11thesundaytimes

August 1, 2010

PRODUCED BY THE SPECIAL PROJECTS UNIT, MARKETING DIVISION, SPH

Proper work-life balance Lim Mein Chee, deputy director of nursing, Singapore National Eye Centre

YEARS ago, becoming a nurse nearly re-quired one to live like a nun. As a child, that was Ms Lim Mein Chee’s perception of the profession. “Nobody wanted to be a nurse. You had to be very dedicated, because the hours and work were very demanding. So it was difficult to take leave and you almost couldn’t go home,” she recalls.

But Ms Lim not only got married, she also started a family and managed to pursue her career. Now aged 56 with two grown-up children, she attributes it to strong family support, particularly from her husband, a chartered accountant.

She says: “He was very understanding. If I had shift duties, he would spend time with the kids.”

She is heartened that nurses now enjoy better work-life balance, thanks to chang-ing mindsets.

SSpecialal

Comfortable, nice uniformDiana Sim, senior staff nurse, National Dental Centre

A UNIFORM conveys authority and garners trust. For Ms Diana Sim, a comfortable uni-form allows her to perform tasks quickly and efficiently.

“When I started out, the uniform was white and came with a cap. I’d have to get

it starched so it stayed in shape throughout my shift,” recalls Ms Sim, who has chalked up 25 years of experience.

She especially appreciates that nurses’ feedback was sought for the current uni-form worn by nurses under the SingHealth Group, introduced in 2007. Incidentally, this was also her favourite out of several op-tions presented then.

Says Ms Sim: “I like the milky white colour because it is warmer and friend-lier. I also found the design more practi-cal and comfortable. So it is easier to walk and complete our tasks more efficiently.”

Nurses — The Pride of SingHealth

The nurse can see you nowSome patients with chronic diseases that are under control can consult specialist nurses instead of doctors at the polyclinics

Yeo Suan Futt

INSTEAD of seeing a doctor at the poly-clinic, patients with well-controlled chronic diseases can consult a nurse cli-nician during their routine checks.

Nurse clinicians are senior nurses who are trained in a clinical specialty such as critical care, oncology, continence man-agement and diabetes education.

Introduced in 2007, the Nurse Clini-cian Service (NCS) at polyclinics aims to help patients manage their chronic dis-eases more effectively and efficiently.

It aims to deliver a more personalised level of personal health management for those with stabilised chronic diseases.

According to the World Health Or-ganization, chronic conditions such as stroke, cancer, diabetes, heart and res-piratory diseases affect large numbers of people and these are the leading causes of mortality the world over, accounting for some 60 percent.

Characterised by long duration and generally slow progression, chronic dis-eases require long term monitoring and management of the patient’s condition and lifestyle.

Nurse clinicians provide consulta-tion, counselling and review of test re-sults with patients. They work together with senior doctors to review a patient’s medical history.

“To be a nurse clinician, a qualified nurse has to have at least three years’ experience in tending to patients with chronic diseases.

“We also have to undergo various training sessions, practical attachments to doctors and pass a competency ex-amination,” explains Ms Agnes Ngoh Soh Heng. The 45-year-old nurse clini-cian based at Geylang Polyclinic has been in nursing for 28 years.

With qualified nurses providing

consultation for selected patients, doctors have more time to see the complicated cases. Patients also benefit in having shorter waiting times for their routine consultation.

“Patients are seen by appointment, they do not have to go through regis-tration and can be attended to at the Nurse Clinic in around 15 minutes,” adds Ms Ngoh. She is one of four nurse clinicians at the polyclinic with about 30 nursing staff.

Response to the NCS has been very positive among patients. One of them, Ms Irene Yap, 57, says: “The nurses are trained and qualified, and I also have more time to ask questions and talk to the nurse about my medical condition.”

For Ms Ngoh, the principal benefit of the NCS lies in the stronger partnership between the healthcare system and the patient in managing chronic diseases.

She says: “Sometimes patients with stabilised conditions get a bit compla-cent – for example, they are less watch-ful about their diet, and their cholester-ol level or blood pressure goes up.

“We are here to motivate, educate and help patients self-manage their condition, that is our most important role, and it is very rewarding to see a pa-tient’s condition improve through this collaboration.”

