President's Award For Nurses 2004

28 Jul 2004

The President's Award for Nurses is to recognise exemplary nurses for their outstanding work performance and their contributions to the profession and the community over a sustained period of time. They are role models who motivate and inspire their peers and younger nurses through their passion and commitment in the profession. This year, three nurses have been selected for this prestigious award. 

The three recipients are:

Ms Janet Choo Kim Lan, Assistant Director, Nursing, Changi General Hospital

Ms Choo is an admirable nurse with excellent clinical nursing leadership.  Being one of the local nursing pioneers for case management and clinical pathways, she set up the case management unit in CGH and had presented many papers on this topic locally and overseas. As chairperson of CGH Nursing Research Committee, she has facilitated many nursing research projects.

Ms Choo is passionate about quality improvement.  Under her leadership, her teams have won gold awards in national conventions. In 2002, she was awarded the National Day Efficiency Award. Ms Choo is highly committed to personal and professional development.  She was awarded the "Academic Excellence Award" by the University of Sydney for her outstanding academic performance in the Master of Health Science (Management) course. 

During the SARS outbreak last year, she headed the CGH contact tracing team.  Her team's effective response in contact tracing closely complemented the national SARS containment efforts. 

At the grassroots level, she is presently the chairperson of the Women's Wing for Punggol North Constituency. 

Dr Premarani Kannusamy, Senior Principal Nursing Officer, Ministry of Health (HQ)

Dr Kannusamy is an exceptionally capable nurse with many talents.  She has pioneered many initiatives for nursing in Singapore, such as obtaining block grants for nursing research activities and conceptualising the first nursing website in Singapore. She is an active advocate of evidence-based practice.  She has presented research papers in local and international conferences. 

Dr Kannusamy's contribution to the nursing education of Singapore is notable as well.  She was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Master of Nursing programme in NUS.  Currently, she plays a pivotal role in the curriculum development of the proposed Bachelor of Science in Nursing programme.   

In 1995, she was the 1st recipient of the Professional Nurse of the Year Award.  

She imparts her professional expertise in various community projects such as the training of home carers and health education.  In 1995, she was presented the 10-year Community Service Award for her dedicated voluntary service. Last year, she was presented the Lifelong Learning Award by the Ministry of Manpower.

Mr Edward Poon Wing Hong, Director of Nursing, Dover Park Hospice

Mr Poon is an enthusiastic and dynamic nursing administrator.  He is also a clinical leader in palliative care nursing, who actively promotes awareness in the hospice movement. 

He actively drives care initiatives in Dover Park Hospice. This includes the weekly nurse-led ward round, wound management protocols, and the introduction of palliative outcome scale.

His research studies focus on palliative care. He has presented papers at local and international conferences.

Mr Poon frequently goes beyond the call of duty: visiting his patients after their discharge, comforting bereaved patients' families and coaching volunteers. For his contribution to palliative care, Mr Poon was awarded the Hospice Nurse's Award by Rotary Club Singapore. Recently, he received the Healthcare Humanity Award for his dedication to care.

Despite his busy schedule, Mr Poon finds time to give talks to nurses and the community. He initiated and organized several continuing education courses on palliative nursing.  He set up the carer training centre in Jurong and volunteers as a consultant at the Bishan Counselling Corner.    

These three exemplary nurses will receive their awards on 30 July 2004. President S R Nathan will be conferring this prestigious Award to these nurses who have shown outstanding performance and made significant contributions to the profession and the community over a sustained period of time.

This is the fifth year of the President's Award for Nurses.  The recipients will be accepting their awards at the Istana Reception in conjunction with Nurses Day celebrations on 30 July, 6.00pm. The award comprises a trophy, a certificate and $6000 which will be used by the recipient to attend conferences and training programmes for professional and personal development.