Marking the 145th Anniversary of the Foundation of Kiang Wu Charitable Association, a "seminar on nursing education" was organized by Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macao (KWNC) where a number of honoured experts from Australia, Thailand, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao were invited to share the development trends of nursing education of their regions. It is hoped that through the seminar participants can gain further understanding of the latest growth of nursing education in Asia and Australia as well as to build up recognition for the profession.

The seminar took place at the Macao Science Center in the afternoon of 25 November, 2016, where more than 300 guests, clinical nurses, teachers and students were present. Honourable guests included Chair of Board of Directors of KWNC Mr. Lau Veng Seng, Vice-Chair Ms. Ung Pui Kun, Vice-Chair Mr. António José de Freitas and Board Member Paulo Tse, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing of Chiang Mai University, Thailand Professor Kunaviktikul Wipada, Head of the School of Nursing of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Professor Alex Molasiotis, Professor of Sun Yat-sen University You Liming, Associate Professor of James Cook University and Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre (WHOCC) Caryn West, Functional Head of Quality Assurance in Higher Education of Macao Tertiary Education Services Office Ms. Ip Ka Iut, President of Nursing Education Association of Macao Professor Yin Lei, and President of KWNC Professor Van Iat Kio.

The seminar began with a MOU exchange ceremony between KWNC and the School of Nursing of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Faculty of Nursing of Chiang Mai University. The exchange of MOU has further consolidated the cooperation of these two renowned institutions with KWNC, thereinafter providing more learning opportunities for teachers and students. The second part of the seminar continued with guest speeches themed "trends of nursing education", where Professor You Liming, Alex Molasiotis, Kunaviktikul Wipada and Caryn West were invited to share the status and development trends of nursing education in their regions. All speakers agreed that manpower shortage is a global issue and they recommended nursing students to gain more multicultural experiences and broaden their horizons by visiting and learning from other regions. One of the participating KWNC professors asked about guests' comments regarding methods in enhancing students' learning motivation and efficiency. Professor Alex Molasiotis and Professor Caryn West explained that, their regions emphasize more on collaborative learning than theoretical learning, through which students can learn and support one another as a group, enabling development of their integrated and analytical thinking. They also encouraged students to actively participate in social services such as to visit to developing countries for health promotion works. In addition, they commented that applications of multimedia to scenario teaching are also helpful for students in understanding and analyzing different cases, resulting to enhanced clinical reasoning, critical thinking and application competences. 
    
The third part of the seminar was a sharing session of four KWNC alumni on "discussing education and professional development from student's perspective" where continuing studies and career planning topics were covered. Speakers included KWNC Associate Professor Au Mio Leng, Lecturer Lok Ka In, Grade One Nurse of Kiang Wu Hospital Chio Hao I and Ng Hou Tek. Concerning that continuing studies have become a hot topic among nurses, speakers emphasized that it is essential for nurses to engage in continuing studies, both clinically and academically, so as to catch up with the dramatically developing world. In regards to career planning, speakers commented that early identification of one's profession direction and time management are important elements to success. They also expressed that family support is a very strong motivator in encouraging one to take part in further studies and they encouraged their successors to be daring to fight for their dreams and overcome challenges.