Three veteran nurses tell Mary Lim how their profession has evolved through the years

Things get better and betterGood career opportunitiesMalini Krishnan, senior nurse manager, SingHealth Polyclinics – Geylang

EVEN after more than 30 years in nurs-ing, Ms Malini Krishnan still describes her job as “very challenging” and “a joy”. At the SingHealth Polyclinic in Geylang, she leads a group of 30 nurses to ensure smooth daily operations every day.

“In the past, the job scope was task-ori-ented, and our respon-sibility was to follow up with doctors’ instructions,” s h e s a y s . “With more opportunities for education, however, nurs-es have become more involved in the patient care manage-ment process.”

One area is in self-care counselling, where they advise and guide patients on dietary changes and monitoring blood pressure, among others. Nurses therefore must possess critical thinking skills, Ms Krishnan points out.

This has made it necessary for con-stant learning. In addition to her nurs-ing certification and degree, she has also enhanced her skills with various courses in midwifery, community nursing and even leadership.

“Expanding our knowledge gives me more confidence, because patients will trust us more. This, in turn, increases job satisfaction and performance.”

❜

When you’re a nurse, you know that every day you will touch a life, or a life will touch yours. – Anonymous

❛

alsShe especially appreciates that nurses’

Ms Sim says a comfortable uniform improves effi ciency.

❜

Nurses embody the service, skills, spirit and values that all of us in health care aspire to attain. No matter what you come into a hospital for, the nurse is the one professional you are sure to encounter.

In my interaction with staff in our institutions, I am impressed by how driven and committed nurses are to

providing the best care for our patients. The genuine desire to heal and restore quality of life drives them to excellent performance. We will continue to nurture, reward and retain such dedicated talent to better serve our

patients. To all our nurses, keep up the great work and Happy Nurses’ Day!

- Mr Peter Seah, chairman of SingHealth

❛

But Ms Lim not only got married she

Besides a fulfi lling career, Ms Lim

(left) also has a loving family.

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A SingHealth nurse gets 3 sets of uniforms and 2 pairs of shoes

every year.

<< Ms Ngoh (right) of the Nurse Clinician Servic

e at Geylang Polyclinic sees

patients with well-controlled chronic condition

s. PHOTOS: CHONG JUN LIANG, SINGHEALTH

The first President’s Award

for Nurses in 2001 went to a

SingHealth nurse.

As we celebrate 125 years of nursing in Singapore, SingHealth wishes all

nurses a Happy Nurses Day! Your care, courage and dedication bring comfort to every patient and inspire us all. We salute your passion and commitment on this

special day!

Over 1,000 SingHealth nurses have served for

more than two decades.

>>Dealing with very ill patients and anxious relatives is part of Ms Toh’s daily routine.

❜

13August 1, 2010 thesundaytimes

SSpecialalNURSES — THE PRIDE OF SINGHEALTH

SOME female cancer patients stay at home after breast surger-ies because they do not want to go out with a surgical drain in-side their clothes.

Comprising a tube and small bottle for draining blood and fluid, the drain is usually at the side of the patient’s body for about seven to 10 days after surgery. A safety pin secures the drain beneath the clothes and it can also be in the pocket of the blouse or pants.

Last year, a team of breast care nurse clinicians in Na-tional Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) came up with the idea for an affordable, safe, durable, water resistant, light-weight and washable drain pouch.

It is compact, easy to wear and remove, and it can be worn in different positions. It has a strap which can be adjusted to the body frame.

The pouch, with non-allergic and non-abrasive padding material, can be worn like a waistband, a string bag, or a chain from the neck.

It can be worn in the shower and dur-ing sleep. There is no pin that can ac-cidentally prick patients, especially the elderly folk with poor eyesight.

“We hope to make the life of wom-en cancer patients more comfortable,” says Ms Mabel Tan who is in the team of breast care nurse clinicians who devel-oped the drain pouch.

Making life comfortable for patientsA team of nurses create a drain pouch to make things easier for breast cancer patients

“We hope it will improve the patients’ functionality and psycho-social status. Some patients with surgical drains dare not go out of their homes.

“They do not want to be embarrassed if people notice the drain pinned inside their clothes.

