Roles of Nurses in the Port Health Office

Primary Care Public Health Nursing Service

Roles of Nurses in the Port Health Office

The Port Health Office of the Department of Health consists of Head Office, Airport Section, Harbour Section, Ground Crossings Section and Travel Health Centres.  The objective of our service is to prevent the introduction of serious infectious diseases and quarantinable diseases, namely plague, cholera and yellow fever into Hong Kong via air, sea and land.  The nursing team mainly supports the Airport Section and the Travel Health Section.

Nurses in the Port Health Airport Section play an important role in the management of air emergencies and communicable diseases of public concern.  We stand by and respond to emergency calls, provide emergency nursing care during air emergencies, and execute preventive measures to control the outbreak of communicable diseases.   Besides, through preparing health screening protocols and guidelines, we aim to ensure the quality of health service and provide training opportunities for health care personnel in the health screening of travelers and management of outbreak issues.

The nurses in the Port Health Travel Health Centres have the responsibilities in promoting and protecting the health of travellers as well as preventing the spread of diseases into Hong Kong.  We provide a comprehensive range of services to the travelers, such as health risk assessment, health education and promotion; vaccinations and medications that travellers might need to stay healthy while travelling aboard.  In addition to preventive care, we also offer individual health counseling to clients, administer vaccines to clients as required, produce health education materials for travellers and travel agencies on ad hoc health issues, and participate in health education and health promotion activities.  As part of service improvement practice, nurses also conduct surveys, answer telephone enquiries and participate in Port Health office's hotline service.

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