Student exchanges ambulance rescues for a career in nursing

Leung Cho-kit is a year one student at the School of General Nursing, TMH. He was an ambulanceman before joining the nursing school family, mainly responsible for emergency ambulance service, delivering patients to accident and emergency (A&E) departments of public hospitals, and informing nurses about the pre-hospital care service provided to patients. Seeing healthcare professionals work tirelessly to save critically ill patients made him became eager to contribute further, and planted the seeds of being a nurse in his heart.

One particularly harrowing assignment confirmed his desire to enrol in nursing school. “My colleagues and I received a report of someone who has fallen at home and was suffering from severe bleeding,” Cho-kit recalls. “When we arrived on the scene, we discovered a vascular tumour on his thigh had burst, and blood was everywhere. We tried to stop the bleeding immediately, but the results were not effective.” As Cho-kit transferred the patient to A&E, he watched nurses help in saving the patient’s life, making him realise that pre-hospitalisation service is important in reserving life, while post-hospitalisation care helps restore patient’s body function and recover from the illness. Hence, he decided to switch his career pathway to nursing.

Cho-kit had already been mentally prepared for a busy working mode once he joined the nursing workforce. During the COVID-19 epidemic, he witnessed a nurse stayed behind for her duty despite already having tended hundreds of patients. “After joining nursing school, I came to understand that nursing involves not only knowledge and skills but also empathy, and addressing the physical, mental, social, and spiritual needs of patients,” he says. “I believe I can embrace this belief in my nursing career.” Cho-kit will begin his clinical practicum in the next academic year. He believes that he will be better equipped to meet the challenges ahead under the strong learning atmosphere in nursing school, as well as with the unstinting support of his teachers and classmates.