Care without walls
Mak Mei-yi
Nurse Consultant (Community Nursing Services), Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Nursing work has never been confined within the walls of a hospital. Originally a paediatric nurse, Mak Mei-yi developed a profound interest in outreach services and she resolutely left the paediatric ward in 2003 to serve the community as a community nurse till now. Throughout her career, she has kept the faith: To consistently enhance her professional knowledge to provide patients with safer, higher-quality service.
Mak observed that when bedridden patients in the community experienced acute episodic illnesses such as pneumonia, skin or urinary tract infections, they often had to wait over 10 hours for an ambulance and consultation at the Accident & Emergency Department. To ease patients' burden, she actively collaborated with Family Medicine and launched the ‘Collaborative Telehealth Home Care Programme' successfully in 2014. Through the clinical assessments of community nurses, tele-consultations with doctors are arranged when necessary, allowing patients to receive prescribed medication while staying comfortably at home. Mak often tells her colleagues: "We strive to treat every patient as if they were a member of our own family." It is this spirit of ‘treating patients as family' that has brought benefits to countless patients.
The deep bonds she shares with patients fuel her passion throughout her nursing journey. While performing wound care for an octogenarian, she noticed that he had phlegm with shortness of breath. Mak learnt that he was unwell but reluctant to seek consultation, so she took the initiative to arrange a tele-consultation for him. Her sincerity broke down his prejudices against Community Nursing Services. On another occasion, undeterred by the foul odors and mood swings of patient, she dedicated herself to teaching a woman with terminal breast cancer how to manage tumour wounds. In her final days, the patient asked her family to deliver a pot of flowers carrying with a message: ‘A gentle, nurturing influence'. This silent affirmation serves as the highest recognition of her professionalism.
Mak devotes her spare time to research, hoping to combine evidence-based support with technology to bridge clinical gaps, standardise nursing processes, thereby enhancing efficiency and safety. Looking to the future, she holds a bold and resolute vision: "I aspire to bring Hong Kong's innovative nursing experience to the global stage, take a great leap forward in the development of the profession."