“Some patients say the drain pouch is like a money pouch and they can also put in things like their MRT cards.

“Patients can wear the drain pouch to go to markets and socialise with their friends. There is no need for them to stay at home.

“We will keep our costs low to make

the drain pouch affordable.”The drain pouch is secure and com-

fortable, says Madam Zaherah Mohd Saleh, a customer service officer, who used it earlier this year.

This creation is an example of how breast care nurse clinicians can improve things for patients.

Ms Tan says: “We can re-examine our practices by implementing evidence- based nursing to improve the standard of clinical care and safety for patients and improve their functionability, psycho-social health and comfort.”

The Ministry of Health and NCCS are funding the cost of the work on the drain pouch.

Clinical trials assessing the level of pa-tients’ satisfaction with the drain pouch or the practice of using a pin to secure the surgical drain, will be completed by the end of September this year.

The trials are a joint project, which also involves breast care nurses in Sin-gapore General Hospital and the staff of SingHealth.

If the trials show that more patients are satisfied with the drain pouch, it will be manufactured and its design will be patented.

The benefits of the pouch will be shared with other hospitals and health care institutions here, Ms Tan says.

She adds: “We are thinking of making different sizes of the drain pouch, includ-ing those for 24-hour infusion pumps with chemotherapy drugs and for non-cancer patients with big surgical drains.” – Ahmad Osman

Philip Lee

AN ERUPTION of noise is not something any hospital would tolerate.

But the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) made an exception when a large gathering of its nurses and other staff broke out into lusty cheers at 9am on the hospital’s ninth floor void deck on April 27 this year.

The reason: the hospital had just re-ceived an overseas call from the prestigious American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) that it had earned the Magnet ac-creditation — the highest institutional hon-our for nursing excellence and leadership.

This places SGH among the elite group of the top five per cent of hospitals in the world to earn this coveted recognition, along with renowned health-care institu-tions such as Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Duke University Hospital.

This achievement is also noteworthy for Singapore, not just for the hospital, as SGH is the only one in Asia to be Mag-net-accredited.

A four-member high-level delegation from ANCC flew in to make on-site ap-praisals of SGH’s operations from Feb 1 to 4 this year, says Associate Professor Lim Swee Hia, the hospital’s director of nursing.

Magnet refers to the ability of a recog-nised organisation to attract and retain professional nurses and attract patients who seek top quality health-care.

ANCC established 14 Forces of Mag-netism that it felt defined an exceptional hospital.

These revolve around creating an en-vironment that supports nursing prac-tice, professional autonomy and deci-sion-making at the bedside.

It also includes staff involvement in determining their work environment, personal education, career development

Top honours for SGH nursesSingapore General Hospital is the first in Asia to receive the Magnet accreditation, the highest accolade for nursing excellence and leadership

and nursing leadership.Of the ANCC recognition, Prof Lim says:

“It was like striking an Olympic gold.”The appraisal, she recalls, was stringent,

intensive and exhaustive. The team from the United States was at the hospital at 7.30 am to have breakfast with the night nurses who had gone off duty.

“They also selected other nurses for lunch. They talked to our doctors and al-lied health-care workers.

“They wanted to see evidence of staff engagement, inter-disciplinary working relationships and how staff from different ethnic backgrounds work together. They also looked into patient satisfaction.

“Patients and the public were also in-vited to give their feedback direct to the assessors via a designated email address.”

The accreditation will push SGH to improve further on staff development and patient care, Prof Lim adds.

For example, SGH recently completed a programme, Nurse Charting, an online documentation featuring regularly up-dated data on patients

This does away with clipboard notes used previously. All updated patient in-formation are accessible at any time.

“Magnet is also about how we engage staff,” says Prof Lim.

“We believe in shared governance. We get junior nurses to chair working com-mittees. And the young nurses feel so proud to contribute.”

One of them, Mr Muhammad Hafiz bin Hadi, 25, a male nurse, was picked to be the guide to the visiting Americans.

He says: “Normally such a job is given to a senior hospital staff but I felt honoured to do it. It shows SGH trusts its young workers.”

Ms Rosalind Siah, 27, a senior staff nurse, says that staff morale in her ward shot up when SGH was working towards Magnet.

