Tzu Chi Junior College of Nursing

The Tzu Chi Junior College of Nursing, founded in 1989, is located in the village of Chi-an in Hualien, Taiwan.

Master Cheng Yen felt that there were three major reasons for founding the school:

1. to solve education and employment problems for young females in eastern Taiwan, especially young female aboriginals who needed assistance in these areas;
2. to train and work with local talents to reduce the turnover of the nursing staff;
3. to foster the spirit of Great Love in educating nurses in hopes of producing more compassionate nurses to provide better patient services in major hospitals throughout Taiwan.

The school's emblem symbolizes the "Eight Petals" in Buddhism. It represents the continuing commitment of Tzu Chi members in following the Eight Noble Paths (Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Behavior, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Contemplation, all of which help one follow the right paths and avoid evil). The "Coexistence of the Flowers and Fruits" on the emblem signifies the continuing planting and flowering of the Tzu Chi organizations and thus their fruition. A book represents the Tzu Chi mission of education, and a nurse's cap symbolizes the Junior College of Nursing.

The education goals of the Tzu Chi Junior College of Nursing are as follows:

1. Use Tzu Chi's best abilities to establish the best school and to educate the most talented students. Master Cheng Yen emphasized the importance of shouldering social responsibility in educating and producing talented nurses.
2. Emphasize both professional knowledge and morality. In addition to the teaching of specialized knowledge and skills, students are also educated in the humanities so that they will continue to search for truth, goodness and beauty, as well as value a whole-person development of the body, mind and spirit.
3. Accept the responsibility for saving lives and helping all those in need, and foster religious sentiments among students. Upon graduation, they should have the compassion to give and sacrifice themselves completely in the nursing field and ask for nothing in return.
4. Care for the community and service to the neighborhood. Job opportunities are provided for residents in eastern Taiwan, and help Hualien to become an important town with a high quality of medical treatment and humanitarian services.

The school's unique features are as follows:

1. Students are taught both verbally and by the personal example of their teachers. Both teachers and students wear school uniforms.
2. Both humanities and specialized professional education are emphasized. The "Yi Te Mother/Sister Association" is a special feature of the school: Tzu Chi commissioners volunteer to stay at the school and provide spiritual and psychological guidance for groups of students.
3. Students are responsible for the daily cleaning chores of the entire school, as well as caring for the plants and trees.
4. The Tu Chi Volunteer Team includes an Administrative Service Team, a Healthcare Service Team, and a Cultural Service Team.
5. The majority of the teaching staff lives in the dorms with the students, and are thus able to provide continuous academic and social guidance and care for the students.

Tzu Chi Junior Nursing College originally offered five majors: nursing, hospital administration, radiological technology, early child care, and physical therapy. In August 1999, the school was upgraded by Taiwan's Ministry of Education to the Tzu Chi College of Technology, and new majors were added.