On June 7th to 8th, 2014, Beijing Promoting Conference for the Internationalization of TCM Nursing, co-hosted by Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine International Exchange & Co-operation Centre (BTCMIECC) and Guanganmen Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CACMS) , was successfully held, with the topics of “TCM and Nursing” and “Emphasis on the Health of Night-shift Nurses”. One of the purposes was to discuss, with the attendance of domestic and foreign nursing experts, how to alleviate the negative effects of working in shifts for nurses and how to optimize the shift systems for nurses. The other purposes were to learn and apply scientific findings, seek international cooperative researching chances with TCM features and promote international exchange and cooperation of TCM nursing as well. Wu Zhendou, Vice Head of the Department of International Cooperation of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tu Zhitao, Director of Beijing Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Mrs. Latu, the lady and the first secretary of Ambassador of the Kingdom of Tonga to the People’s Republic of China, and other officials attended the opening ceremony and gave lectures.

    35 foreign delegates, from USA, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Tonga and other nations, attended the conference.  Discussions have been made on several topics, e.g. “TCM Nursing Features and the Scientific Nursing Designing of Shifting Syndrome of Nurses”.  “The Research of the Shifting Syndrome TCM Intervention of Nurses” from several centers has also been promoted and introduced. Jacqueline Kossakovsky, the head nurse of emergency department from a north Georgia State hospital, introduced the shifting arrangements and the measures to intervene the shifting syndrome. Mrs. Siale Meleane Felila, the nursing and health official of Tonga, briefly introduced the Togan nursing system, the shifting arrangements and charges. She also expressed the intention to cooperate with China’s TCM nursing professionals to explore the solutions to the shifting syndrome and to carry out grass-root cooperations.

    During the conference, foreign nursing experts and delegates visited the special departments of Guanganmen Hospital, and viewed TCM special nursing techniques, including auricular-plaster therapy, plaster therapy, cupping therapy eight trigrams boxing (Ba Duan Jin). The foreign delegates highly appreciated the TCM situations in China and the special skills of TCM nursing. They did wish to enhance mutual exchange and communication to explore relative issues of TCM nursing.

    The conference combined several forms such as lectures, interactions, communications, seminar of projects and clinic observations. It provided nursing professionals with a cooperative platform to communicate, and advanced the exploration of shifting scheduling and solutions and TCM intervention to the shifting syndrome, so as to achieve the expected goal of promoting the cooperative researching of TCM nursing.