From January 9 to 10, 2024, the Nursing Department of Shanghai Mental Health Center (SMHC) held a China-UK nursing academic forum with the theme of "Innovation, Collaboration and Development". The forum aimed to promote the development of Psychiatric Nursing and to further bring clinical nursing practice and scientific research in line with international standards.
The forum was held in the first conference room on the 5th floor of Building 1 of Xuhui Campus of SMHC. Prof. Yang Shao and Prof. Chunbo LiVice Presidents of SMHC, Zhongying Shi, Director of the Nursing Department, Lin Wang, Director of Humanities Teaching and Research Department of the School of Nursing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and her team attended the event as representatives from the Chinese side. Professor Fiona M. Nolan, Chairman of the Mental Health Nurse Academics in UK, and Dr. Fang Wang, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of University of Surrey in UK, attended the event as British representatives. In addition, Ping Dong, Li Li, and Weiwei Huang, all of whom are Deputy Directors of the Nursing Department, and young nurse leaders of the nursing department in SMHC participated in this forum, which was chaired by Li Li, the Deputy Director.
At the beginning of the forum, Prof. Yang Shao, the Vice President, delivered a welcome speech, welcoming Professor Nolan and Dr. Fang Wang to SMHC and expressing the promising vision of strengthening China-UK cooperation and exchange in mental and psychological nursing. After that, Prof. Chunbo Li, the Vice President, as one of key organisers of this China-UK exchange platform, also expressed the vision of strengthening exchanges and cooperation between the two sides and stressed that the development of nursing discipline could not be separated from the strong combination of universities and hospitals. Further integrated utilization of academic resources will strengthen the faster and better development of mental nursing.
Then, the two sides exchanged views on mental health nursing. First, Zhongying Shi, the Director, gave a detailed introduction to the current situation of nursing in SMHC, shared the achievements of development in the past five years, and expressed hope for in-depth cooperation with the British side. After that, Professor Nolan gave detailed reports on the topics of "Mental healthcare and the role of nurse in England" and "Development of a postgraduate training programme in mental health in low-income country" respectively. Dr. Fang Wang shared her research experience in "cross-cultural theory and depression". In the course of the report, both sides had a full exchange of information.
Afterward, the nurse leaders from the School of Nursing of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Mental Health Center reported their research directions, and briefly communicated with Professor Nolan and Dr. Fang in clinical nursing, nursing management, nurse education and training, nursing scientific research, and so on. After that, the two sides conducted in-depth discussions on subject research, sharing of research results, international training, regular exchanges, and so on.
Finally, the participants took a group photo and the forum came to a successful conclusion.
Through this China-UK forum, an international vision for the continuous innovation of psychiatric nursing in SMHC has been strengthened with new opportunities and challenges. We hereby extend our special thanks to the leaders of SMHC for their concern and strong support of this forum. As the National Center for Mental Disorders, we will continuously expand international resources and actively increase our influence in the future work, and take the discipline of Psychological Nursing to the next level.
