SPEECH BY MR MASAGOS ZULKIFLI, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT AND SECOND MINISTER FOR HEALTH AT THE NUHS NURSES’ DAY 2024, 23 JULY 2024, 4.50PM

Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, 

Chairman, NUHS Board,

Prof Yeoh Khay Guan, 

Chief Executive, NUHS,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Nurses and retired nurses,

Happy Nurses' Day!

1. Let me wish all the NUHS superstar nurses Happy Nurses’ Day.

2. I can sense the energy in the room and am glad to be part of this celebration. Today is your day!

3. This afternoon, we gather together to recognise your contributions and to celebrate your achievements.  

4. Over the years, nurses have cared for patients, including myself, within healthcare facilities and have also gone beyond to care for the population in the community and in patients’ homes. Today, you do not only look after the ill but also advocate for individuals to make adjustments to their lifestyles and habits, so that they can be in a better state, and avoid falling ill.

5. Our healthcare system is what it is today, because of your valuable contributions.

6. NUHS certainly shares this view as it celebrates nurses as “NUHS Superstar Nurses”, the theme of today’s event.

Advancing Professional Roles of Nurses

7. Nurses are professionals. Our nurses practise at the highest level of their expertise and collaborate effectively with multi-disciplinary teams. With their extensive clinical experience, they conduct complex assessments, make critical decisions, and deliver specialised treatments.

8. The nursing profession has evolved significantly. Today, nurses take on advanced and multi-faceted roles, and are actively involved in realising the vision of integrated care - helping to improve patient outcomes and delivering health and wellness seamlessly.

9. For instance, Ms Shermin Chieng, an Advanced Practice Nurse and Collaborative Prescribing Practitioner, works in a dynamic ‘Teamlet’ at Bukit Panjang Polyclinic to help patients manage their chronic conditions. As a Collaborative Prescribing Practitioner, she is certified to prescribe medication and order tests in collaboration with doctors. Every day is dynamic and she continually has to draw on her expertise and experience in primary care nursing and work effectively with family physicians, care managers and care coordinators, to co-create treatment options and support the patients.

Advancing Nursing across the Care Continuum

10. As professionals, it is important to continue to hone your craft and broaden your knowledge. I’m glad that as an Academic Health System, NUHS provides nurses with opportunities for job rotations and cross-learnings. NUHS also encourages nurses to collaborate across various specialties and care settings. These allow nurses to redefine their roles, adapt to different care environments, and advance their careers within a dynamic and structured framework.

11. Ms Peck Sin Yee, a Nurse Clinician at Alexandra Hospital (AH), is a nurse that has exemplified this. After practising as a surgical speciality-trained nurse for almost 17 years, she invested in her professional development and moved across medical disciplines from surgical to virtual care, and transited from the inpatient setting to outpatient and sub-acute care in the community.

12. Having accumulated a wealth of experience, she has been able to contribute meaningfully, both in-patient care and in sub-acute care in the community.

a. For in-patient care, Sin Yee implemented the hospital’s nurse-led care for the FAST programme. With the same care team providing integrated and customised care to patients, the programme has helped to improve inpatient care and potentially shortened the time they needed to remain in the hospital.

b. With her knowledge and expertise, Sin Yee has also been able to better support individuals in the community and she now leads a group of nurses to provide virtual care for discharged patients through the AH Virtual Care Centre.

Well done, Sin Yee!

Building a Nursing Workforce of the Future

13. As our population ages and needs increase in complexity, the healthcare sector will need to transform. All of us will need to be adaptable to ensure the continual relevance and accessibility of healthcare for our population.

14. The commitment to continuous learning and innovation is essential. I am happy to hear that the NUHS’ Centre of Nursing Excellence is investing in the development of nurses through its capability-building programmes and fostering lifelong learning.

15. At the same time, we must leverage on technology to enhance efficiency and support patient outcomes. While this requires change, we must adjust our processes and integrate these technological applications seamlessly to reap their benefits.

Honouring the Superstars

16. Today, we celebrate the achievements of our nurses, especially the two individual recipients of the Joycelyn Khoo Award for NUHS Paediatric Nursing, and the 128 individuals who have been awarded the NUHS Nightingale Award. These awards are given to nurses who have demonstrated excellence, compassion and meticulous care towards their paediatric patients and are exemplary role models who have made significant contributions in patient care. Please join me in congratulating these recipients.

Closing

17. In closing, someone once told me “doctors cure, but nurses heal”. There is truth to this as I have seen the care that nurses provide.

18. Once again, a big thank you to all nurses for your care and your contributions. I wish each and every one of you a Happy Nurses' Day. Thank you.