Author : Zhang Ye

Photo : Wu Jia

In order to fully implement the great practice of "The Belt and Road" of the CPC Central Committee to build a community with a shared future for mankind, to meet the inherent requirements of the reform of the global governance system, and to demonstrate the sense of a community with a shared future of the same boat and sharing rights and responsibilities, on the evening of November 25, a special video nursing training program on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 infection between "Shanghai, China - Republic of Trinidad and Tobago" was successfully held by Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine and the Ministry of Health of Togo. The meeting was hosted by Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Nursing .

Distance cannot separate true friends who feel so close even when are thousands of miles apart. As the first Caribbean country to join the "The Belt and Road", the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has always maintained a friendly and cooperative relationship with China and Shanghai. After the outbreak of the epidemic in China, the Capital city of Port of Spain donated anti-epidemic materials to Shanghai. After the outbreak in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Shanghai also actively provided anti-epidemic materials to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is believed that China and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will further enrich the connotation of the "Belt and Road" cooperation between 2 countries and make positive contributions to the maintenance of global public health security.

 The meeting was attended by more than 100 participants, including Mr.Terrence Deyalsingh, The Honorable Minister of Health of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; Ms. Melanie Noel, Deputy Permanent Secretary of The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; Ms. Betty-ann Pilgrim,  National Administrator of Nursing Services of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; Mr. Fang Qiu, Chinese Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; Mr. Bei Zhaojian, Deputy Director of Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office; Mr. Zhang Yu, Director of American Affairs Office of Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office; Mr. Fang Yong, Deputy Dean of Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine; Mr. Xu Lin, Director of International Exchange Office of Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine; experts and members from the affiliated hospital who aided Hubei during the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and faculty and students from Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Nursing. Mr. Lin Weidong, Associate Dean (presiding) of Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Nursing and Deputy Secretary of the General Party Branch, presided over the opening ceremony. Mr. Lin Weidong pointed out that since the outbreak of COVID-19, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals have sent 569 medical and nursing staffs to Wuhan, and have gained a lot of experience in this fight against the epidemic. He hoped that through this online international training conference, we could discuss with the experts from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago about the treatment experience in fighting against COVID-19 and hoped that it would be helpful to the colleagues in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

After that, Director Bei Yaojian, Ambassador Fang Qiu, and Minister Deyalsingh all made speeches, and they all highly praised the medical and nursing staffs of Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine and School of Nursing for coming forward in this battle without fire, and sincerely thanked JiaoTong University School of Nursing for teaching the nurses and nursing students of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago basic knowledge and "Chinese experience" of COVID-19 prevention and control. They are looking forward to enhancing the exchange between China and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and developing more international cooperation in the future. Finally, Deputy Dean Fang Yong made a speech, pointing out that Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, as a first-class university in China, should take the initiative to assume the role of "bridge" and make positive contributions to promote friendly academic cooperation between China and Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and medical education development in "The Belt and Road" countries.

In order to express the care for the nursing staffs in Republic of Trinidad and Tobago who are now in the front line of fighting against COVID-19, a special donation ceremony was held. Liang Xiaohong and Liu Qiong, nurses from the affiliated Ruijin Hospital, who had aided Wuhan, donated the innovative products of nursing protection "anti-pressure dressing patch", "oropharyngeal swab isolation cover" and "improved goggle", which were invented in the process of aiding Wuhan to the front line nursing staffs in Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. During the epidemic in China, the medical team of affiliated Ruijin Hospital had greatly supported the national fight against the epidemic through new inventions. We hoped that this donation ceremony would provide safe and effective support for the front line nursing staffs in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, faculty and students of Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine had witnessed this touching moment together.

