Wang Yuying (left), a head nurse of Peking University First Hospital, checks the condition of a COVID-19 patient at Tongji Hospital's Zhongfa Xincheng branch in Wuhan.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"The windows of the residential building in front of our hotel were always closed. But on the day when we left, many of them were open and the people living inside looked out and said thanks," she recalls.

With 36 years' experience as a nurse in the thoracic surgery department, Wang Yuying asks all the nurses in her department to learn how to read chest radiography and also how to perform auscultation-the action of listening to sounds from the heart, lungs or other organs with a stethoscope.

"The relationship between doctors and nurses should be complimentary," she says.

Besides continuously learning postoperative care as the medical technology develops, Wang Yuying also asks her nurses to be innovative when taking care of the patients.

A dozen years ago, she developed a recipe for a nutrient solution to help esophagus cancer patients recover faster which is still used today. She asked advice from a nutritionist when she was creating the recipe and made it as affordable as possible so it won't be a financial burden on the patient.