Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Health, at the NUHS cluster Nurses’ Day Celebration, 27 July 2018

Prof John Wong, Chief Executive, National University Health System 

Ms Tan Soh Chin, Chief Nursing Officer

Chief Nurses of NUHS institutions 

Prof Emily Ang, Head, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies 

Nurses of NUHS 

Ladies and gentlemen   

Good afternoon, 

    I am very happy to join NUHS on this special occasion, your first joint Nurses’ Day celebration after re-clustering. Nurses are our biggest healthcare workforce and the backbone of our system! 

2    My Nurses’ Day tour started from the National University Hospital (NUH), and I am now with you at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. We are moving on to Alexandra Hospital next, before making a stop at Bukit Batok Polyclinic.  So you could say that I am getting a tour of the Regional Health System, from hospital to community. 

Evolving Role of Nursing

3    The healthcare needs of Singapore are changing and we have to constantly reinvent and transform to stay relevant.  Nurses play a very important role especially at an academic health system like NUHS.  Your professional knowledge and expertise are critical in shaping clinical excellence, developing the next generation of nurses through education as well as advancing nursing practice through research and innovation. 

4    Nurses are important advocates for patients and their loved ones. Most patients would remember their nurses involved in their care.  With the close contact you have with patients, nurses ensure our healthcare delivery remains patient-centred and holistic. As new challenges emerge from an ageing population, coupled with the burden of chronic diseases and complex health problems, nurses’ importance will increase both in hospitals and in the community.

Bringing Care into the Community

5    Ensuring continuity of care from hospital to the community, and providing quality care that adds value, is a key priority for MOH. Coordinating and delivering adequate support to patients beyond hospitals is important.  MOH is funding a new RHS-led community nursing model with NUHS to build a team of nurses to help anchor community care in the west region. 

6    Anchored by Advanced Practice Nurses, the team supports the community from preventive care, to management of chronic diseases and end-of life care – by developing care plans appropriate for their conditions, so that they can remain in the community. 

7    This NUHS community nursing team has started reaching and making a difference to residents with chronic diseases at the three Community Health Posts at Choa Chu Kang, Jurong West and Queenstown. 

8    Together with the Community Networks for Seniors (CNS) and Silver Generation Office (SGO), this group of nurses also make home visits to frail elderly residents with high fall risks and specific care needs to ensure the home environment is safe and conducive.  Since they began in March this year, the team has helped more than 300 residents in the community.   

Driving Innovation

9    I am heartened that our nurses are also actively involved in innovative research.  The ‘Home But Not Alone’ app for example was developed jointly by the research team from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies (NUS Nursing) and NUH. The app, which provides practical post-natal care information, has helped new parents’ transition from maternity wards to their homes more easily. Having been developed by a team with good professional knowledge and more importantly, who had direct interaction with new parents, the app received positive response from its pilot and is undergoing further enhancements before it is tested by other institutions such as SGH and KKH. We look forward to many more of such innovations which can be scaled up and rolled out across the healthcare sector to benefit our patients. 

10    Earlier this year, another research team from NUS Nursing developed a virtual simulation programme called ‘Creative’ which allows final-year healthcare students from six disciplines across three tertiary institutions to work together to provide team-based patient care in a virtual ward. This innovative platform provides a real-time environment using animated, human-like avatars to foster inter-professional interaction and help healthcare students understand the importance of effective communication and collaborative practice in providing good patient care.  

Upskilling Nurses

11    This is an exciting time for nursing.  We are seeing more nurses from the various institutions taking up academic roles as lecturers with NUS Nursing. This is important as the clinical experience and competence of faculty members help to bridge the theory-practice gap, and contribute to ensuring that the teaching and research continue to be current and relevant in the clinical settings. 

12    Many other opportunities for training and skills upgrading, including undergraduate and post-graduate programmes, have opened up for nurses. The first batch of collaborative prescribing practitioners from the National Collaborative Prescribing Programme run by NUS Nursing and the NUS Department of Pharmacy, graduated recently and will be credentialed by their institutions to prescribe medicine and order tests for patients within a collaborative practice framework.  Seven of the 19 pioneer nursing graduates are nurses from NUHS institutions.

Moving forward as OneNUHS

13    I am also glad to see that the reorganisation of our public healthcare sector into three integrated clusters in 2017 has resulted in better career opportunities for the nurses across NUHS institutions. 

14    Many of the NUHS senior nurses have taken on leadership roles within the cluster in NUP and Alexandra Hospital to develop the nursing workforce in these new settings.  With the expanded cluster as one family, the nurses at NUP and AH are also able to receive training in the Emergency Department and wound care at NUH and NTFGH.  NUP nurses, in turn, are training the Primary Care Network Community Nursing Team in the areas of care management and diabetic foot screening.  This cross-training and exposure to various settings will serve to enhance the professionalism of our nurses.

Thank you, nurses!

15    We must maintain this momentum and provide a conducive environment for our nurses to excel.  We are heartened to see a growing interest in nursing as a career with the increasing number of applicants for our local nursing courses.  In fact, the overall nursing intake across ITE, polytechnics and universities has increased by over 30% over the last five years, from about 1,500 in 2012 to about 2,000 in 2017. Admissions for the 2018 intake are ongoing, and will likely exceed 2,100, the highest in the last six years. We will continue to promote nursing as a fulfilling and rewarding profession with opportunities for career progression and development. 

16    Nursing is hard work, and your selfless care and tenacity have been the source of inspiration for many of your patients and colleagues. You are an important and indispensable part of our healthcare system.   

17    To all our nurses, thank you for your selfless care and compassion. You responded to your calling to a vocation that is much more than just a profession.  I encourage you to continue to innovate, take the lead in pushing the boundaries in care delivery and championing safe and quality care with better value for our people. 

18    Happy Nurses’ Day!