This year’s Nurses D & D was such a blast! The theme was casual and many came in their Friday’s best. Just take a look at the organising committee’s outfit below and you know these people know how to have fun

Pauline Tan, the Chief Nursing Officer kicked off the celebrations by sharing with us the latest on nursing , read her speech here

NURSES’ DAY DINNER & DANCE AT MERITUS MANDARIN HOTEL
SPEECH BY CHIEF NURSING OFFICER ON 24 JULY 2009

Thank you for your presence tonight.  Today, we have more than 30 organisations representing the acute, private, intermediate and long term sectors as well as nursing education institutions.  On behalf of the Ministry of Health, we bid one and all our warmest welcome.

The Motley Crew

If you have a chance to look around, you will see some nurses walking around with T-Shirts that read “I Love Friday”. They are the Organising Committee members.  Under Sok Fong’s capable leadership, the Committee has been working tirelessly in the past months to make today a time of enjoyment and fun for all of us. 

You know, the job gets tougher and tougher each year for the Organising Committee.  Each time, they need to reinvent the programme to come up with new ideas and novel entertainment forms.  Their job is to deliver fresh, new and exciting programmes to appease an audience whose membership remains almost constant and if I may add “perpetual”.  By so doing, those who attend the Dinner & Dance year after year will not get bored by seeing the same stuff repeated over and over again. 

Please allow me to introduce a few key persons of the Organizing Committee.  The Chairperson for this year’s Organising Committee is Ms Siti Meriam (NUH).  She is supported by Ms Tamil (NCC) as Secretary and Ms Ten Siew Hwa (TTSH) as Treasurer.  I would like to invite the committee to now stand as we show them our heartfelt appreciation. 

Nurses’ Day Merit Award

Today, 75 nurses will be receiving their Merit Award from Professor Satku, our Guest of Honour for their exemplary performance and outstanding contribution to healthcare. 

Renewing Our Commitment

It has been an eventful year for nursing.  Despite the myriad issues confronting us today such as the current economic volatility, the socio-political upheavals in countries beyond our shores, the H1NI pandemic and so on, nurses will nevertheless continue to remain steadfast as key frontline providers of patient care.  Not only do we stay in the game, we will likewise adjust our plans as needed to ensure that our healthcare system continues to remain robust, efficient and sustainable to weather the storms of competition that beset us.

One of the major efforts that we are collectively working on as a nursing community is the area of “care integration”, which we recognise will be a long process.  We appreciate the significance to move beyond traditional “institution-specific” or “cluster-specific” paradigm to one that encompasses systems-level integration and systemic strategic coordination.  

The nursing leadership is passionate and committed to make fundamental changes.  We are prepared to align our nursing vision with the national agenda.  We know it will require critical cultural adaptation, professional realignment, effective nursing service planning, adaptive leadership and capability development across the board. 

We are making substantial mileage to cement our professional commitment, given our substantive differences and operating philosophies.  We are already actively exploring ways to strengthen and enlarge our synergistic capacity and nursing pie. More will be announced over the coming months when we consolidate and implement our various strategies.

The Context of Healthcare

Health is a highly valued “public good” and is also often viewed as a global right.  Bound by our code of ethics and professional conduct, we owe patients our “duty of care”.  However, as we expand our range and depth of services, we should also be mindful to continually “sharpen our saw” through our strong partnerships within our own nursing community across the healthcare continuum and with the other members of the interdisciplinary teams to define and refine the rules of engagement.  Fundamentally, we all share the same health mandate, the same professional ethos to protect public safety and the same impetus to provide cost-effective quality care amidst finite resources.

Drawing Inner Strength

Going forward, the speed of change is definitely not going to slow down.  Neither will be the expectations placed on us.  On the contrary, we recognise that it will continue to escalate.   As we brace ourselves for the work ahead, let us pace our work so that we do not get weary, but will continue to remain vibrant, renewed, focused and visionary.  We will also not forget to draw strength from our personal life, our relationships and our deeper “yes”. 

To illustrate this, I would like to end by sharing a short excerpt from the bestseller, Tuesdays with Morrie, a personal memoir by Mitch Albom which pointedly encapsulates the work that nurses do in our quiet, unassuming and purist way. 

Pauline with Guest-of-Honour DMS

Nurse Merit Award

This years Nurses Merit Awards were given to 75 nurses from private and public hospitals.

