The Hospital Authority (HA) on Thursday said the second batch of mainland nurses participating in an exchange programme were integrating well into their new work environments, with some already carrying out tasks under supervision.

The 100 Guangdong nurses participating in the GBA Specialty Nursing Knowledge-Exchange Programme are spending 10.5 months until next January, working in various departments at public hospitals.

The programme's first phase concluded in February with 70 participants and a focus on elderly care.

This phase sees the nurses deployed in more specialist wards, including cardiac intensive care, ophthalmology, endoscopy, perioperative care, and intensive care units (ICU).

Danny Tong, the HA's chief manager of nursing, praised the nurses’ performance and adaptation to their new work environment, saying some, like those in ICU, had already started working alongside their local peers instead of just observing.

He also explained they are required to be supervised one-on-one throughout the scheme, but hoped they would still gain meaningful work experience.

“We have to find a sweet spot in how to facilitate, even though the Nurse Registration Ordinance has not been reviewed, and according to the legal framework, they have to be working under supervision,” he said.

"Actually, there's lots of methods they can [still use to] exercise their expert knowledge."

He said the HA had arranged nurses from the first batch to mentor the newcomers.

Tong also noted there’s a glossary of medical terms in both Chinese and English to help with their understanding of the Hong Kong-specific terminology.

Sampson Chan, a local ICU nurse, agreed that there were some initial language barriers, but he praised the mainland nurses for their positive attitude and a strong desire to learn.

He shared an example of mainland nurses staying after work to observe a special procedure involving repositioning a ventilated patient.

“On that day, they [the mainland nurses] are almost off duty, but the patient requires this procedure and they're eager to learn. They stay behind and then they talk with us and then they learn how to turn a patient from the supine position to a prone position with the ventilator. This really impresses me about their attitude and ability,” he said.

The HA said about 130 Guangdong nurses would participate in the third phase of the scheme. The authority added it plans to discuss with its Guangdong counterparts about sending local nurses to mainland hospitals to learn about rare cases not commonly seen in Hong Kong.