Ching-Min Chen

Ching-Min Chen, DNS, RN, FAAN, is a nurse, nurse leader, and nurse educator who has been a Sigma member for nearly 30 years and is currently a member of the Lambda Beta at-Large Chapter. Throughout her Sigma journey, she has served as a committee member and as a board member. She became a nurse after hearing her sister talk about her internship experiences. Ching-Min began in the neurosurgery department of a hospital in Taipei and soon left Taiwan to study abroad at University of Illinois at Chicago in the US, where she obtained her RN to BSN. From there she went on to Indiana University for her master’s and doctoral studies, which focused on community health nursing. 

She is also a former legislator in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan. Though she never planned on becoming a politician, when President Tsai Ing-wen appointed her as legislator-at-large in 2018, she saw it as either her destiny or something she should do because of her own sense of mission. Only the second legislator in Taiwan’s history to have a nursing background, Ching-Min decided it was important to seize every opportunity to draw public and the government attention to her nursing colleagues’ working environment, pay, and treatment as well as public health. “In order to achieve the ultimate goals of community health, the ultimate means is through health policy-making. The creation and implementation of laws and policies is the most direct way to address the health of the public,” she said. 

Even before her appointment to the legislature, she encouraged her students to get involved in public affairs to take care of patients’ rights and to take to the streets when necessary. Political participation is everyone’s responsibility, she said. Ching-Min also encourages her students to experience the political process with site observation at the legislative Yuan. “Learning by doing is the most effective way.”

Ching-Min is proud of being a nurse. “Nursing is closely related to society, which covers health promotion, disease prevention, and care for the sick, disabled, and the terminally ill patients, promoting a safe environment, and implementing research projects and development,” she said. “In short, nurses have played a critical role and made a significant contribution to make society safer, healthier, and stronger.” Despite the critical role nurses play in a society’s health, nurses are often undervalued. She sees her work as helping promote and improving the way nurses are seen and valued in society. “There has never been such an important moment as today to show support for strategic investment in nursing.” This, she said, will help improve healthcare for everyone.

Ching-Min Chen, DNS, RN, FAAN, is a nurse, nurse leader, and nurse educator. She served as a legislator-at-large in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan from 2018-2020.