Nurses need more language skills

29 Dec 2004, Streats

Question

Name of the Person: Cheng Hui Mei

Nurses need more language skills

While the Government has been promoting Singapore as a medical hub in the hope of attracting medical tourists and the wealthy from neighbouring countries to healthcare services in Singapore, the quality of the services remains worrying. 

My uncle has cancer and was transferred to St Luke's Hospital from Singapore General Hospital two weeks ago. The nurses at St Luke's were friendly and caring; admirable qualities which are essential in their profession. 

However, most of them are from the Philippines and are unable to speak local dialects, Mandarin or Malay. My uncle tried communicating with them in Malay on several occasions but to no avail. 

This has led to inconvenience and discomfort for my uncle, who is bedridden. While I understand that there is a worldwide shortages of nurses and that it is necessary to employ foreign nurses, I wonder if it is practical to employ nurses who can communicate only in English, especially in a community hospital such as St Luke's where the patients are often older and unable to converse in English. 

On my visits to St Luke's, I noticed that a large number of nurses there are Filipinos. Is there currently any quota on the percentage of foreign nurses allowed to work in respective hospitals? Is it possible to train the nurses in some basic Malay or Mandarin before allowing them to work with patients? 

Another problem I noticed that could probably have arisen from this arrangement is that local nurses at the hospital seem to adopt a holier-than-thou attitude. 

When I asked a Singaporean nurse at the hospital about my uncle's condition, she spoke with an air of arrogance but was in fact unable to answer my questions. 

When I suggested that I ask the doctor myself, she became irritated and said that the doctor had spoken to my aunt already and that it was troublesome for him to speak to so many people. While I know that doctors are busy, I feel that they have a responsibility to convey such important information personally, if requested. 

It would be more reassuring to hear of a patient's condition from the doctor's mouth.

Reply

Reply from MOH 

Foreign Nurses are provided training in some local dialects 

In her letter "Nurses need more language skills" (Streats, 29 Dec 2004) Ms Cheng questions how practical it is to hire foreign nurses. 

The Ministry of Health and the two healthcare Clusters have been working to step up the recruitment of local nurses, as our healthcare needs increase over the years. The nursing intake in our local polytechnic has doubled while the intake at the Institute of Technical Education has more than doubled in the last 5 years. To cope with the increased intake, there are plans for a second polytechnic to train local nurses as well as a degree nursing programme in the coming years. We have also taken steps to enhance the nursing career to make it more attractive for locals to enter and remain in the nursing profession. These measures have started to produce results and this is work-in-progress. 

However, Singapore, like many countries, faces a shortage of local nurses and we have to recruit foreign nurses to supplement our local workforce. These foreign nurses are qualified and well trained, who have provided good services in our hospitals. Besides hiring nurses from the Philippines, we also recruit nurses from countries such as Malaysia, PRC and India who can speak our local languages. To facilitate their work in Singapore, hospitals here conduct a comprehensive adaptation course including the teaching of English, communication skills, and local customs. They are also taught some local rudimentary dialects to facilitate easier communications between nurses and patients. 

Foreign nurses are an integral part of our healthcare landscape and their presence here has helped plug the gaps which has yet to be filled locally.