“We have instituted, in a collective agreement … a commitment by … healthcare institutions that they will commit to flexible work arrangements for nurses, so that they can well balance their work life, their upskilling, going for training and also self care,” said the former Nominated Member of Parliament.
Under the Bachelor of Science Nursing (Top-up) programme offered by Kaplan Higher Education in partnership with UK-based Northumbria University, nurses can take a minimum of 24 months to complete their education. Among the modules covered are innovations in healthcare, health promotion and nursing older people with complex needs.
Upon graduation, they will have options to be in roles such as chief nurse, medical care manager or nurse educator.
EQUIPPING NURSES
Ms Lim underscored the importance of such training. While Singapore has always been training specialised nurses, there is a need to refocus on training them in community nursing, she said.
“(We) really (need) to upskill them to look at the aging population as well as to equip them to look after patients with chronic diseases not limited to high blood pressure and diabetes and hypertension,” she said, adding that there is a “long list” of other chronic diseases.
She added that equipping nurses with skills on disease prevention and health promotion are also timely, especially in line with the shift towards preventive health with the Healthier SG movement.
RETAINING NURSES
Ms Thanaletchimi spoke about the support needed to attract and retain nurses, especially on the issues of salary, attention to mental wellbeing and career progression, as they face high workloads and responsibilities.
Among locals, the attrition rate was 7.4 per cent in 2021, up from 5.4 per cent the previous year. For foreign nurses, it more than doubled year-on-year to 14.8 per cent in 2021.
“There’s lots of recent revision that’s been done, but certainly we need to ensure that wages are competitive to the type of job and responsibility they carry,” she said.
