Wang Kerong: a head nurse with Beijing Ditan Hospital
Date:2019-10-31 16:05:54 Views:
Wang Kerong: a head nurse with Beijing Ditan Hospital
Wang Kerong was honored as a National March 8th Red-Banner Holder in 2018. She has worked for 35 years in treatment of infectious diseases. She was the country's first winner of Barry & Martin's Prize, which is the highest international honor in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Wang won the title of the National Advanced Workers for 2010 and was elected one of China's Moral Models in 2012. She was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal in 2013 and when she won the National Advanced Worker title again in 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented the medal to her at the awards ceremony. Wang was elected as a deputy to the 18th and 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Choosing to Work on Infectious Disease Care
On the advice of her teachers at Beijing Nursing School, Wang became a nurse in the Department of Infectious Diseases in Beijing Ditan Hospital, when she graduated from the school in 1984.
For the following 17 years Wang provided nursing care to patients with infectious diseases such as hepatitis, dysentery, varicella and measles in her wards.
Close to HIV/AIDS Patients
The first time that Wang came into contact with an HIV/AIDS patient was in 1997. The patient surnamed Li came from North China's Shanxi Province and accidentally contracted the deadly disease from a blood transfusion.
Li suffered severe burns on his face, arms and hands from an explosion in the workplace, where he had risked his own life to save colleagues and equipment.
Wang became deeply moved by Li's heroic deeds and believed that he deserved the respect of all people.
Fighting Discrimination
Since then, Wang has been determined to assist HIV/AIDS patients in the treatment of their disease and has tried her utmost to rally support in the battle against social discrimination towards them.
Wang has maintained contact with over 700 HIV/AIDS outpatients and keeps her mobile phone on at all times to answer their questions and offer necessary assistance. Due to lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, some patients dare not tell their families and friends that they were infected and many people fear the disease and keep those patients at a distance. After Wang shifted to the department of HIV/AIDS and became a worker at the Home of Red Ribbon (an organization to give HIV/AIDS care), to ease the patients' pressure, Wang and her colleagues organized trips, seminars and dinners along with HIV/AIDS patients. Once a patient said during a dinner that he didn't want to eat meat and Wang ate the meat from his plate. Wang said that she did that to let people know that HIV/AIDS is not transmitted through digestive tract.
Visits to Regions Plagued with HIV/AIDS
Wang visited rural areas plagued with HIV/AIDS in Central China's Henan Province 14 times from August 2002 to October 2003 and instructed locals on how to prevent becoming infected with the disease in the process. Moreover, she has travelled to HIV/AIDS-affected regions in Henan over 50 times since then.
In addition, the work has brought Wang to many other provincial-level regions such as Yunnan, Xinjiang, Anhui and Shanghai over the past decades, where she held over 50 training sessions on HIV/AIDS for about 9,000 nurses, including those from eight cities and 14 counties in Henan.
Creating New HIV/AIDS Care Methods
Wang studied for a month in a hospital in London, UK, in 2002, where she felt the essence of Florence Nightingale's faith for nursing career: humanity, love and dedication. Drawing upon her experience, and together with her colleagues, Wang created a holistic and innovative nursing model for HIV/AIDS patients. Besides giving treatment, nurses are responsible for education, management, consultancy and training. They have become a bridge between patients and their doctors, pharmacist, psychological consultants, and social volunteers. In this way, patients can get help ranging from psychological support to medical usage, family visits, professional training and social relief.
Involving More People in HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment
Inspired by Wang, a rising number of people around her, including her husband and daughter, have now joined the battle against HIV/AIDS and taken part in publicity campaigns. During the past 15 years, the campaigns she participated in 30 colleges, communities and building sites have benefitted over 10,000 people.
The number of registered volunteers in the Home of Red Ribbon has risen from less than 10 at the beginning to over 1,000 now. The 20 HIV/AIDS companion instructors trained by Wang and her colleagues have played a significant role.
The volunteers' work include reception, consultations via phone, preparation of nutritional soup, and assistance to patients in terms of making appointments with doctors, getting medicine and paying for medical fees on their behalf, and explaining the methods of taking prescribed drugs.
The efforts of nurses, doctors and volunteers in popularizing information about HIV/AIDS in society have helped more people learn about the disease and given courage to newly-infected people.
Speaking about her second-time election as a deputy to the National Congress of the CPC in 2017, Wang stressed that she intends to better publicize Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, motivate more people to work with her in the fight against HIV/AIDS and social prejudices towards affected patients, and contribute her efforts to improve public health in the country in the future.
