KWNC held a “Distinguished Lecture” on 24 October 2014 and invited Professor Patricia Jackson Allen, paediatric specialist nurse from Yale University of the United States, to share her wealth of experience in paediatric nursing with College members. The Lecture was named “Advanced Practice – Paediatric Nursing Roles”, attracting an attendance of nearly 300 teachers and students.

Professor Allen has been serving in the School of Nursing of Yale University as a programme coordinator of the paediatric nursing programme for ten years. Serving also as a specialist nurse specializing in primary nursing care for children with chronic disease, Professor Allen has accumulated more than thirty years of clinical experience. Her research interests lie in the role development of fresh graduates in paediatric nursing and the roles of specialist nurses. Professor Allen is frequently invited to the United Kingdom, China, Japan and Philippines to deliver lectures in regard to the roles of paediatric specialist nurses and health assessment for children. For the past eight consecutive years, Professor Allen has led her students of Yale University to Hong Kong for taking courses of traditional Chinese medicine.

Professor Allen introduced the career development of advanced practice nurses in the United States by presenting abundant photos and demonstrating the example of her own career development. She also shared with the audience the health assessment techniques for children and adolescents, and introduced the roles of advanced practice nurses in health promotion, disease prevention and health education. Professor Allen emphasized that nursing personnel should lay equal importance on children’s physical and mental development. Through performing detection, assessment and screening as well as offering body check to preschool and school children, potential health problems can be spotted at an early stage and the children or adolescents concerned can be referred to specialist departments for treatment. Approaching the end of the lecture, Professor Allen pointed out the difference between advanced practice nurses and doctors where the former not only take up the role of nurses, but also deploy doctors’ techniques and are able to address patients’ caring needs in a better way.