- Eradicate pay discrimination based on passport.
- Same qualification exam and registration standards for BOTH local and foreign-trained nurses. E.g. CRNBC's CRNE approach.
- Extend SNB's scope, RE: doctors' SMC. E.g. Evaluate hospitals on nursing standards.
- Strengthen SNA, RE: doctors' SMA. More support for independent nurses. Legislate SNA with the powers of an independent nurses' union.
- Re-educate nursing management on "nurses as professionals". E.g. Nurses do NOT exist to boost doctors' egos.
Just discovered from the "Nurses' day out on Flyer" news article that there are 22,389 nurses nation-wide. I suppose it includes ENs and RNs. 22K for a population of 5 million, works out to approximately 1 EN/RN for every 220 persons. I wonder what the RN-alone ratio is like.
[Addendum 5-Aug-2011]
See my comment on nofearSingapore's blog entry on "Nurses' Day 2011". Despite the challenges that I face in getting my nursing registration in B.C., Canada (partly exacerbated by my early exit from nursing in Singapore), I still count myself lucky to be able to leave my unhealthy Singapore work environment.
i have a medical student friend who chided me and said that " I don't understand why you guys (nurses)kept complaining why you are swarmed with patients when your have a nurse-population ratio of 1: 200+ compared to us doctors, WE are the ones that should be screaming."
ReplyDeleteWell, typically a doctor takes about 5 to 15 mins to diagnose/review, write up the treatment orders and he/she moves on to the "Next!" patient. Nurses have to follow-up orders, administer treatments, co-ordinate investigations, interventions and other services (air-con repairman), provide general patient care (e.g. feed and clean), (for some doctors with ego problems) be handmaiden, and attend to NOKs etc.
ReplyDeleteAs my sister commented after her stay in a restructured hospital, "The quality of one's hospital stay depends more on the nurses, than on the doctor." Afterall, who spend more time with the patients and their NOKs?