LAM Cheuk-yin Jacky, HO Suet-wa || BSc (Hons) Nursing || Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Lam Cheuk-yin Jacky and Ho Suet-wa, a Year Four and Year Three Nursing student respectively, experienced the clinical practice differences between Hong Kong and Malaysia, and learnt to appreciate another culture through their unforgettable and valuable overseas clinical placement in Malaysia. As 23.7% of Malaysia’s population are Chinese, many patients in the hospital speak Chinese. Jacky and Suet-wa were asked to be translators for nurses and doctors who didn’t know the Chinese language.

Hong Kong medical staff are renowned for their efficiency. Their stint at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) has reminded the students of the importance of understanding and caring for patients. “The workload in Hong Kong hospitals is comparatively much heavier due to the large number of patients. In Malaysia, the nurse-to-patient ratio is smaller and nurses can therefore pay more attention to patients’ needs, especially their psychological needs,” Jacky says.

Islam is the official religion in Malaysia, and physicians in the Muslim world are aware of the culture and patients’ religious beliefs. “For instance, they would not expose a patient’s body in front of others. When a check-up is needed, they would cover patient’s body properly with a piece of cloth,” Suet-wa adds.

Experiencing a Malaysian medical setting  

When they were working in the intensive care unit, they encountered various kinds of acute medical problems, emergency conditions and complicated clinical treatments which enriched their nursing knowledge. The students observed how senior medical staff dealt with patients and explored the provision of end of life care to patients with different religious background and cultures.

In the pediatric unit, they learnt to communicate with children of different ethnic groups. “Patients in the ward were from diverse cultural backgrounds as Malaysia’s population comprises many ethnic groups,” Jacky says. To build up good rapport with children in the pediatric unit, Jacky and Suet-wa made use of body language, pictures and camera to interact with them. “We were delighted to see the kids in the ward enjoying their time with us and having the pediatric ward filled with laughter,” Jacky recalls.

After their internships in Malaysia, Jacky and Suet-wa realise medical staff should not neglect patients’ psychological needs. They appreciate the positive attributes of the Malaysian clinical practice and confirm that intercultural exposure could promote mutual improvement.