UMSN Professors Serve as Keynote Speakers at International Nursing Conference in China

An invitation to speak at this summer’s “International Nursing Conference: From Knowledge to Practice: Advances in Nursing Care 2013” in Wuxi, China, came from connections made in 2008. Dr. YuYu Jiang was a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan School of Nursing (UMSN) and worked closely with UMSN Professor and Acute, Critical, and Long-Term Care Division Chair Janet Larson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN. When Dr. Jiang, now affiliated with Wuxi Medical School at Jiangnan University, became an organizer for the conference, she invited Dr. Larson. In addition to Dr. Larson, Mary Lou Willard French Professor of Nursing Laurel Northouse, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, was invited by the faculty from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, co-organizers of the conference, because of her expertise in the care of patients with cancer.

“They have high accomplishments in the field of nursing and chronic disease research,” says Dr. Jiang. “When I was at UMSN, Professor Larson left a deep impression of a rigorous attitude in scholarly research, and sincere and selfless guidance for students.”

This was the first trip to China for both professors. “I didn't have specific expectations about China,” says Dr. Northouse.  “Rather, I was very curious about the culture and day-to-day life of people living there. China has become such an important international influence in world trade and finance that I was very interested in learning more about the country. Also, we have many students from China in our graduate programs, and I wanted to learn more about their home country.”

“I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of their research with chronic disease,” says Dr. Larson. In response to her presentation, “Long-Term Care in Chronic Disease: Emphasis on Self-Management,” she says, “I found it was really varied. For some the topic was practically brand new, but for others, they already had some expertise.”

Dr. Northouse presented “Interventions to Help Patients and their Family Caregivers Cope with Cancer.” She said, “Two doctoral students from UMSN, Jia Liu and Boqin Xie, were instrumental in helping us to prepare our presentations. They carefully translated our slides into Chinese and gave us helpful feedback on culturally relevant illustrations to use.”

Dr. Northouse believes the trip is an opportunity to further build relationships between UMSN and China. “There are a number of potential collaborations with faculty in mainland China and Hong Kong,” she says. “There are also many Chinese students who expressed interest in our graduate programs.”

For Dr. Larson, seeing her former fellow leading the conference was a highlight of the trip. “When Dr. Jiang was here, she was in the student role but at the conference she was leading with grace and authority. As a professor, it feels wonderful to see a student become a leader in nursing science.”