125 NURSES RECOGNISED WITH NURSES’ MERIT AWARD

          125 nurses were presented with the Nurses’ Merit Award (NMA) by Minister for Health, Mr Ong Ye Kung, on 6 July 2022. The NMA started in 1976 and is awarded to nurses who have displayed noteworthy and exceptional performance, participated in professional development, and contributed to raising the nursing profession. Nurses are nominated for the award by their healthcare institutions and selected by a panel set up by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

2.             The award recipients come from various care settings, spanning the community care sector, private hospitals and public healthcare institutions. The award comes with a medal to be worn as part of the nurse’s uniform and a cash prize of $1,000. Please refer to the Annex for the list of award recipients.

Strengthening Continued Learning And Professional Development For Nurses

3.             MOH remains committed to developing the nursing profession by creating opportunities for nurses to upskill and enhance their professional development throughout their nursing careers.

Palliative and Geriatric Nursing Competency Frameworks

4.             Following the publication of the Community Nursing Competency Framework in 2020, two more competency frameworks – the Palliative and Geriatric Nursing Competency Frameworks – have been developed and will be published on the National Nursing Academy (NNA) website in August. The two new competency frameworks will provide clarity on the job roles, responsibilities and the associated professional competencies for nurses working in palliative and geriatric care settings to meet the growing healthcare needs of the ageing population in Singapore. The competency frameworks will serve as a guide for nurses and employers to identify skills gaps and pursue development opportunities.

Integrated Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) Internship Programme

5.             MOH will continue to strengthen training for Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs), who have acquired the expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for extended practice. APNs are trained in the diagnosis and management of common medical conditions, including chronic illnesses. The APN internship programme, which forms part of the training for APNs, is regularly reviewed to ensure its training methods and curriculum delivery encourage optimal learning. To date, there are a total of 321 APNs in Singapore.

6.             Last year, we introduced a new Integrated APN Internship Programme (IAI)¹, which facilitates an early integration of Master of Nursing graduates to their respective areas of clinical practice and emphasises work-place based assessments that would form the requirement towards APN certification. Since its commencement last August, 31 APN interns have enrolled to IAI.

National Nursing Academy

7.             The NNA was launched in 2020 as a one-stop portal to meet the learning needs and facilitate portability of workplace-based training of nurses across institutions and settings.

8.             As of 1 May 2022, a total of 97 workplace-based and academic nursing Continuing Education and Training (CET) short courses and programmes have been listed on the NNA website. Among these, eight CET courses have been accredited by the NNA. Courses that meet the NNA’s accreditation standards support the portability of acquired competencies across healthcare institutions. Courses listed on the NNA are open for nurses from across institutions to apply. More courses will be accredited over time. To find out more about the course listings including the NNA-accredited courses, please visit https://www.nna.gov.sg/learning-nna.

9.             Other upcoming features of the NNA portal include an “Events Calendar” to publicise local nursing events. Nurses will be able to find out more about upcoming events and link up with organising institutions for more information. The enhanced feature will be ready by end July.

10.          MOH will continue to develop the nursing profession by creating opportunities for nurses to upskill and enhance their professional development throughout their nursing careers. We congratulate all awardees and thank them for their outstanding contributions to the nursing profession and immense dedication to their patients. 

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
6 JULY 2022

[1] Details on the integrated APN Internship Programme have been shared in the MOH press release for Nurses’ Merit Award 2021 (https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/125-nurses-recognised-with-nurses'-merit-award).