Kuala Lumpur, 10 August 2009 - More than 400 Students and staff of UCSI University’s School of Nursing witnessed the presentation of a cheque worth RM1200 Hospis Malaysia, a charitable organisation that offers professional palliative care to patients who are suffering from life-limiting illness. Accepting the cheque on their behalf was the CEO and Medical Director of Hospis Malaysia, Dr. Ednin Hamzah. The donation was collected during the Pink October event last year, during which students sold handicrafts and food items in the bazaar.

Earlier, Dr. Ednin delivered a lecture to the students on Recent Developments in Palliative Care. According to Associate Professor Jeya Devi Coomarasamy, Associate Dean for the University’s School of Nursing, the lecture was very beneficial to the students, as they are all taking Oncology as part of their nursing module which is closely related to the topic presented by Dr. Ednin.  “It is only in the last decade or so that the interest in palliative care in Malaysia is picking up. Our School’s module looks into integrating the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care, to enable us to give optimal care and support not only to dying patients, but to understand their families as well,” she said.

The cheque donation marks the third such donation that the School of Nursing has given to Hospis Malaysia. Every year, in October, students organise an event to raise awareness about breast cancer. This event has now been dubbed as Pink October. Students sell pink ribbons - the official colour representing breast cancer for RM1, raising money for Hospis Malaysia.

During the event, students also distributed information about breast cancer, emphasizing on early detection. Demonstrations were also given on how the public should palpate their own breasts to detect abnormal lumps. “We feel that we should educate our young students, male or female on the importance of breast self-examination. Men are also susceptible to breast cancer, and we wanted to get the message across, that they should try to detect abnormal lumps,” Assoc. Prof. Jeya Devi said.

At the end of the event, another milestone was chartered for the UCSI University’s School of Nursing, as Mr. Arnel Banaga Salgado, a lecturer at the school officially launched his book titled Psychology for Nurses, published by McGraw Hill. The book took Mr. Salgado five years to write. It aims to equip nursing students as well as registered nurses with all of the required information at a very low cost of RM 33.90. The school has consistently encouraged its academic staff as well as its students to do research and to publish them in journals or books.

Recently, during the University’s convocation, the valedictorian was Ms. Hepzibha Alexander Dennis from Chennai, India, one of the top students from the School of Nursing. She conducted two research projects, both of which have been approved for publication in UCSI University’s Academic Journal, and are being considered for publication in Malaysia’s National Nursing Journal. Such are the dedication and achievements of the students and staff from the School of Nursing.

• Putting an Experience to Book
• Nursing Students Launch Healthy Lifestyle Community Project
• UCSI Nursing Students Lead the Way in Community Service