Enrolled Nurses and Nursing Aides

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Tan Wu Meng
MP for Jurong GRC

Question No. 829

To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry will explore ways to up-skill and enhance the capabilities of enrolled nurses and nursing aides including those serving in nursing homes through measures such as training and certification.

Oral Answer

1        Enrolled Nurses (ENs) and support care staff, such as healthcare assistants and nursing aides, are important healthcare staff in the delivery of care.  They assist Registered Nurses (RNs) in the provision of nursing care.  ENs are able to carry out tasks such as inserting stomach feeding tubes and blood glucose monitoring.

2        As our population ages, healthcare needs will increase and become more complex.  We agree with the Member that we should continue to up-skill ENs and support care staff to perform a wider scope of patient care.

3        ENs and support care staff can undergo in-house training provided by our public healthcare institutions.  They can also attend courses offered by training providers such as the Singhealth Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing Studies and the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)’s Learning Institute.

4        ENs can also up-skill to be RNs through the Diploma in Nursing course offered by Nanyang Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic.  As part of the recommendations by the National Nursing Taskforce in 2014, more ENs can progress to become RNs by undertaking the Certificate in Bridging Studies for ENs course, and subsequently the Diploma in Nursing course, if they have at least three years of post-enrolment work experience and an employer’s testimonial.  The Ministry of Health has also increased funding for our public healthcare institutions to support the upgrading of ENs to RNs.  With these changes, the number of ENs enrolling in the Diploma in Nursing course increased by 7% from 237 in 2014 to 253 in 2016.

5        We will continue to study ways to enhance the roles, professional growth and career pathways for ENs and support care staff so that we can continue to deliver good quality care for Singaporeans.