Speech by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister For Health at the Nurses’ Merit Award Presentation Ceremony, 18 July 2018

Nurses

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

INTRODUCTION

1.    A very good afternoon to everyone. I am indeed honoured to join you this afternoon to celebrate and recognise the achievements of the Nurses’ Merit Award 2018 recipients.

2.    I would like to begin by thanking all our nurses working across different care settings in the hospitals and community. You have displayed professionalism, patience, persistence and passion in the work that you do, often going the extra mile in caring for your patients.

3.    Since our nation’s early days, nurses have been at the forefront of the healthcare system. Back then, one of the major priorities for our young nation was to improve basic population health, especially maternal and child health. Today, our population is ageing and we have different challenges ahead of us. But one thing remains the same – nurses continue to be the heart of our healthcare, caring for patients, supporting and helping them through their health journey.

4.    Every day, you help those who come under your care and with your healing touch, you give them comfort and assurance.

5.    Narayani, a recipient of the Nurses’ Merit Award today, is one such nurse who has touched her patients’ lives. She was caring for a baby boy who had just undergone surgery. The boy’s parents were very anxious during his recovery and Narayani went beyond caring for the boy to comforting and encouraging the parents. The boy’s parents were very grateful for her care for them and their child. She has remained in contact with the boy who is now eight years old. Narayani had said that superheroes do not always need super powers but an empathetic heart and a healing touch.

6.    To keep this heart of healthcare healthy, we will need to continue growing the nursing workforce, empowering and enabling them to practise to their fullest potential and building up their skills and competencies to prepare our nurses to be future-ready.

GROWING THE NURSING WORKFORCE

7.    Nurses form more than 40% of our national healthcare workforce. The overall nursing intake across ITE, polytechnics and universities has increased by over 30% in 2017 as compared to 2012. Admissions for the 2018 intake are ongoing, and likely to exceed 2,000, the highest in the last six years.

8.    Aside from younger students, we are providing multiple pathways for mid-career Singaporeans to join the profession too. Since 2003, more than 800 mid-career Singaporeans have enrolled into our healthcare Professional Conversion Programmes (PCP) for Registered and Enrolled nurses. This year, NUS Nursing has launched a two-year Bachelor of Science (Nursing) Programme for mid-career Singaporeans who have a prior degree in non-nursing disciplines to undergo training to become nurses. The first cohort of more than 30 students will begin their nursing training journey later this month.

9.    Michael is one of them. He was inspired to join the PCP by his Catholic faith and desire to serve others. He also had a caregiver who gave him hope through her warmth and sincerity. He longed for an opportunity to be the same beacon of hope for others. Chancing upon the PCP, he decided to become a nurse. He will join SingHealth Community Hospital after his graduation and is most excited about entering the community care sector where he can care for patients over a longer period of time.

10.    Let me thank all nurses; nurse leaders; public, private healthcare organisations and schools who had participated in our Care to Go Beyond campaign and the team for your efforts in raising awareness of nursing and encouraging more locals to join the profession.

EMPOWERING AND ENABLING NURSES TO PERFORM EXPANDED ROLES

11.    Beyond growing the number of nurses, the nursing role will also need to expand and transform to allow nurses to stay adept in the face of evolving healthcare needs. For example, senior pharmacists and Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) are being upskilled through a Collaborative Prescribing (CP) Programme to be able to legally prescribe medicines and order tests. The inaugural batch of 19 APNs graduated earlier this month from the Collaborative Prescribing course conducted by NUS and will be credentialed by their institutions as collaborative prescribing practitioners (CPP). They will be empowered and enabled to perform more advanced and broader roles while bringing greater convenience and better care to their patients. The collaborative prescribing skills of our APNs will enable a change in the way we deliver effective and quality healthcare.

12.    Wei Fong is part of the inaugural batch of APNs graduating from the CP Programme. She currently cares for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and lipid disorders in Bukit Batok Polyclinic. Despite the challenges of studying and working concurrently, she found the programme a fruitful and enriching experience and has forged a new network of friendships with APNs and pharmacists from various institutions. She feels that being able to prescribe medicine has enabled her to have more autonomy in her clinical practice and to build a closer relationship with her patients.

