SINGAPORE: A nurse’s primary role is to care for patients, see to their needs and help them achieve their health goals. As part of that, they work long hours and overnight shifts, risking injury and illness to themselves.
But beyond that, they are also the go-to person for patients’ families, providing emotional support and answering their questions. Then there’s the administrative work.
The announcement last week of a special retention bonus for nurses in the public sector is welcome news.
It demonstrates the Government’s recognition of the value of our nurses and signals willingness to invest to attract and retain talent. However, while money is important of course, it cannot paper over inherent structural issues Singapore has to address.
What are some of these structural issues? A McKinsey survey of nurses in six countries including Singapore published in May 2022 revealed “the most important factors keeping them in their direct-patient-care roles included doing meaningful work, a positive and engaging work environment, and feeling healthy and safe”.
Let’s dissect these. Meaningful work for most nurses would typically mean direct patient care. Administration is of course important but how do we keep it to a minimum?
As Singapore embraces becoming a Smart Nation with copious amounts of data collection and documentation for Big Data analytics, nurses often bear the brunt of the data collection and entry. How do we strike the right balance?
Meetings are an essential reality of organisational life but they take away from the core roles in direct patient care – what is the right balance?