Nurses' Graduation Ceremony And Presentation Of Merit Awards

28 Jul 2000

By Mr Lim Hng Kiang

Venue: College Of Medicine Building Auditorium

Good morning

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

It is my pleasure to be here this morning to officiate at the combined Nurses' Graduation Ceremony and the Presentation of Merit Awards. The graduation ceremony marks the successful completion of the Enrolled Nurse Training Course, the Dental Therapist and the Dental Surgery Assistant Training Courses. The Merit Award is to recognise outstanding performance and commitment to the nursing profession. May I extend my warmest congratulations to all of you from the graduating classes and the 34 Merit Award recipients.

Prior to 1992, the basic 3-year nursing course was conducted at the Ministry of Health's School of Nursing as a certificate course. Today, Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) offers the nursing course at a diploma level and also advanced diploma courses in 14 different nursing specialities such as gerontology, nephro-urology, neuroscience and community health. From January this year, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) took over the two-year Enrolled Nurse training programme with the closure of the School of Nursing. The first batch of nurse trainees from ITE will graduate in 2002. This transfer is a logical development and brings nursing education into the mainstream of vocational education. It is also in line with our plan to continuously upgrade nursing training.

The transfer of the Enrolled Nurse training to ITE is just one of the many steps the Ministry has taken over the past year, to ensure the nursing profession continues to offer a challenging and meaningful career to our nurses. Other measures include raising nurses' salaries, a new programme to help non-practising nurses return to nursing, an Advanced Skills Programme to upgrade the clinical skills of nurses, and last but not least, the inauguration of the President's Award for Nurses. These initiatives also serve to give nursing the well-deserved recognition as a noble and worthwhile profession.

Development of the Nursing Profession

First, nurses' salaries. Nursing is a calling, and must always remain so. However, nurses' salaries must keep pace with that of other professions and must be sufficiently competitive to attract new school leavers to join the profession and retain them long enough to attain a high standard of nursing skills. In addition, we acknowledge that our nurses are much sought after by hospitals in other countries. Our salaries must also be competitive compared to these countries which try to recruit from us. Though salaries have been revised this year, further adjustments will be made if necessary to ensure that salaries remain competitive. MOH will work with the clusters to ensure that nurses' salaries are reviewed at least annually.

Secondly, the Ministry is working to further expand the role of nurses, especially highly trained clinical nurses. Good salaries are not enough. Trends in technological and medical advances will require the nursing profession to be progressively restructured to ensure a high quality care to Singaporeans. We are reviewing the nursing job structure to identify those positions which require a higher level of skill and competency, and challenge the nurses to take on these roles. Today, there is considerable scope for expanding the role and training of nurses. You can aspire to be a caring practitioner or set your goals to specialise in many fields of nursing available in Singapore. Nurses can practise in different healthcare settings - the fast and exact pace of critical care, the more sedate pace but no less demanding care for the elderly, or the challenging work of caring for the mentally disabled. A specialist register will be set up for the registration of nurse specialists to recognise those who have acquired higher level skills. As nurses become better trained and qualified, they will be able to move up the professional ladder and work more independently. This will translate to better care for patients.

Third, upgrading opportunities for Enrolled Nurses. Enrolled Nurses who aspire to become Registered Nurses can now look forward to being upgraded to the diploma level if they meet the prerequisites for the training programme in the NYP. To facilitate the upgrading process, a certificate course in Bridging Studies for the Enrolled Nurse was conducted in NYP in 1999. 32 Enrolled Nurses from various hospitals and institutions, who completed the course have gained admission to the Diploma in Nursing course at NYP this year.

Four, continuing nursing education. It is important to ensure that nurses keep themselves up-to-date and develop new or higher level skills through continuing nursing education. This would allow them to meet the demands brought on by changes in medical science and an increasingly sophisticated and better educated public. My Ministry has collaborated with the hospitals and institutions in both the public and private sectors to develop the Advanced Skills Programmes under the Skills Redevelopment Programme for the Healthcare Sector. The Advanced Skills Programmes will equip Registered and Enrolled Nurses with up-to-date knowledge and practical skills to perform higher level clinical procedures.

Return-to- Nursing Training Scheme

Five, addressing the shortage of nurses. We know that our nurses carry a heavy workload because of the nursing shortage. We will redress this by continuing to recruit sufficient foreign nurses to help make up for the shortage. More nursing support will be employed to relieve nurses from the more mundane tasks and non-nursing duties. We will also try to encourage nurses who have stopped practising as nurses to return to nursing. A new re-training and skills updating programme will start this year, to assist our local pool of non-practising nurses who wish to return to nursing, be it on a part-time or full-time basis. In addition, I have asked the public sector hospitals to explore part-time employment options. These measures will help ease our shortage of nurses.

President's Award for Nurses

In Singapore, there is a strong tradition of good nursing care. Our nurses maintain high professional standards and are very well regarded for their dedication to their profession and contribution to the community. The Merit Award recipients today are role models of this tradition. We want to go one step further. To honour our nurses, the "President's Award for Nurses" will be inaugurated this year. The President will present the awards to 3 recipients at the Istana Garden Reception on Nurses' Day, 1 August 2000. This will be a visible recognition and high accolade not only for the award holders, but also testimony to the high regard we hold for the nursing profession.

Conclusion

The high standards of our healthcare system are achieved because we have a corps of highly professional, competent and compassionate nurses. You have chosen nursing as a profession and a calling. My Ministry and the various healthcare institutions will play our part to help you grow and develop in their careers. I am confident that with your dedication, we will be able to ensure that Singaporeans will continue to receive good and affordable healthcare. Once again, may I congratulate all of you on your graduation and I wish you a challenging and fulfilling career ahead.