The 40th award of the Florence Nightingale Medal has taken place
in Geneva in May 2005. The Florence Nightingale Medal is the highest international
award of the Red Cross Movement for the nursing profession. This award was first
conferred in 1912 in the 9th International Conference of the Red Cross to Florence
Nightingale, an English volunteer nurse.
Once every two years, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) awards
this Medal to nurses and volunteer aides who have demonstrated exceptional commitment,
extraordinary courage, outstanding qualities and exemplary service regardless
of the person's age or experience to help the wounded, sick or disabled, as
well as civilian victims of armed conflict or disaster in times of war or peace.
This year, five Chinese nurses who had made great contributions to the health
care of China were awarded Florence Nightingale medals. A ceremony in which
the medals were presented by the President of the People's Republic of China
Mr. Hu Jintao has taken place in Beijing in mid-July.
Among these five Chinese awardees is Ms. Sylvia Fung Yuk-kuen, the Cluster Manager
of Nursing of the Kowloon West Cluster in the Hong Kong SAR. All the nurses
in Hong Kong are exhilarated by the recognition of her achievement, as this
is the first time that one of our colleagues has been conferred this honour.
Our Editor-in-Chief has conducted an interview with Ms. Fung, in which she has
shared with our readers her experience, inspiration, attitude and commitment
towards the nursing profession. Ms. Fung has set an example for all of us. We
should endeavour to promote the spirit of the Red Cross and further enhance
our professional standard and service quality.
The article "Establishing an Interpersonal Group Therapy Program for Chinese
Women with Postnatal Depression in Hong Kong" in this issue has touched on the
important problems of caring for the local Chinese women with postnatal depression.
The setting up of an interpersonal group therapy programme could be a right
move in our future nursing direction. Our readers will be enlightened on the
important components and the significance of interpersonal group therapy programmes
for the target population.
The recent increasing media coverage of emerging infectious diseases and outbreaks
of recognized contagious illnesses highlights the potential risks that all healthcare
workers now face in their daily work. As a reminder, awareness of the safety
of healthcare workers is of paramount importance since work-acquired infectious
diseases are a realistic threat to all. It should be emphasized that all necessary
precautions should be undertaken in the hospital and clinic environments.
Lai-Fong Ho, Edwin K.W. Tsang, Ivy P. C. Yiu
Issue Editors
第四十屆南丁格爾獎章頒獎禮已於二零零五年五月在日內瓦舉行。南丁格爾獎章的設立始於 一九一二年，由紅十字會在第九屆國際會議頒授予英藉志願護士南丁格爾。自此以後，南丁
格爾獎章成為護理專業的最高國際榮譽獎項。
自南丁格爾獲頒獎章後，紅十宇會國際委員會每兩年一次把南丁格爾獎章頒授予在社會服務 中有獨特貢獻、展現非凡勇氣、具有出色專業素質和堪稱服務楷模的護士和志願人員。獲獎
者不受他們的年齡、或協助傷病殘障人士、武裝衝突、戰禍或天災中之民間受害者的經驗限 制。今年，共有五位中國護士基於他們對中國醫護服務的重大貢獻，獲提名頒授南丁格爾獎
章，頒獎禮於七月中在北京舉行，並由中華人民共和國國家主席胡錦濤先生把獎章頒授給各 獲獎者。
在五位獲獎者中，香港特別行政區九龍西聯網護理總經理馮玉娟護士為其中一員。此為香港 護士第一次獲頒授此獎項，香港各同業亦因馮護士在護理服務中榮獲的認可而心感雀躍。本
刊總編輯亦就此為馮護士做了一次個人專訪。在該次面談中，馮護士與本刊讀者分享了她過 往的護理經驗、對護理專業的熱忱、她的專業態度和對護理專業發展的委身。在此，馮護士
為香港護理同業立下楷模，讓大家繼續努力發揮紅十字會精神，並且進一步增強本港的護理 水準和服務素質。
本期文章『Establishing an Interpersonal Group Therapy Program for Chinese Women with
Postnatal Depression in Hong Kong』充分確立了關顧本地中國婦女產後抑鬱症問題是護理專業 的其中一個重要發展課題，同時亦帶出建立人際治療小組應是未來護理香港婦女產後抑鬱症的一個正確方向。此外，我們的讀者亦可從中獲啟發建立人際治療小組的要素和對目標對象的重要性。
近期傳媒對新的流行傳染病和傳染病爆發日益重視。這充分突出醫護工作人員每天面對的潛在風險；但同樣重要的是醫護工作人員需要警惕，因工作關係而感染傳染病，是醫護工作人員的一個現實的威脅。因此，本刊呼籲所有醫護工作人員不論在醫院或診所工作，均需嚴格
遵守感染預防措施。
何麗芳、曾錦榮、姚寶珠
今期主編