Female doctor redefines nursing profession

Hoang Thi Xuan Huong's starting point was as a young nurse who graduated from Hanoi Medical University, with the concern: "Why are Vietnamese nurses always just the shadow of doctors?".

In Vietnam, although the rate of nursing students finding jobs immediately after graduation is 98-100%, the image of the profession is still not fully and positively communicated. According to Ms. Huong, the difference between nursing and doctors lies in the approach: doctors diagnose and treat diseases, while nurses plan care based on symptoms and individual needs of each patient.

With that concern, Ms. Huong set a goal of studying abroad to improve her qualifications and contribute to raising the status of the nursing industry in Vietnam. She chose the School of Nursing at Hong Kong Polytechnic University - where the nursing industry is ranked 32nd in the world - to study abroad. "The teacher did not give any pre-determined direction, forcing students to find their own way and answer the question "why" for every decision on their research journey. In the first days at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the teacher asked me: What is your goal for your doctorate? I answered: I need a degree to return to work in the country... The teacher was silent, not saying anything more. The next few times he repeated the question, I still did not change the content of my answer. And the drafts of my doctoral research proposal were continuously rejected by the teacher, who asked for revisions," Ms. Huong said.

She fell into depression because she could not find a common voice with her teacher, did not understand what he wanted. To answer the question of why she was studying for a doctorate, Ms. Huong was almost stuck in her seat, working diligently in the office, from early morning until 2-3 am. “When the professor asked me one last time why I was studying for a doctorate, I answered: I want to become a solid, international-caliber researcher. The teacher nodded in satisfaction and said: That is also the goal I hope you will aim for…”, Ms. Huong shared.

It was this strictness that made her spend 2.5 years to complete her doctoral thesis outline, while it usually only takes 1 - 1.5 years. The day of defending her doctoral thesis outline was on the afternoon of the 28th of Tet - the final deadline. If she failed, it meant she would be forced to drop out of school.

Not only did she successfully defend her thesis, but she was also highly appreciated by the council for the novelty of her research topic. Her topic was a study on non-drug interventions to treat the cluster of symptoms of depression, insomnia and anxiety in cancer patients - a very new direction that has not been seen in the world (previously, only individual symptoms were studied). The intervention method she chose was acupressure combined with sleep hygiene, saying “no” to drugs, aiming for safety and sustainability.

The data collection period was under tremendous pressure - only 6 months to collect instead of the usual 18 months. She had to stay at the Hanoi Oncology Hospital and K Hospital from morning to night to convince patients to participate in the trial and record the data. During that time, she was also infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria, had to be treated with antibiotics for 45 days, her body was exhausted but she could not stop working.

Dr. Hoang Thi Xuan Huong (far right) with students passionate about scientific research

In March 2021, when COVID-19 broke out, she managed to catch the last flight to Hong Kong before the city was locked down, despite her teacher's advice to stay in Vietnam. In June of the same year, she successfully defended her thesis.

Bringing "good sleep" to patients

Returning to Vietnam, Dr. Hoang Thi Xuan Huong took on the role of Deputy Dean in charge of the Faculty of Nursing, School of Medicine and Pharmacy (Phenikaa University); founded the NURFIL research group - the first potential research group in the nursing industry in Vietnam.

In 2022, when attending the Sleep Medicine conference in Da Lat, she realized that this was a new and potential field. She and her colleagues founded the Nursing - Sleep Medicine Association, bringing together 33 nurses from major hospitals.

One of the motivations that helped Dr. Huong embark on the thorny path of scientific research was the good sleep of cancer patients. She said that during the experimental research on cancer patients at the Hanoi Oncology Hospital, many cancer patients were able to sleep more deeply in their final days fighting the terrible disease - thanks to her intervention therapy. There was a 72-year-old man with cancer who had suffered from insomnia for many years, only sleeping for about two hours each night. After two months of intervention, he was able to sleep for six hours each night. He passed away afterwards. But in his final days, thanks to her treatment, he did not suffer from insomnia and passed away peacefully.

She and her colleagues have implemented a shortened version of the cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) training program, with a cost of only 500,000 VND/session - dozens of times cheaper than international prices. “My goal is to make CBT-I the first-line method in treating insomnia in Vietnam. That is the aspiration to bring practical value from research, so that Vietnamese patients can access the safest and most effective methods,” Dr. Huong added.

Dr. Hoang Thi Xuan Huong is the author of more than 50 research works, including 18 articles published in international journals. The first potential research group in the nursing industry in Vietnam - NURFIL, led by Dr. Huong, aims to have 6 more international articles in the next 3 years. In 2022, she passed the most difficult exam to become one of three Vietnamese nurses to receive the World Sleep Medicine Specialist certificate.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nu-tien-si-dinh-vi-lai-nghe-dieu-duong-post1769624.tpo