Discuss One Major Barrier and One Facilitator to the Advancement of Nursing Professionalization in Hong Kong

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Introduction

Nowadays, nurses have taken a more and more important role in Hong Kong. This is mainly due to the aging problem (“Aging: a real problem,” 2010) and sudden outbreak of unexpected new diseases like SARS and H7N9 of which large number of nurses are required to equip themselves better with knowledge. In addition, nurses performed as doctors clinically in nurse-led clinics showing that they have critical minds to give instant interpretation on changing condition of patient and it is different from the past that only bedside care is provided. Some basic routine care is transfer to less skilled workers (Wong & Chung, 2006). Nurses are no longer doctors’ assistants. Nurses are also professionals as doctors, occupational therapists and physiotherapists in this medical field. What is professionalization? It is ‘the process through which an occupation achieves professional status’ (Creasia & Parker, 2007). Common attributes of a profession and the relationship between attributes and nursing will be examined under the session of facilitator. There are many facilitators leading to the advancement of nursing professionalization. International Council of Nurses, Geneva (2007) stated that quality workplaces equal quality patient care. Aiken et al. (2011) stated that better educated nurses with bachelor degree also shows better patient outcome. Other factors include evidence-based nursing practice, the emergence of new opportunities like nurse consultants and nurse-led clinic, and autonomy. On the other hand, there are also numerous barriers hinder the betterment of professionalization. These include different routes that lead to registered nurse licensure, shortage of nurses, emotional burnout, horizontal violence, low political participation, workplace violence and gender issues. In this paper, evidence-based practice and shortage of nurse are

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