Latest News:  

English>>China Society

Moving overseas a job remedy for nurses

By Wang Qingyun and Shan Juan  (China Daily)

08:13, May 13, 2013

Many give up their careers in China because of low pay and few benefits

Nurse Song Yan would have sought a job in another country if not for her family and child.

"I work at least nine hours a day and overtime from time to time, and get meager pay," said the veteran nurse who has practiced the profession for at least 20 years.

"The working environment here is noisy, crowded and sometimes even chaotic," said Song, a senior nurse at the chest surgery department of Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University in Beijing.

For young nurses, the work is even tougher. "They usually have to work extra to gain patients' trust," she noted.

Many simply give up.

In some big departments with about 100 nurses, about 10 quit each year because the job is so physically and mentally demanding.

Some, usually younger ones, who have good command of a foreign language, have begun to go abroad for a decently paid nursing job, she said. "I have a family and a child to take care of, otherwise I'd also like to go."

Countries like Singapore, Japan and Saudi Arabia have begun to tap other countries for competent nurses because they cannot produce enough of their own to meet needs.

Singapore's healthcare system is expected to recruit about 1,000 to 2,000 foreign nurses annually to meet rising demand for healthcare prompted by a rapidly ageing population and China has become an outsourcing site of rising importance.

【1】 【2】 【3】 【4】



We Recommend:

Photo story: Flight attendant's daily work

Touching love stories in earthquake

China’s weekly story (2013.4.19-4.26)

Female pilot rescues quake-wounded

Cool shades
Summer is coming

Images of Hong Kong
in 15 years

China’s weekly story (2013.4.13-4.19)

Nothing left but heartbreaking memories

Photo story: Meeting a telephone operator girl

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:HuangJin、Gao Yinan)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. Photos of the week (May 4 - May 11)

  2. My mother is famous around the world

  3. At least 40 killed, 100 injured in blasts on Turkish-Syrian border

  4. Hot wave hits N China
    in photos

  5. People mark 5th anniversary of Wenchuan Earthquake

  6. Mao photograph sells for $55,300 at Beijing auction

  7. Peony flowers burst into bloom

  8. Goods displayed at HOFEX 2013 in Hong Kong

  9. Yacht exhibition held in Hong Kong

  10. Now it's time to enjoy life, says Jack Ma

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Renaming 'Arab Spring' cannot hide prejudice
  2. Negative forecast leads Rio Tinto to lay-off
  3. Suffer the children, suffer the country
  4. China, India have wisdom to handle sensitive issues
  5. Ending 'too big to fail' going to be hard work
  6. PwC: Environment hard for Chinese banks
  7. The Rise of the South
  8. Chance for dual face-to-face talks slim
  9. China's regional disparity offers growth potential
  10. US war on terror bent by strategy

What’s happening in China

New lease on life
Pay tribute to mothers who have been through Wenchuan earthquake

  1. Photo story: Hot wave hits N China
  2. 9 tropical cyclones to land in China
  3. SW China landslide kills 5, injures 3
  4. Sichuan colliery death toll rises to 28
  5. Taiwan investigation team ready