SPEECH BY MR ONG YE KUNG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH, AT THE SINGHEALTH NURSES’ DAY CELEBRATIONS 2024, 25 JULY 2024, 10.30AM AT THE NGEE ANN KONGSI AUDITORIUM, ACADEMIA, SGH CAMPUS

Mdm Rahayu Mahzam, Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information and Ministry of Health

Mr Cheng Wai Keung, Chairman, SingHealth

Prof Ng Wai Hoe, Group CEO, SingHealth

Associate Professor Tracy Carol Ayre, Group Chief Nurse, SingHealth

Ms Wee Wei Ling, Director, Wee Foundation

1.     To all our nurses and colleagues, happy Nurses’ Day! It gives me great pleasure to join you once again this year at the SingHealth Nurses’ Day celebration. 

2.     There is very good public awareness of Nurses’ Day. But I think very few people actually know what you go through, the day-to-day experiences, the encounters you have, and the stories that exist in the corridors of every ward and every hospital. I have been the Minister for Health over three years now, when I start to hear some of these stories, which I think help make the job of nurses come to life. It makes people appreciate more of what you do. Because it is really the stories you go through and actual encounters that you experience that make the meaning come to life. So today, let me share some real life stories that I got to know.

3.     The first story is about Senior Staff Nurse Kevin Loh. He serves in Sengkang General Hospital (SKH). Beyond his professional duties at the hospital, he also lends his expertise to the community. Since 2016, he has volunteered with SCDF, helping SCDF with the My Responder scheme. My Responder is an application which alerts members of the public who are responders to nearby emergencies, such as fire and medical cases. But it is especially useful when someone experiences an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The responder will then get an alert and if it is nearby, he will rush to the scene and give resuscitation to the person experiencing cardiac arrest. 

4.     Kevin joined the scheme in 2016. It has been about eight years and he has responded to 95 cases. Potentially, I think he has saved or changed at least 95 lives. This is just his CCA, because he also has a professional role in SKH. I think this is exceptional commitment. Recognising that he is a special respondent, SCDF gave him a portable external defibrillator. I found out that Kevin rides a motorcycle with a defibrillator. 

5.     The second story is Nurse Clinician Neo Sze Mine, from Singapore General Hospital. She was working as a hospital to home nurse, providing post-discharge care to patients outside the hospital. There was a call for volunteers for the isolation ward during the COVID-19 pandemic. But she had been out of the ward for some time, because she was doing home nursing. Nevertheless, once there was a call for volunteers, she stepped forward. At that time, it had been five years since she had served in a ward. But when the time came during a pandemic, she was prepared to step forward because that was when nursing needs were the greatest. So she had to adapt to new pandemic processes, and adapt to shift hours again. But her previous experience in handling infectious diseases gave her the confidence to do so. This is the courage that is displayed day to day, month to month, year to year, and pandemic to pandemic. 

6.     There are of course stories outside of SingHealth. Recently, I attended Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s (TTSH) 180th Founder's Day celebrations. They put up a very nice musical at Capitol Theatre, and featured real-life moving stories that happened in TTSH, most of which involve nurses. 

7.     One story showed how a nurse helped a daughter come to terms with her father’s dementia condition. The father was not himself anymore, but there were glimpses during the day when he became himself again. This was extremely frustrating to the daughter, but the nurse helped her cherish those little moments every day. 

8.     Another interesting story is that of an ex-gangster. Gravely ill and towards the end of life, he regretted the life he had led, and longed to be reunited with his wife and children. As his condition deteriorated, the focus of his care shifted to comfort, and his nurse wanted to introduce music therapy. Given their rapport, the ex-gangster requested for her to sing him a song. He would only agree to the music therapy if the nurse obliged by singing his favourite Hokkien song ‘浪子回头’, which means ‘return of the prodigal son’. It means to turn over a new leaf. She obliged and sang it. 

9.     Culture, values, ethos and wisdom are passed through stories. And these are things that we don’t get trained in schools, whether it is ITE, polytechnics, universities or during on-the-job training. It is passed through corridors, wards, during lunches, social gatherings, and events like this. These are like the folklore that you hear, and the ethos and values that get transmitted. For that reason, I am not a great fan of working from home. Because it is by getting together that you meet people and your seniors and the culture and ethos are passed on. These are constantly being passed on in the hospitals and wards and it has been going on for generations. As I mentioned, it took me a few years serving as the Minister for Health before I learnt about them. They are part of the stories of your heroes and role models, tales of kindness, leadership, heart breaks and joy.

10.     We need to do whatever we can to make sure that nursing continues your ethos and professionalism, to be a strong and attractive profession. MOH cannot do the transmission of values as this happens in the hospitals. What we can do is put in the right policies and support system to make sure that nursing as a profession continues to succeed. Recently, I gave an update on the state of nursing at the Nurses’ Merit Awards ceremony. Let me do a recap of what we have done:

• First, we are expanding the intake of nurses at ITE, polytechnics and universities. We are introducing more upgrading opportunities. For example, we have just witnessed the launch of the SingHealth Centre for Global Nursing, which is one of many efforts to upgrade and advance the skills of nurses. 

