Chinese nurses tour Hoag

Are there differences between American and Chinese hospitals? Sure, but the nurses from China who visited Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian on Tuesday still thought what they saw was just about perfect.

And they were quick to add that the differences they saw were just that — differences, no better and no worse.

“It’s almost a perfect situation here. We’ve been waiting our whole lives for an opportunity like this,” Wang Cai Yun, president of the Chinese Assn. of Operating Room Nurses, said through an interpreter.

For the more than 30 nurses from all over China who took the hours-long tour, it was more than a walk-through.

Accompanied by an interpreter, the nurses probed each other with questions like kids meeting for the first time.

Questions like “How many of your instruments are disposable? How do you keep up with the latest technology? Do you help the surgeon in the operating room?” kept the interpreters busy translating medical jargon.

What struck the Hoag nurses was China’s efficiency with technology, and the Chinese were impressed with the American emphasis on patients.

“Here they’re more focused on patient care. The workload is much more well-measured,” Yun said. “In China, it’s more of a guesstimate. There are so many more patients for the nurses. There are many things we can take back [from here].”

Some Hoag nurses said visitors were surprised to see a lot of manual data entry — a time-consuming process.

“That says we’re kind of behind in automation. We’re not different than any other American hospital,” said Nel Van Amen, the perioperative materials manager, who handles documents for nurses who care for patients before, during and after surgery. “It’s so inefficient.”

More than 6,000 nurses and nursing managers from around the world have gathered in Anaheim this week for the 55th annual National Assn. of Operating Room Nurses Congress. The weeklong event highlights the latest technology and techniques nurses can use on patients before, during and after surgery.

Hoag hosted the Chinese visitors because they “share the same value to drive patient care and we can all learn from each other,” said Pat Spongberg, board member of the Orange County chapter of the nursing association.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].