I'm a nurse. Ask me anything about nursing

[Huuray]

Nice! This thread is a very interesting read to someone like me who know nuts about the world of nursing. 

 

A big THANK YOU to the nurses and nurses-to-be here for all the hard work and sacrifices you made.

[ZPL]

The current mediacorp 8 show, does it portray the work life of nurses accurately?

lol

[Karoon]

Slightly off topic Philipkee, but do you think new docs in sg hospitals are overworked? There are recent stories of several young docs in sg who died from stress-related causes. Is this true?

[Philipkee]

Slightly off topic Philipkee, but do you think new docs in sg hospitals are overworked? There are recent stories of several young docs in sg who died from stress-related causes. Is this true?

I cannot comment ABOUT NOW but during my time when there were still house officers, yes. Cos they work office hours, then go on call and then work half day the next day. If their discipline (area of specialty) is busy, they can be busy the entire office hours, busy the whole night and the next day they have so much work that even if they were allowed to go off at 1200, by the time they are done it's 1700.

 

So during my time, yes they were overworked. Now I don't think they still have house officers...

 

What about MOs and above? My only recent experience with them is in the A&E. I would say they are kept very busy but overworked, I am not too sure.

 

A&E Drs are kept very busy but generally after shift they are off. There are Drs who do on call duties in the A&E and I understand that they have duties in the clinic and in the ward sometimes simultaneously so yes, they can be very busy and overworked.

 

So answer is yes. Can be very busy but overworked, to me it depends on how strict you want to define the term "overworked" cos healthcare work is inherently busy so people who want to be doctors should have expected something like this already.

 

To die from stress related causes? Possible. That is why turnover rate from nurses is very high. We don't want to keep working at a fast pace. It can affect our health. So I won't be surprised if any doctor die from stress related causes.

[Hellobelle]

My colleagues have also shared that where and which degree doesn't really matters cause ultimately the degree allowance will still be the same. In that case, anybody here able to share their personal experience with the various degree in different schools? I have tried to google but unable to really find any forum that has such discussion. 

[Karoon]

I cannot comment ABOUT NOW but during my time when there were still house officers, yes. Cos they work office hours, then go on call and then work half day the next day. If their discipline (area of specialty) is busy, they can be busy the entire office hours, busy the whole night and the next day they have so much work that even if they were allowed to go off at 1200, by the time they are done it's 1700.

 

So during my time, yes they were overworked. Now I don't think they still have house officers...

 

What about MOs and above? My only recent experience with them is in the A&E. I would say they are kept very busy but overworked, I am not too sure.

 

A&E Drs are kept very busy but generally after shift they are off. There are Drs who do on call duties in the A&E and I understand that they have duties in the clinic and in the ward sometimes simultaneously so yes, they can be very busy and overworked.

 

So answer is yes. Can be very busy but overworked, to me it depends on how strict you want to define the term "overworked" cos healthcare work is inherently busy so people who want to be doctors should have expected something like this already.

 

To die from stress related causes? Possible. That is why turnover rate from nurses is very high. We don't want to keep working at a fast pace. It can affect our health. So I won't be surprised if any doctor die from stress related causes.

 

thanks for your response.

Didn't know nurses turnovers are high too. Thought they had slightly less stress, as the docs have to answer for everything.

[Philipkee]

thanks for your response.

Didn't know nurses turnovers are high too. Thought they had slightly less stress, as the docs have to answer for everything.

I want to laugh. Cos nurse have to answer for a lot, esp service related issues. Like why is waiting time so long. Why the food so cold.....

 

I do agree Drs have a lot of responsibility but they are trained for what they are answering for. Why is waiting time so long for a bed is not something we can control or are trained in (how beds are managed we can guess but officially we don't know cos we are not managing the beds) but somehow the patients and relatives will keep pestering us about them...

 

But I was a volunteer at kalimantan once and the nurse from Singapore is like a doctor there and I could feel the stress when discussing issues with Drs there because what I suggest might actually be done for the patient so I better suggest correctly.....

Edited December 5, 2018 by Philipkee

[Kopites]

I want to laugh. Cos nurse have to answer for a lot, esp service related issues. Like why is waiting time so long. Why the food so cold.....

 

I do agree Drs have a lot of responsibility but they are trained for what they are answering for. Why is waiting time so long for a bed is not something we can control or are trained in (how beds are managed we can guess but officially we don't know cos we are not managing the beds) but somehow the patients and relatives will keep pestering us about them...

 

But I was a volunteer at kalimantan once and the nurse from Singapore is like a doctor there and I could feel the stress when discussing issues with Drs there because what I suggest might actually be done for the patient so I better suggest correctly.....

Let me add a bit. Beside doc and nurse there is another group which also very important. Those wheeling the patient for various lab/test..as well.

[Huuray]

Any real life experience where nurse eventually take up the relevant qualification and become a doctor?

