Speech by Mr Chee Hong Tat, Minister of State for Health, at Institute of Mental Health's Nurses' Day Celebrations, 29 July 2016

Ms Tan Soh Chin, Chief Nursing Officer, MOH

Dr Chua Hong Choon, Chief Executive Officer, IMH

Mr Lim Hock Leng, Chief Operating Officer of IMH

Ms Samantha Ong, Chief Nurse of IMH

Distinguished guests,

IMH Nurses,

Ladies and gentlemen,

1.          I am delighted to be here today to celebrate Nurses’ Day with you.  

2.          As you all know, not just at IMH but throughout the healthcare system, nurses form the backbone of our healthcare system. They make up the largest segment of the healthcare workforce providing direct patient care in all hospitals. In fact, the 1100 nurses here at IMH make up more than 40% of the healthcare staff. Of course, as Dr Chua said, you do not work alone, you work in teams of nurses, and also with other healthcare workers like allied health professionals and support staff. All of these – working together in a team, is for our patients. Earlier this year, I had a chance to visit IMH and I met some of you in the wards during my visit and I was impressed. Even though you work with a very difficult group of patients, under difficult conditions, I am impressed by the dedication that you show and the high standards of care you provide.

3.          Nursing is, without question, a challenging profession, particularly for mental health nurses. Often, patients and their families do not fully comprehend what they are going through. Patients may also have difficult behaviour, resisting treatment and intervention. My sincere appreciation goes out to all of you for the patience and empathy that you demonstrate in providing care to this group of patients and their families, and aiding them in their journey to recovery.

4.          I am happy to learn that the nurses in IMH go the extra mile to care for patients. We have Mdm Susheela Chugani, an activity nurse from Ward 66A. She cared for a patient with intellectual disability and a history of challenging behaviour. Susheela worked tirelessly with the patient, encouraging and motivating him. Her dedication paid off. The patient now is able to wear his pyjamas and has also learnt to use the urinal. We are indeed privileged to have nurses like Susheela in our midst - one of IMH’s longest serving nurses. She is also a mentor to younger nurses and readily shares her wealth of experience and knowledge. My heartiest congratulations to her for receiving IMH’s Extraordinary Nurse Award today.

5.          Another inspiring nurse is Senior Nurse Manager Samsuri Bin Buang. Although one of his patients was difficult and sometimes aggressive, Samsuri focused on getting to know him better. Building a rapport with the patient allowed him to understand the cause of his behaviour, which he found out was a result of the patient’s relationship with his mother. With Samsuri’s mediation, things between the patient and his mother improved and the patient recovered, was discharged and has now found employment. For going all out to support and help his patients, Samsuri received the Healthcare Humanity Award this year.

6.          These are just some of the many anecdotes of the extraordinary work that nurses at IMH do every day. Five IMH nurses received the Ministry of Health’s Nurses’ Merit Award last week. Just yesterday, Advanced Practice Nurse Raveen Dev Ram Dev was awarded the highest national accolade for nurses – the President’s Award for Nurses. We had four award recipients and one of them is Ms Chen Yee Chui, Chief Nurse, NHGP, we are very happy to have Yee Chui join us at the event today. She was also one of the distinguished award winners.

7.          Raveen was the only male nurse, and I understand, the first male nurse in IMH to win this award. As a male APN who works in mental health, Raveen’s award is especially significant. Congratulations again to all award winners!

8.          The role of nurses will continue to evolve. As the provision of care shifts from the hospital to the community, nurses will play a key role in working with healthcare professionals in different settings, as well as patients and caregivers to ensure that patients continue to do well in the community. Not just in the institution, but also when they are discharged, when they go back into the community. In fact, one of the things that we are trying to do is to help our patients to stay well, stay healthy. So that they can remain healthy, remain active, remain well, and they do not have to come to the hospital. That is what we are aiming to achieve. And if they do come to the hospital, we want to help them recover as quickly as possible so that they can return back to their homes, to their families.

9.          The work that nurses do is diverse and fulfilling, and we want to encourage better public awareness of the opportunities in nursing. The Ministry of Health will continue to raise the profile of the nursing profession. One initiative is the Care To Go Beyond campaign to encourage more young people to make nursing their career of choice.

10.      I think we are making some good progress, and certainly with your support we can go further, to encourage more young Singaporeans and mid-career Singaporeans. Most importantly, you must have the heart and the passion for the job because it is not an easy job. If you have the heart, you have the passion, we are willing to train you, support you. I think with this effort, and all of us together, we can encourage more young Singaporeans and mid-career Singaporeans to consider nursing. It is a very meaningful career, and we hope you can join us. We also hope that with more awareness, members of public will show greater appreciation and support for our nurses and our healthcare workers. All of you put in their best effort every day to serve the public, our patients, with care and commitment.

11.      To all our nurses here today, I hope that you will continue to grow professionally and find satisfaction in the work you do to advance mental healthcare in Singapore. I wish all of you a Happy Nurses’ Day!