The idea is being introduced as a "pilot project" (??) at Lianshui County Chinese Medicine Hospital in east China's Jiangsu province where all staff working in the Chinese medicine ward are required to dress in the air hostess outfits.

Management believe this will relations between staff and patients and their relatives.  The outfits will help the nurses handle tense and awkward situations in a more holistic way.

In the pilot project 12 nurses from the hospital Lianshui county in Huai'an city began discarding their traditional white nurse garbs for a new air hostess getup.

Recruitment for the voluntary program began in March, and the nurses involved as well as being fully qualified medically were given a supplementary month of training in areas such as communication by a real air hostess from China Eastern Airlines in April.

"The nursing department had long intended to create an air hostess ward, but just didn't carry it out," said a spokesperson from the hospital, adding that this first batch of 12 nurses are now on duty but currently confined to serving patients from the Chinese medicine ward.

One of the participating nurses, 23-year-old Zhao Yanan, said dressing up as an air hostess makes her work with more enthusiasm and has even encouraged her to sleep earlier so that she looks better in the mornings.