• Our clusters continue to support your personal and professional development. I am delighted to note that about 200 awards and scholarships will be presented today, to help the awardees develop their talent and fulfil their potential. 

• We are actively recruiting foreign nurses from various source countries to complement our local core. We have started to provide hostel-like accommodation to help our foreign nurses who first arrive in Singapore to settle in. I visited one of them just a few days ago, and it is very attractive. After a few years, those who have performed well, and are committed to stay with us and integrate into our hospital teams, are encouraged to apply for PR status, together with their dependents. 

• We have been reviewing remuneration for our healthcare workers regularly, and most recently, introduced the ANGEL scheme (Award for Nurses’ Grace, Excellence and Loyalty), a long-term retention scheme for nurses in public healthcare. The first payout for our long-serving nurses will be in September this year. 

• We are evolving the roles of nurses, particularly shifting from reactive health to preventive care in the community, and encouraging Singaporeans to take proactive steps to manage and build up their health. I believe that as our population gets older and more care is delivered in the community, the role of nurses will evolve and expand, including covering tasks that only doctors can now perform.

• A few hospitals have started introducing more shift options, to help nurses better juggle your varied home and professional responsibilities. 

• We are implementing a policy of zero tolerance for abuse, to create a safe and positive environment for healthcare workers to work in. 

11.     Most importantly, after a lot of hardwork last year, we have turned the tide. During the COVID-19 pandemic years, we were losing nurses, particularly foreign nurses. But last year, after a lot of hard work, MOH Holdings, MOH and all the clusters and hospitals have turned the tide. The nursing workforce is now expanding again, and I think we will continue to expand. It will be a period of hard work, because you need to train the new nurses, which will take up a lot of your bandwidth. But as they become more experienced, you will get more and more supervisors and trainers. I think we can continue to expand to meet the healthcare needs of Singapore as the years go by. 

12.     While there is always room for improvement, the nursing profession in Singapore, I would say, is in a healthy state. Our Chief Nursing Officer, Ms Paulin Koh, was recently in Geneva with me, attending the World Health Organization Global Partners Meeting for Nursing and Midwifery, and the World Health Assembly. It was a gathering of senior nursing leadership from around the world, and the state of nursing in their respective countries was actively discussed. 

13.     Paulin reported that it was somewhat surprising but also evident to her that the nursing profession in Singapore is held in very high regard by her counterparts around the world. They peppered her with all kinds of questions. How do we do this and that? What is the remuneration system? How do we recruit? How do we train? How do we retain? Singapore's nursing approach stands out as we consistently implement initiatives to improve and upgrade the profession. We do so because we value our nurses, and recognise that by supporting you in your work, the healthcare system can fulfil its mission of good quality, accessible and affordable patient care. 

14.     Look around this room, and you will see the heart of our healthcare system – nurses from various clinical specialties and career tracks, each of you bringing your passion and expertise to make a difference. 

15.     I should say that every Health Minister I meet now tells the same story, which is that healthcare demand is rising and they need to recruit more nurses. We are building up our local core very strongly and successfully. We are also recruiting from foreign sources. It does not matter whether you are in Asia, North America, Europe or even Latin America. They are all recruiting, and demanding more nurses. 

16.     But I think, Singapore will always be able to build up our nursing core in a special way, that other countries will look to as a reference point. Because, first, our local core is very strong. As I always say, take 20 children in any primary school, one of them will be a nurse. That is how many people we are taking into the nursing profession. So the local core is strong, we are attracting more than our fair share of local talent. 

17.     At the same time, we are a very attractive place for foreign nurses to work in. Because it is a safe and pleasant place to work. Here, you are well-trained and fulfil your potential. And with a project like CGN, I think you will enhance it even further. 

18.     We develop our nursing core first to serve our own population, but also to help others in our region, whether it is Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, or the Philippines. Universal healthcare coverage is a major priority for them, and they need healthcare to reach every island and village in order to raise the welfare of young people. We do not have the manpower to help them deliver this, but we have the ability and capability to help them train their nurses, and to help their citizens who come here to train and achieve a certain level of professional accomplishment who can return to their home countries to help out their own countries. This is the role that Singapore can play. The more we can play this role, the less the fight for nurses will be a zero-sum game. In fact, we will be playing a huge role to help our region upgrade the standard of healthcare. 

19.     I have been to many Ministries. I have mingled with SAF soldiers when I was the Second Minister for Defence. I have mingled with bus drivers when I was Minister for Transport, and cabin crew and pilots. I have mingled with seafarers and teachers. I have mingled with so many groups, but I must say, the happiest group are the nurses. I do not know why. but I think it has something to do with the meaning of your work. Despite all that you have to see through – sometimes it is the pain that you have to go through with your patients and their loved ones, the emergencies that you have to attend to – somehow as a profession, and with the support of your management, and hopefully the Ministry of Health, you somehow find a lot of joy. I think this is our secret ingredient. No country or jurisdiction can replicate happiness. You have built up happiness and joy in the profession. This is the most valuable and I hope we can celebrate this from Nurses’ Day to Nurses’ Day. 

20.     Last but not least, in the tradition of SingHealth, thank you for all that you have done, let me offer you my sincere appreciation.