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The Social Welfare Department (SWD) today (June 15) invited applications for admission to a two-year full-time welfare-oriented Enrolled Nurse (General) Training Programme.
The programme, providing 220 places, will run in two classes beginning on December 7, 2009, and March 1, 2010.
"We have commissioned the Hospital Authority to provide the Enrolled Nurse (General) Training Programme to alleviate the shortage of nurses in the welfare sector with a view to enhancing the quality of care services," a Social Welfare Department spokesman said.
"Since 2005, the department has organised four such training programmes. In view of the encouraging response from applicants and the need for more trained nurses to serve in the welfare sector, the department continues to organise the enrolled nurse training programme," he said.
The programme aims to prepare graduates to become competent, caring professional nurses through strong clinical and practical emphasis on providing health care for clients in the welfare sector. It covers a wide range of subjects including personal and communal health, psychology, first-aid and emergency care, food and nutrition, medical and surgical nursing, pharmacology, geriatric nursing, psychiatry and related nursing. The training programme will be conducted in Hospital Authority nursing schools, with clinical placement arranged in Hospital Authority hospitals and welfare settings.
"Applicants must have attained the age of 18 by the time the training programme begins and must have completed Form five in Hong Kong or equivalent," the spokesman said.
"To encourage existing frontline staff in the welfare sector to upgrade their skills, priority will be given to applicants who are currently working full time in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or private organisations providing elderly, rehabilitation, family and child care, youth or correctional services. Individuals not working in the welfare sector but aspiring to start a career as enrolled nurses in the welfare sector will also be considered," he said.
The department will fully subsidise each trainee by waiving the tuition fee of $50,000 for the whole course. Each selected candidate is required to sign an undertaking to indicate his/her readiness to be employed as Enrolled Nurse (General) in the welfare sector providing elderly, rehabilitation, family and child care, or correctional services operated by NGOs or private organisations for a continuous period of no less than two years after satisfactory completion of the training. If they breach these terms, the trainee will have to repay the tuition fees in full or in part to the Social Welfare Department.
The Guide to Applications and application form for the training course can be obtained from the headquarters or the District Social Welfare Offices of the department or downloaded from "Thematic Events" or "What's New" on the Social Welfare Department's homepage (http://www.swd.gov.hk). Applications will close on July 31. For enquiries, please contact the course hotline on 2110 1495.
Ends/Monday, June 15, 2009
Issued at HKT 11:05
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