In the theme report session, Wang Zhen, leader of the ninth batch of Shanghai Medical Team aided Wuhan and the vice president of the affiliated Mental Health Center; Fu Xiaofang, the expert of the eighth Batch of Shanghai Medical Team aided Wuhan and the director of Infection Management Department of the affiliated Renji Hospital; and Chang Jian, the expert of the eighth Batch of Shanghai Medical Team aided Wuhan and the director of Nursing Department of the affiliated Shanghai General Hospital (South), had respectively made theme reports entitled 《Stress Management and Psychological Adjustment of Nursing Staff under the COVID-19 Epidemic》, 《Hospital Infection Prevention and Control during the COVID-19 Epidemic》, and 《The COVID-19 Specialist Nursing and Nursing Practice Skill Demonstration》. Prof. Wang Zhen introduced the basic situation of the 50 members of the Shanghai Psychological Medical Team when assisting 6 designated hospitals and 4 mobile cabin hospitals in Wuhan. The psychological medical team had conducted psychological inspection for more than 1400 people, provided more than 800 psychological interventions. In addition, they also carried out psychological assessment and interventions for local medical and nursing staffs. and then Prof. Wang Zhen also introduced the sources of stress and common psychological problems that the medical and nursing staffs may occur in the epidemic, how to do stress management and psychological assessments and interventions. Director Fu Xiaofang’s presentation started with the 《Joint Investigation China-WHO (COVID-19) Report》, reemphasizing that inadequate prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections would not only lead to staffs infection, but also increase the risk of patients infection. She then introduced the spread of COVID-19 virus and pointed out that during the COVID-19 epidemic, higher prevention and control requirements were badly needed in terms of individual medical staffs, hospital environment, outpatient and emergency procedures, and disinfection and isolation, etc. Director Chang Jian introduced "Nursing Flowchart for Observation of COVID-19 Patients" developed by her team and presented the points need attention of some routine nursing practice such as oxygen therapy care, gastrointestinal care, etc., and then discussed the controversial issues that may be brought by the COVID-19 epidemic from the perspective of nursing ethics. At the end of the session, the School of Nursing provided the translated science popularization video "Scientific Mask Wearing" to the nursing staffs of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for free to ultimately promote the consciousness of scientific prevention among residents.

The expert forum session was hosted by Zhu Bingqian, Associate Professor of Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Nursing, Ms. Betty-Ann Pilgrim, National Administrator of Nursing Services of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; Shi Dake, the member of the sixth batch of Shanghai Medical Team aided Wuhan, doctor of Infection Department of the affiliated Ruijin hospital; Zhang Zuoyan, member of the eighth batch of Shanghai Medical Team assisting Wuhan, Head Nurse of surgical department of the affiliated Sixth People's Hospital; Liu Lijun, member of the first batch of Shanghai Medical Team aided Wuhan, Deputy Head Nurse of Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit of the affiliated Xinhua Hospital; and Jiang Xue, member of the first batch of Shanghai Medical Team aided Wuhan, Head Nurse of West Gaoke Road Outpatient Clinic of the affiliated Ninth People's Hospital, had a lively discussion on medical care, management, security, prevention and control strategies during the COVID-19 epidemic in both countries. Zhu Daqiao, associate professor of Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Nursing, as a representative of the "Shanghai Public Health Emergency Response Reserve" team of School of Nursing, introduced the content, purpose and significance of the "Shanghai Three-Year Action Plan for Public Health System Construction" project in detail. She said, at the beginning of the project, through the investigation since the COVID-19 epidemic, two core tasks were defined for the project: one is the capacity development of nursing staff, and the other is the innovation of the management and scientific research system of emergency nursing. The Three-Year Action Plan will reserve a 3,000-person "reserve" model team for emergency nursing, covering adults, children, maternal and infant, and psychological support emergency nursing categories, with the aim of achieving a normalized "multi-functional" "reserve" team with professional practice, emergency management, and research and innovation. In the existing information system, a module for the city's emergency nursing team to the existing is added to maximize the realization of rapid response and emergency rescue for major public health emergencies at home and abroad.

Through this training, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine aimed to provide nurses and nursing students of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with the basic knowledge and "Chinese experience" in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, including the prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections, specialized nursing practice and the care of critically ill patients. In addition, the training also shared the psychological adjustment of nursing staff in China under the epidemic, and provided targeted advice and suggestions for the prevention and control of the epidemic in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, helping nursing staffs in their country to effectively fight against the epidemic. It was expected that both countries would take this as a starting point to further deepen cooperation in the medical and health fields, especially in nursing, and strive for a comprehensive victory in the fight against the epidemic.