“We felt that our hard work was ap-preciated.”

Mr Nidu Maran, 34, an advanced practice nurse, says: “The Magnet award reflects the empowerment given to our ground nurses as agents of change.”

To the 3,300 nurses and allied health-care workers in SGH, Prof Lim says: “I thank them for their dedication and teamwork. I am also grateful to our senior manage-ment for their support and contributions.”

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is not the only SingHealth institution to have been awarded nursing honours by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

The SingHealth Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing (IAN) was accredited by ANCC in 2007 as a Continuing Nursing Education Provider.

IAN is the first such institute in Asia, and only the third outside the United States, to receive this recognition for its high-quality continuing education programmes for nurses and para-nursing staff.

The nursing institute, established in 1997, provides a comprehensive range of nursing specialisation programmes and practice-based training to groom the competence of nurses locally and in the region.

To earn accreditation from ANCC, the institute had to undergo a rigorous assessment and evaluation process.

This covers setting goals that are relevant to students, having an established process for assessing needs, planning, implementation and evaluation as well as possessing sufficient human, material and financial resources.

The institute must also ensure that feedback is properly documented and used to enhance its activities which must be of high professional standards.

Says SGH’s director of nursing, Associate Professor Lim Swee Hia: “Gunning for accreditation with an internationally recognised credentialing centre has enabled us to benchmark our training programmes and processes against international standards.

“SingHealth will continue to explore ways to expand the scope of nursing careers and enhance nursing capabilities for the benefit of our patients.” – Philip Lee

Midwives deliver bundles of joyKKH has a clinic manned by nurses to provide holistic and personalised service for expectant mothers

the load for doctors to focus on high-risk pregnancies.

Ms Thilagaman-gai says: “We see and manage our patients and make decisions for them.

“We discuss our decisions with the doctors . We are with patients from the start of their pregnancies, during and after their deliv-eries.”

Ms Tay adds : “Our patients are happy with our serv-ices. We have requests from patients who want to see us in the clinic.”

Patients who need help after discharge can turn to Ms Ho (above), 64, a senior

Ahmad Osman

KK WOMEN’S and Children’s Hospital (KKH) aims to make the birth of a child a joyful and memorable experience for mothers and their families, with help from its three midwives, Ms Thilaga-mangai, Ms Julie Tay and Ms Ho Swee Chan.

Senior nurse clinician Ms Thilaga-mangai and nurse clinician Ms Tay run a weekly Friday afternoon clinic set up in March this year.

It provides routine antenatal checks for women with no medical problem and normal pregnancies, who are referred there by obstetricians.

The patients also get advice on how to cope with labour pains, breastfeed-ing and other aspects of postnatal care. The clinic, which helps to upgrade the status of midwives, provides services and educational information. This eases

midwife and grand-mother providing postnatal home care services.

Already past her retirement age, the veteran with 39 years of experience contin-ues working with new mothers. Says Ms Ho: “I am still healthy and I find joy in doing what I am doing.”

One of her former patients, Ms Hami-mah Ahmat, says there should be more experi-enced, gentle and, un-derstanding midwives

like Ms Ho.“They perform a national service for

Singaporean women trying to increase our population,” says Ms Hamimah.

NURSES — THE PRIDE OF SINGHEALTHthesundaytimes August 1, 2010

Specialal12

Singapore has Asia’s best nursing school

Theresa Tan

WHEN Ms Giam Poh Eng tells her friends and relatives she is a nurse educator, of-ten she is met with blank stares.

So the veteran of 39 years says her job is a “nurse teacher”.

It is a role that allows the 55-year-old senior nurse educator at the KK Wom-en’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) to marry both her dreams of teaching and nursing.

Ms Giam, who has a master’s degree in clinical education, says: “It’s very re-warding to impart my skills and knowl-edge, to see nurses learn and grow.”

One of her key duties is to conduct orientation programmes for new nurses,

Veteran is role modelSenior nurse educator Giam Poh Eng, with nearly four decades of experience, now helps to train recruits in nursing skills

who are nursing diploma holders fresh from the polytechnics, and foreign re-cruits.

