A mixture of emotions of this day and to Singapore Nursing.
Happen to read this blog entry from our Health Minister while watching National Day Parade.
"Live our Dreams. Fly our Flag" is this year 2010 theme.
I had this dream then when I was 15 in year 1993, 17 years back. Wishing that there was a Nursing Degree course in Singapore and a faculty of Nursing. It was ONLY in 2002, when we had our own Master nursing postgraduate degree in NUS and shortly after that the establishment of Nursing Degree course.
Amidst my joy, it's the hard knock of realisation to accept the culture of Singapore. We are known in among South East Asia countries to have high standards of over many areas; defence, tourism, education, housing, etc. Yet I had to watch in envy at age 15, people in Philippines, Hong Kong, Australia, UK and US to be able to study in their own countries to pursue their nursing career. While I had to plan my savings, to study overseas to pursue my dream.
Singapore did fulfil this dream of mine, only about 10 years later. And in a weird way, which academic faculty will have a Master program fully running before a Degree program? Guess, "It's better late than never".
My dream now is hope that Singapore Nursing be comparable to US, in terms of quality standard, autonomy, social recognition and consumers' confidence. There's many many things to be done. I salute my nursing seniors whom had laid the foundation for this profession. And I do see the weaknesses of my current generation of nurses. Unlike our seniors, we are trained "multi-tasking". While learning our basic clinical nursing, we are trained to do teaching, research, certain administrative tasks like quality improvement projects. Though, we learn other aspects, they do compromise our basic nursing foundation. And they do compromise speciality nursing knowledge. Time used elsewhere means less time spent in clinical, which equates to less experience and exposure to people and diseases.
The push for nursing autonomy might seem unavoidable in the next 5 years, pressure from increased burden of chronic diseases and elderly, need for cost containment and to balance healthcare resources. All I hope that RIGHT steps will be taken in steady pace to fulfil this dream of mine. A pace, a steadfast rhythm. Not the fast-fix, out of rhythm "solutions", trouble-shooting methods.
The reflection today only makes me realise how much more nursing has to catch up within Singapore and with the rest of the world. After all, NUS Medicine celebrated their 100 years a few years back... And NUS nursing, we are hardly 5 years in history.
I hope this dream of mine will be fulfilled in my Happy Birthday Singapore wish.
This time, it is fine if it takes more than 10 years. As long as Nursing in Singapore stays strong and growing in a right direction.
