From September 23rd to 26th, the Education Quality Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education organized nursing experts to conduct an on-site inspection at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM). This is the effort to develop first-classmajors and courses, and to improve nursing education and talentcultivation.

On the morning of September 23rd, a meeting with the accreditation expert panel and a program briefing was held at Conference Room 101 of Yi De Building at SJTUSM. The meeting was attended by Zhang Zhaoguo, Vice President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Mou Shan, Vice Chancellor of SJTUSM, as well as heads of all administrative offices at SJTUSM, leaderships of the School of Nursing, directors of nursing departments from affiliated hospitals, and key faculty members from the School of Nursing. The meeting was chaired by Vice Chancellor Mou Shan.

Vice President Zhang Zhaoguo warmly welcomed and sincerely thanked the expert panel. He emphasized that nursing, as an important discipline for maintaining human health, carries the noble mission of saving lives, providing care, and promoting health. It plays a vital role in advancing a healthy China and actively responding to the challenges of an aging population. During the fifth round ofdiscipline evaluation by China’s Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University led with its nursing discipline. According to the Best Chinese Subject Ranking released by Shanghai Ranking in June 2024, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Nursing maintained A+ (ranked 4th), which fully reflects our outstanding achievements and significant contributions in discipline development, scientific research, faculty, and talent cultivation. This accreditation is not only a summary of our past achievements but also a precious opportunity to promote the nursing discipline to a new height. We will grab the chance to adhere to the principle of "promoting construction through evaluation and promoting reform through evaluation", learn from experts’ feedback and suggestions, identify existing problems and shortcomings, formulate practical and feasible measures to improve, andstrive to promote thenursing discipline of SJTU to a higher level.

Wu Ying,the leader of the expert panel, gave an illustration of the on-site inspection for nursing program accreditation. She stated that we should stick to the guidelines of the 20th CPC National Congress, follow President Xi Jinping’s proposal at the 2024 National Education Conference to build a strong education nation. We should actively take on the responsibility and mission of building a strong nursing education system, closely align with the needs and goals of nursing development in the new era, seize the opportunities of developing nursing profession, and solidly implement major measures to strengthen the nation through education. The purpose of accreditation is to encourage universities to put more efforts on quality assurance through mechanisms such as self-development, self-motivation and self-restraint, eventually fostering a quality culture, providing suggestions for better training of nursing professionals, and supporting the development of national first-classmajors.

Fang Qiong,Aassociate Dean of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Nursing, introduced the university and school facts, nursingdevelopment and its reform efforts. Her report includes the mission and objectives ofthe school’seducation, student training model, faculty development, scientific research resources and achievements, library and information services resources, laboratory and practical teaching resources, characteristics of the professional curriculum system and plan, academic assessment, graduate quality, and teaching outcomes. She emphasized that in the future, the School of Nursing will seize the chance of new medical discipline development, adhere to an overall developing pattern featuring a demand-driven, strength-led, cross-discipline growth strategy. The goal is to build a comprehensive, innovative, and international education system to train nursing professionals with integrated abilities, develop a unique nursing discipline with distinct SJTUSM characteristics, and strive to elevate the quality of nursing discipline brand.

After the meeting, the members of the expert panel, accompanied by the leaderships of the School of Nursing, conducted an on-site inspection.

According to the requirements of the inspection, during the on-site inspection from September 23rd to 26th, the expert panel visited the library, basic medical laboratories, anatomy laboratories, nursing simulation centers, nursing education andresearch office, as well as three clinical teaching bases. Through site visits, lectures and briefings, discussions and exchanges, random classroom observations, and data reviews, the expert panel conducted a comprehensive and detailed analysis and evaluation of the university's nursing program, covering aspects such as educational philosophy, talent development quality, faculty structure, and the quality assurance system.

On the afternoon of September 25th, the expert panel held a meeting with SJTUSM Vice Chancellor Mou Shan and the leaderships from the School of Nursing to give preliminary feedback.

On the morning of September 26th, the expert feedback meeting for Shanghai Jiao Tong University Nursing Program Accreditation was held at the Conference Room 101 of Yi De Building. Jiang Fan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee ofSJTU and Secretary of the Party Committee of SJTUSM, attended the meeting, along with Mou Shan, Vice Chancellor of SJTUSM, as well as heads of various functional offices at SJTUSM, leaderships and key faculty members of School of Nursing, and directors of nursing departments from affiliated hospitals. The meeting was chaired by Vice Chancellor Mou Shan.

Wu Ying, head of the expert panel, provided feedback on the nursing program accreditation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University on behalf of the panel. She first expressedheartfelt gratitude to the leaders at all levels of SJTU, various functional offices, teaching and practice bases, relevant colleges, and all faculty and staff from the School of Nursing during the on-site inspection. Wu Ying thoroughly reviewed the compliance of the School of Nursing with the seven standards outlined in the "Nursing Undergraduate Program Accreditation Standards (2024 Edition)". She gave positive feedback on the School of Nursing’s practice related to objectives and outcomes, educational plan, student performance assessment, students, faculty, educational resources, management, and educational evaluation.At the same time, she also identified areas of concern and offered targeted guidance and suggestions for improvement. She noted that the achievements made in the nursing program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University are supported by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Shanghai Health Commission, as well as the leaderships of SJTU and SJTUSM. She is confident that the nursing faculty and students will continue to work hard and forge ahead, aiming to develop a first-classmajor and cultivate more high-quality nursing professionals. This will contribute to the realization of the health goals for Shanghai and China, and further promote the development of the nursing profession in China.

Jiang Fan expressed heartfelt gratitude to the expert panel for their hard work and invaluable insights during the four days’ on-site inspection. She pointed out that the experts' opinions and suggestions were not only practical and objective but also of great significance in strengthening the development of nursing program and the School of Nursing. SJTUSM sincerely accepts all feedback. In response to the feedback from the experts, Jiang Fan emphasized that SJTUSM will keep working hard in three key aspects. 1)Raise the level of responsibility: She stressed the importance of enhancing political awareness across the entire school. The faculty and staff should approach this work by bearing the mission in mind that is to persistently contribute to a strong education system, a strong science and technology nation, a strong talent pool, and a healthy China. The focus should also be on advancing the development of a world-class medical school with Chinese characteristics. There is a need to strengthen the sense of responsibility and urgency in addressing the actions to improve. 2)Implement precise measures with tangible results: In response to the feedback, SJTUSM will organize dedicated teams to analyze the issues identified, aiming to uncover their root causes. At the same time, a problem-oriented approach will be adopted, with the feedback divided into specific issues, clarify the rectification tasks, responsible persons, rectification measures, and time limits. 3)Learn from feedback to promote development: When improving education quality, SJTUSM will expand upon the feedback, using it to identify and resolve underlying issues that may have been overlooked. The emphasis will be on strengthening the application of the results, integrating institutional development throughout the entire improvement process, and addressing both specific and general problems. This will systematically foster a new round of high-quality development for the nursing discipline.

Jiang Fan concluded by expressing confidence that, with the guidance and support of the experts, SJTUSM's nursing program will continue to improve its quality of education and strive to cultivate more highly qualified nursing experts with solid professional knowledge, sharp skills, and strong ethics. This will contribute to the development of nursing education in China and make a greater contribution to the nation’s healthcare goals.