The eight-week course grounds them in nursing skills and knowledge. For ex-ample, if a nurse is working in the chil-dren’s wards, she would be taught all about babies and children and how to care for them.

And the lessons are often hands-on. Besides the classroom sessions, the

new nurses are supervised in the wards. There are also simulation sessions, for

example, where nurses learn how to ad-minister cardiopulmonary resuscitation on mannequins.

For trained nurses, Ms Giam imparts more skills and knowledge to help them

do their job better. For instance, they are taught how to administer certain vacci-nations for newborns or be educated on illnesses such as diabetes and hyperten-sion.

A nurse educator for seven years, Ms Giam also conducts reflective thinking workshops. She says: “These workshops help nurses to develop critical thinking skills. With such skills, they can decide what is best for that particular patient as no two patients are alike.”

A senior staff nurse at KKH, Ms Ng Chiew Mei, 30, sees Ms Giam as her mentor and “role-model”.

”Nurse Giam is very a p p r o a c h a b l e a n d motherly. I can always call her for advice, such as how to handle pa-tients,” says Ms Ng.

Esther Au Yong

THE patient’s mobile phone rang, but in-stead of picking it up, staff nurse Toh Hui Xian stood still, almost transfixed on the screen as its shrill sounds echoed in the emergency room.

The patient — a Chinese man in his 40s — had just been pronounced dead after failing to be resuscitated from a heart attack.

Ms Toh, 24, who has been working in the emergency department of the Singa-pore General Hospital since 2006, quickly recovered and answered the patient’s mo-bile phone. It was his wife on the line.

“I could only ask the patient’s wife to come to the hospital as soon as she could. I could sense the anxiety of the wife when she learnt that her husband had been sent to the hospital. She kept asking me if her husband was all right.

“I felt terribly sorry that I could not re-veal the truth to her over the phone. At that moment, I felt so helpless as there was nothing I could do,” recalls Ms Toh, who was one of the recipients of the Healthcare Humanitarian Award this year.

That episode happened just a few weeks after she joined the department. Since then, she has been through several more of these incidents, but “it is still very heart wrenching every time I am faced with the death of a patient”.

Emotional experiences like these are what nurses in the emergency departments go through as part of their everyday work.

Helping hands in an emergencyStaff nurse Toh Hui Xian copes with the ups and downs in the fast-paced environment of the emergency room to alleviate suffering and save lives

Ms Toh, who was inspired to become a nurse after witnessing what happened to helpless patients during the Sars pe-riod, works in shifts that are rostered monthly, and different duties are rotated among all the nurses.

“For example, one day I may be as-sessing patients when they come in at the triage area to quickly gauge their problems, another day I might be in the critical care area for patients in need of urgent treatment.

“I am also trained to help in the resus-citation area for the most serious cases, like people who are brought in after a se-rious road accident.

“Each area will require me to wear a different hat within the role of a nurse in order to provide the most suitable pa-tient care or support to the doctor,” she explains.

Besides being well trained for the many aspects in emergency care, certain attributes are required too, she says.

“I have to be a reliable worker whom my colleagues trust or count on.

“I also need the ability to multitask and think on my feet as the work envi-ronment is ever changing.”

She also faces challenges like manag-ing the expectations of tired, worried and anxious family members of the patients.

“It is common for us to face anxious relatives who can be demanding and nasty towards us. We need to be patient and compassionate when dealing with these situations,” she says.

“The dynamic work environment in the emergency department also means that we need to be versatile and knowl-edgeable about our work.

“I am glad that the department sends me constantly for upgrading courses to equip me with up-to-date skills and knowledge.”

As part of her training and voluntary work, Ms Toh also went on humanitar-ian missions to Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami, and to Myanmar two years ago to render aid to cyclone survivors.

Clearly, no two days are the same in Ms Toh’s line of work and she relishes it.

“The fast-paced environment keeps my adrenalin going and I know that I will never get bored in such a dynamic, yet sat-isfying, working environment,” she says.

