From November 2 to 3, the International Academic Symposium on Child Palliative-Hospice Care & Oncology Specialist Service Ability Improvement Training Course was held, sponsored by the School of Nursing and Health of Henan University and Henan Provincial People's Hospital. The Symposium was held online with the theme of "Protect Life, Guard Dignity".

The Symposium invited Prof. Bo JI, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Henan University, Prof. Betty Ferrell, president of the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, and Prof. Jilan LUO, honorary chairman of the Chinese Association for Life Care, to attend the opening ceremony and deliver speeches. The seminar was chaired by Xiaojing MA, secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Nursing and Health, and Ruiling LI, dean of the School of Nursing and Health.

At the opening ceremony, Bo JI extended a warm welcome to the participating experts. He pointed out that this seminar aimed to promote the development of children's hospice care in China, to broaden the international horizons of practitioners, and to improve the comprehensive skills and international standard of the clinicians and medical educators engaging in children's hospice care.

Betty Ferrell mentioned in the speech that hospice care was to show respect and care for life. Nursing workers should uphold the principle of being courageous, affectionate, collaborative, and trustworthy to provide high-quality hospice care for patients and their families.

Jilan LUO called on all experts, scholars and medical staff who are deeply involved in the field of children's hospice care to work together, and be more affectionate and patient when researching and practicing children's hospice care to contribute to the development of hospice care in China.

After that, Prof. Amy Haskamp, senior lecturer of Children's Hospice Education, Vanessa Battista, clinical professor of the Cornell School of Nursing of Boston College, along with Prof. Hongyu SUN from the School of Nursing of Peking University and other experts and scholars made reports respectively, discussing the children's palliative care model, the perinatal and neonatal palliative care, as well as the importance of humanistic care in the training of nursing professionals.

In the closing speech, Ruiling LI summarized that the conference mainly discussed the latest development, new methods and new theories of palliative care in China, which was of great significance in furthering the professional development of palliative care in China and improving the quality of active services.

Lasting for two days, the conference offered an opportunity for domestic and foreign nursing experts and elites in the field to make exchanges on new ideas and new technologies for children's palliative-hospice care, as well as share new experiences and new skills. It was expected to promote the development of children's palliative and hospice care, and to make greater contributions to the development of health care in China.