This article is a brief personal reflection on the ongoing development of professional education and practice in nursing. The reflection and its narratives are anecdotal and are based on the author's recent experience of teaching and working with fellow nursing lecturers in Malaysia in a nursing faculty within a local University. The author has almost 40 years career in nursing, nurse education and curriculum planning in the United Kingdom before her retirement. The study reflects on the key aspects of nursing and nurse education from her wealth of experiences while in the UK, and also highlights some positive and valuable insights gained from her brief experience in Malaysia. She also provides some reflections of the challenges that lie ahead, specifically, the emphasis on feelings and emotions in nursing, that provide the inspiration to continue with passion, dedication, and determination in our ongoing quest in the pursuit of nursing excellence for all the nurses, in practice and in education. This will hopefully and ultimately lead to a higher standard of nursing care for all patients, and continue the long journey towards the unique professional identity that we have been seeking, and that we can all proudly claim to be our own.
Excerpts from the first part of a talk delivered by Dr M K Rajakumar on Dec 4th 1970 at a seminar organised by the Academic Staff Association, University of Malaya.
Universiti Sains Malaysia established it's medical school in 1979, the third medical school in Malaysia after Universiti Malaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. During the time of its establishment, the university was fortunate to witness a revolution in the world of medical education. PBL-based education was one of the most talked about approach in medical education. The University was fortunate to have experienced medical educators with sufficient foresight to start a medical school that has in its philosophy a community-based integrated curriculum utilizing problem-based learning, one of it's main modes of curricular implementation. Over the last 20 years, the medical curriculum has been revised and fine-tuned twice. The first major curriculum review was undertaken in 1995. One major outcome of this review was a firm commitment to continue with it's original philosophy in medical education at the same time introducing several key strategies to enhance the teaching of medical ethics, attitude formation and reaffirming the need for a lean, integrated curriculum which addresses core knowledge, attitude and skills. A more recent review in 2001 took several approaches including getting the input of students to enhance the original philosophy.
A mass CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) teaching programme, believed to be the first in Malaysia, was held at the Dewan Tunku Canselor, University of Malaya (UM) on Saturday, 13th July 1996. Organised by the Resuscitation Committee of University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, this programme was conducted for 200 first year UM students. We describe the organisation of this non-traditional and non-threatening, new CPR teaching programme and propose that this be further developed for the dissemination of CPR skills to our Malaysian public.
Depression and anxiety are common psychological issues among university students, yet many of them hesitate to seek professional help due to stigma. Unfortunately, university curricula often lack self-help strategies to manage these challenges and provide timely support to those in need. To address this gap, we introduced the Psychological Skills Lab (PSL) component in the undergraduate medical curriculum, which emphasizes experiential learning to promote self-determination and autonomy in health promotion. The lab allows active interaction among students, lecturers, and peers through activities like presentations, peer reviews, in session practice, gratitude journals, group discussions, and role plays. PSL helps students develop skills, empathy, mindfulness, and self compassion through regular interactions. This innovative teaching approach raises mental health awareness and empowers students to assist others when required. Thus, by incorporating self-help measures into the curriculum, students are better equipped to manage their emotional well-being while supporting those around them.