HONG KONG — “When opportunity knocks at your door, grab it for it may never come again!” was my father’s advice when Dean Maria Concepcion Roble offered me in the 80s a doctoral scholarship in the US.
I did not grab it because I gave priority to my family.
Last January, Mr. Opportunity knocked on my door again and without hesitation, I did grab the chance.
My decision brought mixed reactions from my family: “At your age, you will still travel out of the country?” quipped daughter Leah. “How will you manage travelling by yourself?” asked the worried husband.
I assured them my mind was set, and that I was travelling with the other directors of the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing in the Philippines to do benchmarking in three schools of nursing in Hong Kong.
So by 2am of March 7th, 13 of us led by our president, Dean Mary Grace Lacanaria of St. Louis University of Baguio, trekked from all over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to board the PAL flight to Hong Kong. The trip was uneventful, and we arrived here after two hours.
To make nursing education in the Philippines in tune with the ASEAN perspective, this benchmarking activity aimed to accomplish the following objectives: Learn from the best practices of selected nursing schools in Hong Kong along the areas of instruction, clinical supervision, research and extension; Forge linkages for academic collaborations and partnerships in research, faculty-student mobility, faculty development and/or program offering.
We visited three schools of nursing here: The Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, and The Nethersole School of Nursing.
We were met by their administrators, the heads of their nursing laboratories, and some students. They explained to us their varied nursing programs, their best practices, affiliation centers, local, regional, and overseas linkages, research involvement, including their awards and publications; and gave us a tour of their campus, particularly their laboratory facilities.
We were awed by what we saw, heard, and felt, as we went around these three schools of nursing.
They had so much here that we do not have back home, so we listened intently, and noted the salient points. No wonder, they were able to get excellent QS ratings.
Particularly for Nethersole School of Nursing, it ranks No. 1 in Hong Kong, No. 2 in Asia, No. 22 in the world.
At the back of our minds, we comforted ourselves by indulging in wishful thinking. But then, all is not lost, we could duplicate what we have seen/heard by using our resources at home, by collaborating with each other, by strengthening our research capabilities, and above all by putting our trust in God.
Our Hong Kong experience was a great one — it allowed us to broaden our perspective, and to be more vigilant of our ASEAN neighbors and what we could learn from them.
This is the beginning of more journeys to come, the hornets’ nest has been disturbed. So more golden opportunities await us in the near future. More power to ADPCN and to all the Filipino nurses in the world.
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Author’s email: nenita.tayko@foundationU.com