Nurses Idol

For entertainment, there was the Nurses’ Idol, and here is one of the contestants

The Ministry of Health and the health clusters (Singhealth, National Healthcare Group, Alexandra Hospital and NUHS) have been going down to Junior Colleges and some secondary schools to talk about Nursing and Allied Heath - what it is all about, how a person can be part of the exciting healthcare industry Check out the what has been going down at these roadshows. For more information on when and where the next roadshow is happenning, check out the Healthcareer website at http://www.healthcareers.sg/!

Nurses Day Celebrations
Unlike other countries, which celebrate Nurses Day on 12 May, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, Singapore celebrates Nurses Day on 1 August. This dates marks the beginning of the development of nursing in Singapore.

Up till 1885, there was a lack of nurses to support the work of the doctors. The call went out for nurses, and was answered by nuns from the local French Convent, who started nursing at the General Hospital at the Sepoy Lines on 1 August 1885.

Nurses’ Day is an opportunity for everyone around the world to remember the valuable contributions that nurses make to society. Check out what has been lined up to celebrate Nurses’ Day!

President’s Award for Nurses

On 1 August 2000, President Mr S R Nathan inaugurated the President’s Award for Nurses, given out every year to up to three outstanding nurses. Originally celebrated as Nurses Week from 1965 and changed to Nurses Day in the 1980s, Nurses Day is a day set aside to honour and recognise the contribution of nurses to Singapore. It is usually marked with celebrations for nurses, including graduation ceremonies, blood donation drives, concerts, exhibitions, funfairs and charity events. Since 1990, the President has opened the Istana to nurses on this day, to thank them for the contribution to the health and well-being of the nation. This year the award is given out to three nurses from diverse specialization.

The awardees ,Mrs Lee Siu Yin, Director of Nursing, National University Hospital, Ms Sylvia Lee Ling Ling, Advanced Practice Nurse (APN), Dover Park Hospice and Ms Lim Siok Hong, Senior Nurse Clinician, K K Women’s and Children’s Hospital were given the nation’s highest accolades for their excellent service and significant contributions made to the profession and the community at large. They are role models who motivate and inspire their peers and younger nurses through their passion and commitment to the profession .

Mrs Lee Siu Yin who has been in the nursing profession for 30 years, is person who pursued her childhood goal of being a nurse, climbing the career ladder from midwife to nursing director who leads 2,400 nurses. She was recently appointed Adjunct Associate Professor by Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies. Dispelling the myth that nurses are like doctor’s handmaidens, Siu Yin says that nurses nowadays need to think critically and learn continuously .

Ms Sylvia Lee who is the youngest President’s Nurses awardee at age 35 years is a pioneer among advanced practice nurses (APN) who is qualified to carry out some tasks done by doctors. She is also the first APN in Palliative Care. Sylvia who looks after terminally ill patients has championed quality care for dying patients and implemented the “Integrated Care Pathway for the Care of the Dying” at Dover Park Hospice.

Ms Lim Siok Hong who leads the infection control unit at K K Women’s and Children’s Hospital has been at the forefront against Sars and now H1N1. Being a nurse is gratifying and Siok Hong is also an avid community volunteer participating in overseas mission trips where she quide doctors and nurses on various issues including Infection Control Practices.

Television, billboard commercials and TODAY advertorials

Catch our nurses in a television commercial which is being aired on Channel 5 and 8 from 31 Jul to 1 Aug, broadcast at Shaw Centre’s billboard from 23- 2 August.
You can also view it here on YouTube 

Read TODAY newspaper to find out more about the life of nurses in the hospital as well as outside the work environment.

Pen your heartfelt messages to nurses who have touched you and you could win movie tickets. Visit the Nurses Blog at www.nursesblog.com.sg

The Nurses Merit Award was inaugurated in 1976.   The award is given in recognition of the officers’ outstanding performance and dedication to nursing.   All trained nurses (registered and enrolled) and midwives who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents, and have served at least 5 years in the present institution are eligible for nomination.

1. Nominations would be based on the following:

• Consistent and outstanding performance for past 3 years;
• Self-development through courses for professional advancement and
• Contributions to activities for promotion of professional image.

2. Nominations are invited from public and private healthcare institutions.  The Ministry will appoint a Committee to review the nominations and select the recipients.

3. This year 59 nurses and midwives received the award.  The recipients will receive a badge (a gold plated pin, design of a lamp of honour) to be worn as part of the nursing uniform and $200.

Nurse Merit Awards

Nurses Merit Award