With increasing demand for health services due to an ageing population, there are shortages of qualified nurses in our society, especially in the welfare sector. To alleviate the shortage of Enrolled Nurses (ENs) (General) in the welfare sector, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has commissioned Tung Wah College (TWC) to provide 150 fully-subsidised places from 2023/2024 to 2027/2028 in respect of the Higher Diploma in Nursing (HD (Nursing)) programme. The HD (Nursing) is a two-year programme offered by TWC to prepare Enrolled Nurses (General) for Hong Kong. 

Under the Training Programme, tuition fees will be reimbursed to the students in full on condition that the students have successfully completed the HD (Nursing) programme and enrolled as Enrolled Nurses with the Nursing Council of Hong Kong (NCHK). Students will be required to sign an undertaking to ensure their employment as Enrolled Nurse (General) in welfare sector for elderly services, rehabilitation, family and child care, youth or correctional services operated by NGOs or private organisations for a continuous period of no less than three years after satisfactory completion of the HD (Nursing). Students will have to repay the tuition fees to the SWD if they are in breach of this term.

TWC has been offering the programme of HD (Nursing) since 2011, and the programme has been included in the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors (SSSDP) funded by the Government for the academic year 2019/2020 to 2022/2023. The programme aims to equip students with professional healthcare knowledge and skills. Students are required to satisfactorily complete a total of 1,680 hours of clinical practicum prior to graduation, in which an extra 80 hours is required to serve in the community and residential care homes for the elderly, to ensure adequate community caring experience acquired by graduates. The programme has been accredited by the Nursing Council of Hong Kong (NCHK). Graduates are eligible to apply for the enrolment as Enrolled Nurses.

Professor Sally Chan, President of TWC, said, “There is a prolonged shortage of nursing manpower in the welfare sector due to the ageing population in Hong Kong, the demand for enrolled nurse is keen following the severe outbreak of the epidemic in residential care homes for the past three years. We would like to extend our gratitude to SWD’s proactive response to the needs of our community by commissioning 750 subsidised places for Enrolled Nurses (General) training under the HD (Nursing) Programme in the coming five years. We highly appreciate SWD’s commitment in joining hands with TWC for nurturing more Enrolled Nurses (General), to attract more talents who aspire to serve the welfare sector to join the social and healthcare industry.”

In the past 12 years, TWC has equipped more than 2,500 nursing graduates through the programmes of Bachelor of Health Science (Honours) in Nursing and HD (Nursing) for addressing the manpower shortage in public hospitals. In the academic year 2023/2024, a total of 680 places from the above two programmes (see the table below) have been eligible for government subsidy following the expansion of the SSSDP to further cover top-up degree programmes. Professor Chan remarked that the subsidy will help relieve financial burdens of students, thus enabling TWC to train up more talents to cater for the development of our society. SWD’s comissioning has reflected the College’s strengths in offerring healthcare education as its programmes are well-recognised by different sectors.

The programme of HD (Nursing) is now open for application and is expected to commence on 4 September 2023. Individuals who are qualified with the entry requirements and have attained the age of 18 by the time of the training programme commences, are welcome to make application on the website of TWC (www.twc.edu.hk). Priority will be accorded to applicants who have successfully completed the two-year Diploma Programme and obtained the diploma under the Navigation Scheme for Young Persons in Care Services (launched since 2015) or under the First-hire-then-train Pilot Scheme (launched from 2013 to 2016) by the SWD; or those who are currently working full-time in non-governmental organisations or private organisations providing elderly, rehabilitation, family and child care, youth or correctional services. Individuals who aspire to start a career as Enrolled Nurses in the welfare sector are also welcome.

A hybrid information seminar on the training programme will be held at King’s Park Campus and online at 11am on 19 January (Thursday). Information about the seminar and the training programme is available on the website of TWC (www.twc.edu.hk).

Table: Subsidised Places of TWC’s Nursing Programmes (Academic Year 2023/2024)

*The number of intake is subject to the accreditation by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications and/or relevant professional bodies.