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<<

Last year, a man who had two sons was told that his disease recurred less than three months after treatment. He turned from being a friendly patient to an angry person and often shouted at us during his subsequent visits to the centre. For my colleagues and I, it was very demoralising. About three weeks before he passed away, I finally sat by his bedside while he was receiving treatment. He asked: ‘What do you want?’ I said: ‘I recognise that you are going through a lot of frustration and I am here to listen.’ At that moment, he broke down and cried. He just needed an avenue to vent his feelings and to come to terms with his illness. As a nurse, empathising with his anger and anguish, I felt I needed to first assist a patient in reconciling with himself before becoming his care provider.— Nurse clinician Tan Chor Kien (above), 45, who received the PS21 Distinguished Star Service Award in May this year. She has been in nursing since 1987 and is now based at the Singapore General Hospital’s Haematology Centre, which specialises in blood diseases and cancers.

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SingHealth nurses were

issued more than 25,000 uniforms and over 12,000 pairs of shoes

last year.

Straight from the heartPHOTOS: CHONG JUN LIANG,

SINGHEALTH ❛❛

❜

The dynamic work environment in the emergency department also means that we need to be versatile and knowledgeable about our work.— Staff nurse Toh Hui Xian, emergency department of the Singapore General Hospital

SingHealth has more

than 350 male nurses.

SingHealth employs more than

7,000 nurses.

Madam Zaherah (left) has given her thumbs up to the drain pouch designed by Ms Tan (right) and her team of breast care nurse clinicians.

Ms Giam (left) is a mentor to KKH senior staff nurse Ng (right).

(From left to right) Mr Nidu, Ms Siah, Prof Lim and Mr Muhammad have all contributed to SGH’s latest achievement.

Ms Tay (centre) and Ms Thilagamangai (right) are part of the nu

rsing team

manning the clinic for mothers-to-be.

❜

❛As a midwife, I am privileged to be part of the very important experience where parents welcome their newborn. My job mainly deals with happy events. But there was this case where a patient was going through the trauma of losing her baby. She asked to hold her baby one last time the following day. As the baby was already in the mortuary, my colleague and I made special arrangements with the mortuary department and accompanied the parents there. We placed the baby in the arms of the mother and gave the family some time together. The parents were very grateful and touched by what I’d done.— Nurse manager Juay Siew Ngoh (above), in her 40s, from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. A veteran of 25 years, she received the Excellence Service Star Award in 2009.

>>

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The appraisal by the US team was stringent, intensive and exhaustive. — Associate Professor Lim Swee Hia, director of nursing

Interviews by Yeo Suan Futt

NURSES — THE PRIDE OF SINGHEALTHthesundaytimes August 1, 2010

SSpecialal14

Male nurses play key role Once a rare breed, there are more male nurses now because of a new mindset, reports Esther Au YongHISTORICALLY, nursing has been a woman’s job, but in modern times, it has grown to be a rewarding career for men as well.

Says senior nurse educator Jonathan Sim Guan Hua from the National Heart Centre: “I am glad that this perception has changed and that society today is more accepting of male nurses. More men are becoming nurses, with the number rising rapidly in the past few years.

“We are seeing more men take up key po-sitions as well. Actually, there are situations where having male nurses around may be more helpful. For instance, they can help lift heavier patients, especially in orthopae-dic wards. In mental health facilities, male nurses may better restrain violent patients.

“Besides that, some male patients find it more convenient to talk to male nurses.”

Mr Sim, who is in his 50s and single, says his parents initially objected when he joined the profession in 1984. He was inspired to become a nurse after a stint as a medic during his national service.

“Being a nurse is one of the most re-warding and meaningful careers,” he says.

Mr Sim, who motivates and educates other nurses now, has had a long and re-warding career, including working in a neurosurgical intensive care unit and being part of the team that evacuated the victims of the SQ006 accident in Taipei in 2000.

He says: “My parents have accepted my job as they grow older and experience the care I give them when they fall sick.”

Mr Tan Wee Tai, a senior staff nurse at Changi General Hospital, also had to over-come parental misperception when he de-cided to embark on a nursing career in 2003.

“My family, as well as my friends, were generally supportive of my decision.

“However, my parents did express their concern initially as they felt that it was a ‘dirty’ job, especially when dealing with blood or human waste, and feared that I was not up to the task,” says the 30-year-old bachelor.

While he can care for his patients com-petently, including cleaning those who are dependent on him, Mr Tan says that a nurse also has to see to the needs of a patient’s family.

