Three outstanding nurses who have demonstrated high standards of professionalism and excellent service received the President’s Award for Nurses. from President S R Nathan at the Istana on Nurses Day, 1 August. Into its ninth year, the President’s Award for Nurses honours nurses who are role models with strong professional values and inspire the nursing fraternity with their passion and dedication.This year, the award goes to Ms Lee Leng Noey, Assistant Director of Nursing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Ms Chua Gek Choo, Deputy Director of Nursing, Alexandra Hospital and Ms Yang Chek Binte Salikin, Advanced Practice Nurse, Institute of Mental Health. Aside from outstanding work performance, these three have contributed to the profession and the community over a sustained period of time .
Nursing a strong community spirit
Ms Lee Leng Noey, Assistant Director of Nursing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital shines amongst her colleagues. She may be an inspiration to fellow nurses but she touched by the award and wants to share the award with her boss and colleagues.
A e-learning champion, Ms Lee introduced information technology to enhance teaching and learning in her institution. Her team developed many teaching resources, such as online learning, to enhance the quality of nursing training and education. Inventive and progressive, Ms Lee sees plenty of rewards her profession to move ahead with the times.
“In a time where people pay premium for intellectual capital, a good nurse is one who has a clear commitment to the vocation and the people he or she serves, persistence in learning, compassion and a “can-do” spirit that is coupled with drive for excellence.”
Her drive to elevate the profession has put her in good stead. Constantly seeking improvement, Ms Lee increased the efficacy of the system by developing and implementing a standard communication protocol for nurses to inform doctors of patients’ conditions. This has improved the overall nurse-physician communication and enhanced patient safety. Keen to pass on her knowledge and ethics, Ms Lee has also groomed some of the best nursing talents in her institution, who continue to mentor fresh nursing graduates.
She has also taken her professionalism outside of the country. At least twice a year, she volunteers at rural villages in China and shares her nursing expertise in clinical, education and administration aspects.
Defining a good nurse
Attributing her success to her fellow colleagues who have given her plenty of support, ecipient of the award Ms Chua Gek Choo, Deputy Director of Nursing, Alexandra Hospital, is modest about her win. Presently, she leads the in-patient ward planning team for the new Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Passionate about her profession, Gek Choo researches widely and works relentlessly to design safe and conducive environment for patient care. She says: “A good nurse is one who understands, anticipates patient’s needs, and be competent in providing consistent and safe care in a reassuring demeanor. He or she must readily reflect, think critically and contribute professionally and appropriately to patient’s care and treatment. Finally, a good nurse continues to be a life long learner and move with change.” Being a “life long learner” herself, she updates herself frequently with the latest developments in healthcare advancement and guides the nurses to deliver quality nursing care. Ms Chua championed many Clinical Practice Improvement Programmes, quality projects such as Prevention of pressure ulcers and Thombolytic therapy, facilitates and participates in her hospital’s community outreach and supervises several nursing research studies.
Ms Chua teaches nursing students at Nanyang Polytechnic regularly, imparting her knowledge and experience in clinical and management areas. An effective educator, she reviewed and revised nursing competencies and skills standards with her team of nurse educators. She also serves in nursing diploma programmes’ curriculum review committee in polytechnics. She adds: “Education in public and health related issues to promote health and disease prevention cannot be undermined.”
The Winners …
Building mental strength and resilience
Of her win, Ms Yang Chek Binte Salikin, Advanced Practice Nurse, Institute of Mental Health says: “I am very honoured to receive such a prestigious award. This award is for all nurses in the mental healthcare sector – for their hard work in looking after the most vulnerable and challenging group of patients.”
Yang Chek specialises in psychiatric nursing in addictions and alcohol withdrawal and is a committed and well-respected nurse with over 30 years of experience in nursing. A strong advocate of de-stigmatising mental illness and a frequent speaker on mental health issues in public forums, she works towards the aim of integrating her patients back to society. At the same time, Yang Chek is an active member of the community and volunteers in support group activities, counseling and other outreach programmes. Besides being registered as one of the first Advanced Practice Nurses in mental health, Yang Chek is also a certified Substance Abuse Counsellor.
A member of the nursing research and evidence-based practice committee in IMH, she is involved in many projects and studies to improve patient outcomes. As a safety ambassador of IMH, she organised various hospital-wide and unit-specific programmes to promote patient safety. A role model of life-long learning, she was conferred a Master of Nursing degree by the National University of Singapore, at the age of 51.