 

Does the hospital sponsor them?

[Philipkee]

Any real life experience where nurse eventually take up the relevant qualification and become a doctor?

 

Does the hospital sponsor them?

Not that I heard off. Cos to be a basic nurse, let's say female, by the time you graduate, you are about 21 years old. By six years time you are a senior nurse there.

 

Let's say you wanna be a medical Dr. After three years of working,you are 24, you apply for medical school with hospital sponsorship. You start at 25 and you are the most junior Dr at 31. By the time you start contributing you are 32 at least. Age increases for males and if you started working beyond the age of 21 or you needed more than 3 yrs to prove to the hospital you are worth sponsoring.

 

Enrolled nurse to RN, yes. But not RN to Dr. Not to my knowledge anyway. Unless we have an excess of RN and shortage of Dr, probably will remain this way.

 

Self sponsor? Not to my knowledge.

 

Hope this helps.

[Philipkee]

Applicable to life as a nurse.

[iyongjunn]

Hi, I am interest in being nursing and have a passion for helping others. I am currently in the third year of my diploma (not nursing) due to parents persuasion at the time.

 

I have just recently found out that I have bilateral hearing loss due to ns medical checkup.

I would like to know whether it is still possible for me to be a nurse or have another job in the other health sector as I really do have a passion and interest in nursing.

[iyongjunn]

From the ns medical checkup*

[Philipkee]

Hi, I am interest in being nursing and have a passion for helping others. I am currently in the third year of my diploma (not nursing) due to parents persuasion at the time.

 

I have just recently found out that I have bilateral hearing loss due to ns medical checkup.

I would like to know whether it is still possible for me to be a nurse or have another job in the other health sector as I really do have a passion and interest in nursing.

Depending on severity, bilateral hearing loss can interfere with your ability to be a nurse cos you are not able to hear patients and other health care professionals clearly.

 

I know of someone who was an OK student but kept offending people during attachments and kept failing to the point of being sacked. At the last moment it was found there was hearing loss and the student was giving hearing aids and the student finally passed.

 

So hearing loss bilaterally, assuming it's not so severe that you cannot hear anything at all or to the point that normal communication is affected, is not something that will stop you from being a nurse jobs provided you take steps to mitigate it.

 

Why don't you try wearing hearing aids and serving your NS and if no issue using them then apply for nursing after that? You are currently in the third year of a poly course so I don't think you should quit at this juncture just to join nursing.

 

Cheers

[iyongjunn]

Hi, thanks for the help and information on it.

I am currently planning to finish my poly course and after ns I plan to apply for nursing.

I am diagnosed with moderate hearing loss the ENT doctor at Sgh said that hearing aids are not nessary for me.

 

Cheers

[Philipkee]

You can practice CPR here if you don't want to go for the course. It's at punggol safra main lobby. I am not sure if they will start putting more kiosks island wide.

 

Of cos the cpr course is still the best but if no money no time and you are going by punggol safra, you can practice if needed.

[ellywu126]

Hi, I'm Malaysian, currently in mid twenties. I'm interested in medical field and currently working as a dental Assistant in sg. I am interested in taking up the dip. In nursing course either from NYP or NP. May I ask what are the chances of becoming PR if I've managed to become a RN and serve my 3 year bond? And does nurse do a lot of overtime? I wanna clear my doubts before setting up my mind to go for this route as after becoming PR, I can take up degree in a cheaper tuition fees.

 

Hope to hear from you soon.

[Philipkee]

Hi, I'm Malaysian, currently in mid twenties. I'm interested in medical field and currently working as a dental Assistant in sg. I am interested in taking up the dip. In nursing course either from NYP or NP. May I ask what are the chances of becoming PR if I've managed to become a RN and serve my 3 year bond? And does nurse do a lot of overtime? I wanna clear my doubts before setting up my mind to go for this route as after becoming PR, I can take up degree in a cheaper tuition fees.

 

Hope to hear from you soon.

I will just answer two points.

 

1) can you become a PR after your three year bond? Should be no issue as you are Malaysian. Many of my friends became PR with no issues.

 

2) overtime? Depends on what you mean by overtime.

 

a) if you are supposed to handover at 1600, there are time when you must stay back until 1700 to tie up loose ends in your reports or there is delay in handing over.

 

b) doing double shift. Rare unless you are in private sector. UNLESS there is a civil emergency but touch wood rarely happens

 

c) stay back after shift to attend inservice -> depends cos you have to attend in service to get points but you can decide when to go and depending on dept you might be able to go during official hours

 

d) dept meetings. It'd after your shift (unless you wanna come during off days) but it's once month or less than that if meeting always falls on your shift then you are exempted from attending.

 

e) courses/conferences. Depends. Can be official hours or after shift. Happens. You can call it upgrading sessions or "tekan". Depending on your thinking.