“In nursing, it is not only the patient that we have to nurse, but also the pa-tient’s family members. For example, on one occasion, a terminally ill and dying patient had requested to pass on in his own home.

“His family members decided to dis-charge their father and bring him home.

“However, they were not sure how to take the best care of the patient at home and expressed their concerns.

“ W e a d -dressed their c o n c e r n s . Though the patient subse-quently passed on, the fam-ily wrote in to express their gratitude for our efforts,” he recalls.

“ I a m proud that m y t e a m had worked well togeth-er and made it possible for the patient’s family members to be fully present, and in making the pa-tient’s last moments as gentle as possible.”

This is why Mr Tan sees nursing as “a service to mankind”, regardless of a nurse’s gender.

Interesting lives at work and playBeyond their dedication to the profession, many nurses also find time to pursue their own interests, discovers Theresa Tan

Currency collectorCOLLECTING currency has given much joy to senior enrolled nurse Ramah Prabah.

The 42-year-old works at the National Dental Centre and assists the anaesthetist in the operating theatre, among other duties.

She picked up her hobby from her fa-ther. “I was intrigued by my dad’s collec-tion. The colour, design and value of the currencies fascinate me.”

Fifteen years ago, she started her col-lection with notes from just four coun-tries that her dad gave her.

Today, the mother of two children has amassed dollars and coins from about 40 countries, thanks to friends and relatives who help her to build up her collection.

A nurse for 23 years, she says: “These notes have sentimental value. I feel very happy and relaxed just looking at my collection.”

Support group advocateA CHANCE encounter with caring, com-passionate nurses inspired Ms Tan Tiew Yah to join the profession.

Now 50, the senior staff nurse has served for 33 years. The mother-of-two says: “I feel it’s my calling to be a nurse. I have learnt a lot about life from my patients and I have never thought of quitting.”

She is with the National Cancer Centre Singapore, where her duties include coun-selling cancer patients and co-ordinating their treatment.

Her compassion for patients has led her to start a support group for women with cancers of the reproductive system over a decade ago.

She says: “If we could get patients to get to know others with the same condi-tion, they could find support in one an-other, like one big family.”

Grassroots activistMS NG Wai May’s idea of service extends beyond her patients.

The 35-year-old nurse clinician at the National Neuroscience Institute spends her after-work hours serving the community.

She is the vice-chairperson in the Ad-miral Garden women’s executive com-mittee, a member of the Woodlands citi-zens’ consultative committee and part of the Admiral Garden community club management committee.

She says: “It feels good to be able to do something for others.”

Her grassroots work involves helping to organise activities such as dance clubs and looking into residents’ feedback.

The mother of three children also tries to involve them in grassroots activities.

“My aim is to cultivate in them a sense of volunteerism.”

Chorus singerAT the Singapore National Eye Centre, you may find staff nurse Siah Wai Sum humming or singing during her breaks.

The 28-year-old grew up listening to her seamstress mum sing while doing her chores, and music has become a part of her DNA.

Last year, Ms Siah – who assists the surgeon in the operating theatre – joined the chorus group at the Singapore Soka Association.

She now spends about four hours a week training her vocals, and has also performed at community events.

“I feel I’m contributing to society when I’m performing with my chorus group. It’s like we are bringing joy to oth-ers,” says Ms Siah.

Besides, singing helps her to relieve stress and fills her life with “hope and joy”.

● PROJECT EDITOR Karen Teng

● WRITERS Ahmad Osman, Philip Lee

● CONTRIBUTORS Esther Au Yong, Mary Lim, Theresa Tan, Yeo Suan Futt

● ART AND DESIGN Kimmie Tan, Vikki Chan

● PHOTOGRAPHER Chong Jun Liang

EDITOR Lee Kim Chew

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jacqueline Wu Boey

CHIEF SUB-EDITOR Uma Venkatraman

ADMIN MANAGER Zain Afridi

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Mr Sim (left) and Mr Tan (right) are passionate about their chosen profession. PHOTOS: CHONG JUN LIANG, SINGHEALTH

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Ms Tan Tiew YahMs Ng Wai May

Ms Siah Wai Sum Ms Ramah Prabah