The National Chi Nan University (NCNU) unveiled the Preparatory Office of the Department of Nursing on October 15^th, officially announcing that the Department of Nursing will be established in the 2023 academic year! The NCNU President, Dong-Sing Wu, indicated that there will be a new bachelor’s degree program in nursing next academic year, which will enroll a class of 35 students. In addition to the Stars program and applications for admission, specific quotas will be provided to Indigenous and disadvantaged students in Nantou County through a special selection channel to cultivate more nursing talents to serve the local area. It is hoped that local nursing talents can be nurtured steadily to serve their hometowns and strengthen the capacity of medical services in the Nantou area.

Among the 35 enrollment quotas of the new NCNU nursing department, 15 will be allocated for economically and culturally disadvantaged students in the Vision Program. In the future, Puli Christian Hospital will provide comprehensive assistance to the department, such as nursing faculties, equipment, and internship opportunities.

President Dong-Sing Wu noted that the future nursing department will provide disadvantaged and Indigenous students in Nantou County with an opportunity to attend a national university, which is also one of the objectives of the NCNU Vision Program. Therefore, the newly established Bachelor of Nursing program will reserve admission quotas for students of low- and middle-income households and Indigenous students in the county through special talent selection channels. It is hoped that nursing students admitted through the special selection channel will stay in the county or return to tribal areas to serve in the local medical system after graduation.

Professor Zhou-Song Yang, the NCNU Provost, particularly emphasized that 6,381 students enrolled in the university this semester, a record high in 27 years since the establishment of the university. The NCNU is also a model school of the University Social Responsibility (USR) program among universities in Taiwan. The addition of the Department of Nursing is the best demonstration of the implementation of USR. In the future, the university hopes to cultivate nursing professionals from Seediq and Bunun tribes and set up a special indigenous nursing program so that the medical capacity in Nantou can develop steadily. The collaboration between Puli Christian Hospital and the NCNU further demonstrates the compassion of Puli Christian Hospital's core value of "glorifying God and helping people."

On October 15^th, the NCNU unveiled the Preparatory Office of the Department of Nursing, announcing that the first freshmen class will be officially admitted in the 2023 academic year.

Chairman Wun-Tsong Chaou (left) and Superintendent Shey-Chiang Su (right) of the Puli Christian Hospital sang hymns to pray for the collaboration between the hospital and the National Chi Nan University.