"In my previous posting, l mention about this Dr G, whom l had a run-in with during one of the night duty..apparently, my case with this doc had escalated to the director of intensive care unit..what my nurse in charge/s thinks that this doctor needs to be dealt with early...as this kinda attitude constitutes not only to horizontal violence against nurses, his practice also endangers patients well-being...an urgent matter which needs to be rectified quickly..
This is such a sharp contrast to the nursing scene in Singapore...where nurses are constantly under the abuse of doctors..and the problem was nobody seems to care...the hospital administration?? the nurse manager?? nurse union?? Don't bet on it.... I heard that some of those suppose 'nurse leaders' made good secretaries and coffees for doctors instead..
Our media didn't help much either...l still constantly see drama showing nurses swiping sweat for doctors during an operation...that's down –right degrading..l am a professional...and sweating swiping is definitely not on my list of the things to do...
It's such a complex problem altogether...i did spend alot of time thinking how we can lift nursing standards up in Singapore..and l propose the following changes:
Education: Our nursing education needs a complete over-hauled...nursing needs to at least a bachelor degree program.. this means changing most of our nursing modules and subjects to more evident based medicine/nursing, more research, microbiology subjects..less garbage subjects like psychology, sociology or organisation, customer service, statistic (only if you do honours if not its a waste of time..how many people actually do research in Singapore???)
Because everybody now needs a BN to be a RN, pay will be readjusted..this will attract more quality people into nursing..this will in term draw real leaders into the profession..
Our nurses board gain control of the pay structure of nurses..not by the hospitals..
Salary is paid hourly...and 5 day work is considered full-time...not six...
Nursing is to run independently from medical..the unit nurse manager will only take direction from the director of nursing..the nurse manager will work with the director of medical team to run the unit..(not under like TTSH ED..i find that really oppressive to the growth of nursing standards)
I sometime think that l am really wasting my time writing and thinking of ways to lift nursing standard in Singapore..who am l anyway?? Am l a president scholar?? Did l have straight As for my O levels??
I am just another tom, dick or henry by standards...who would wanna listen to nurses like me in the first place??
Come to think of it, l am really fortunate to be a 2nd class citizen in a foreign land..over here, l am paid better, being listened to and protected from my occupational hazards..
I am given opportunities to upgrade myself with support from my department (my masters in public health), educational opportunities (ECMO course even although l am a foreigner...and l got to go instead of my local counterparts), leadership opportunities (to be a team leader in the department..l cannot imagine that l will lead the ICU with only 1 ½ years experience there), and promotional opportunities (My Clinical Nurse Specialist..given to recognise my work, knowledge and skills in the ICU nursing)..l am not showing off to my fellow readers..but to let you know its a big world of nursing out there...if you never nursed in another country, u can genuinely say nursing in Singapore is not 'really that bad' because you didn't even had a comparator in the 1st place (don't talk about Malaysia..please compare with 1st world countries ok??)
If nursing standards were to remain at current standards, then l will continue to urge my fellow nurses working in Singapore to take the big leap to come down under...where you will learn to enjoy what Nursing is really about...."
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