BUILDING A FUTURE-READY NURSING WORKFORCE

13.    As we transform the way we work, we will also need to chart new frontiers in healthcare delivery. This involves shifting the centre of gravity of care from the hospital to the community in order to help seniors manage chronic conditions and age in place. Community nurses play a very important role in this aspect.

14.    As announced earlier this year, NUS Nursing has introduced a new part-time, modular graduate diploma in Community Health Nursing with the first intake in January. This graduate diploma will equip nurses with a greater understanding and clinical skills to manage complex healthcare needs in the community. It will also equip them to develop collaborative care planning with an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals. This graduate diploma offers nurses greater flexibility to pursue part-time studies to upgrade their skills while continuing in their career. Upon completing each module, they will obtain a certificate that can be stacked towards a graduate diploma.

15.    Ling Ling, who is receiving the Nurses Merit Award this year, had joined the PCP in 2010 and has been an important part of the nursing team in St Luke’s Hospital for the past six years, providing dementia care to her patients with compassion and dedication. Subsequently, she completed the Advanced Diploma in Nursing, Gerontology in 2016. Ling Ling has also been playing an active part in career recruitment fairs as a nurse ambassador. With her spirit of continuous learning and commitment to the nursing profession, the Graduate Diploma in Community Health Nursing would be another opportunity for her to upgrade her skills for the work she does in the community care sector.

SINGAPORE NURSE LEADERS PROGRAMME

16.    Besides enabling nurses to deepen their skills in community health, it is also crucial that our future nursing leaders have a deep understanding of the community care sector. The Singapore Nurse Leaders Programme (SNLP) is a new national programme developed by MOH and the Healthcare Leadership College (HLC) in consultation with nurse leaders from the public healthcare clusters and community care sector. The programme is one of the recommendations by the Future Nursing Career Review Committee (FNCRC) to develop future nurse leaders for the community care sector.

17.    SNLP will be conducted over three months in a modular manner. The programme comprises in-person seminars and workshops, as well as community care exposure where participants will gain an understanding of the care models, roles and scope of nursing practice within different community care settings. The exposure will also help participants appreciate the challenges faced by the sector and provide a platform for them to form networks with community care partners within their regional health system (RHS). The inaugural run will begin in early 2019 with about 30 participants.

18.    Huoy Ling, a nurse manager at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and a Nurses’ Merit Award recipient, is an example of a nurse leader who has benefited from community care experience. She is a key member of the new RHS-led community nursing teams.  Huoy Ling’s attachment to various community care settings such as the Community Nurse Post and Wellness Kampung has broadened her perspective and enabled her to develop a holistic appreciation of nursing and as well as psychosocial care needs in the community.  She has shared that she finds great satisfaction in the work she does in community nursing as it brings her closer to her patient’s heart, enabling her to build meaningful relationships, and also empowers her to tailor care to her patient’s specific needs. It is our hope that other nurse leaders will also be able to gain meaningful exposure to community care through the SNLP.

CLOSING REMARKS

19.    Nurses are an integral part of the healthcare system and MOH will continue to invest in nursing to develop and prepare our nursing workforce for the future. I am also happy to note that the Singapore Nurses Association (SNA) is leading a team to host the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress in Singapore in 2019. This will further raise the status of Singapore’s nursing profession at an international platform and forge professional relationships with international bodies and experts.

20.    In closing, I encourage you to continue developing your professional skills and improve the care you provide to your patients. More importantly, never stop caring. While nurses are now empowered to prescribe medicines and order tests, you have – to use an oft-quoted line from Val Saintsbury – already been dispensing comfort, compassion and care without even a prescription. You are the angels who bring relief and comfort to those in sickness and pain.

21.    I would like to congratulate our Nurses’ Merit Award recipients and sincerely thank all our nurses for your sacrifices and your dedication. On this note, I wish you all a Happy Nurses’ Day!