful questions. Dr. Grypma’s presentations focused on Nursing Education in Canada. As a nurse historian whose initial research was centered on Canadian missionary nursing in Henan province, she also spoke to the long-standing relationship between nurses in Henan and Canada. Dr. Reimer-Kirkham’s presentations focused on Canadian Health Care and Nursing Policy, providing an overview of health care services and the importance of nursing policies that enhance the health of Canadians and further the profession of nursing. Dr. Astle’s presentations also focused on the Canadian Health Care system, with a focus on the role of the Canada Health Act, the different levels of health care delivery, and the social determinants of health.
As China continues its rapid development, it is faced with complex challenges related to care of an aging population, rising health care costs, the development of a stable health care workforce, and the need for expanded community and home health services. Particularly inspiring were the nursing leaders, young and old, who demonstrated an impressive depth of intelligence, commitment, compassion and vision for the future – including our host, Dai Fu Min, Professor and Executive Director (Nursing) at Henan Provincial Hospital. We are now making plans to co-host some of these established and emerging leaders at TWU in Fall 2017.
Dr. Grypma invited as Keynote Speaker at PUMC in Beijing
In September Dr. Sonya Grypma was invited to Beijing, China to give the Keynote Address for the 2016 International Nursing Academic Forum at the Peking Union Medical College School of Nursing. The nursing conference, with approximately 500 delegates mostly from different regions of China, was held in honor of the 95th anniversary of PUMC nursing.
Peking Union Medical College was an elite, world-class university established by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1917. The Rockefeller Foundation supported nursing in China through the creation of a first-rate baccalaureate nursing program at PUMC, in 1921, while simultaneously providing nursing fellowships for highly qualified Chinese nurses to study at prestigious universities in the West. The most recognizable nursing leaders in China were graduates of the PUMC.
Dr. Grypma, Dean and Professor of Nursing at Trinity Western University, is recognized for her expertise in China nursing history and Canadian missionary nursing history. She is currently researching PUMC nursing during the war against Japan.
Dr. Grypma’s talk in Beijing was entitled “Early Development of Nursing in China.” It focused on three stages of nursing in China: (1) Introduction of Nursing (1884-1919: Nursing as Christian Service); (2) Professionalization (1914-1937: Developing a Chinese Nursing Elite) and (3) Patriotism (1937-1949: Nursing as Patriotic Service).
“The relationship between China, Canada and the United States is a long one,” Dr Grypma notes. “Although western nurses left China when Mao Zedong came to power in 1949, the effect of the deep relationships and transnational networks are still felt in professional nursing today.
“It was a privilege to ‘bring back’ some of the early stories of nursing to Beijing, to an audience that already has an intimate understanding of the persons and places I’ve been studying all these years … and to be told afterwards that I helped to bring a new, more comprehensive perspective on the transnational nature of early nursing in China.”
