I'm a nurse. Ask me anything about nursing

[Adrianli]

Those nurses in specialist clinic, working office hours got better work life balance? Can a nurse choose to work there or it is heng sway.

[Sunny]

Jman888, on 29 Jan 2015 - 08:50 AM, said:

 

 

i find the nurse here are very polite and nice, calling and talking loudly doesn't mean they dun care about the patients, some time hospitalised patients like to self pity and mentally refuse to get stronger to help themselves, everything depend on other.

 

that is what i observed but i believe the nurse knows the patients condition well enough to apply different level of TLC.

 

 

ya, most nurses now in govt/pte hospitals are polite and nice.

the polyclinic ones was like over 10yrs ago when my kids needed to go for injections

[Mustank]

 

 

ya, most nurses now in govt/pte hospitals are polite and nice.

the polyclinic ones was like over 10yrs ago when my kids needed to go for injections

 

last time my 2nd kid go injection

havent injection, my 1st kid see already cry

knn

2nd kid see why 1st kid cry

see already also cry

the old auntie nurse see already laugh

all laugh

[Celicar]

Everyone works hard. Cannot say this nationality work less hard . there are people who say seniors like to use eye power. The problem is, depends on your training. A surgeon once taught that the leader in an emergency should not do anything. He should observe and direct as needed. If he is busy setting an iv line, can he have the bird's eye view and delegate?

Firstly I want to also say that I have full respect for nurses / care givers (and social workers), it takes a lot to do it day-in-day-out with dedication, more than outsiders like me can ever fully know.

 

I think what the surgeon said is right, leadership sometimes is under-rated or its importance is sometimes buried under the cries of salaries being too high (I agree some salaries being paid to CEOs are ridiculous), but it really is very important for someone to pull the strings together, otherwise everyone is running around doing their own thing like headless chickens, with good intentions yes but ultimately not co-ordinated. So a good leader is important.

 

I have a question about hygiene. Again, no disrespect intended at all but I see that some nurses wear their uniforms when taking public transport. I think in the course of the work day, it may possibly be dirtied (say a patient coughed near the uniform) and given how many patients the nurses come into contact with, I think many a times it may not be clean. Do nurses go through some routine to 'clean' the uniform or themselves before leaving the hospital? Or else I dread to imagine how this practice may facilitate an outbreak (talking from the perspective of a layperson, thinking about how an outbreak may happen).

[Lala81]

 

if S$300, must as well come SG be maid

no wonder Singaporeans all wanna study business accounts law acturial science, become lawyer accountant doctor banker

 

Lol u think govt hospital pay is low.

Wait till u see those myanmar or sri lanka nursing assistants in nursing homes. Earn same as a maid niah...

[Vega]

Not that I know. Hearing is the last sense to go that is why for comatose patients we treat patient as alive and conscious. For dead, it is because the spirit might still be around.

 

We do nothing wrong, why fear the haunting? What I have heard is never stand at the foot of the patient as it blocks the spirit journey to the netherworld. I dun believe it but I also dun stand there. Of cos walk pass is ok la.

have you come across any weird request from the patient's family?

 

During my NSF days, my campmate kena very serious accident. his family went to ask the Chinese god and was told that thou he is still alive, the soul not there anymore. must light up a oil lamp beside his bed for the next 72 hours without the fire dying off. The family request my CSM to put men on 24 hour standby to "look" after the lamp.

 

of cos the hospital didn't allow that to happen and our CSM also don't dare to commit.

 

eventually, my campmate also mati liao.......

[Donut]

my son got his Dip in Health Sciences in Ngee Ann last yr......now in army serving his contract (he signed on army without telling me during his poly final yr).....now in Brunei doing his JCC. Hope he will continue his studies overseas after his contract ends. Not sure what course he wants to take but he ever told me its either physio or psychology. He told me he could take medicine in Australia.....but the fees are a killer. Can give me advice on what are the options when he finish his 4 yrs stint...heard Degree in Nursing is now offered in NUS. Is that a good route or is it better for him to study overseas. Thank you in advance. For your info he is in a combat vocation.

Ask him to consider to be a vet.

 

Murdoch Uni is v popular for Vet studies.

 

Vets are earning bigger bucks and usually pet owners will pay top dollars for their pets. I know coz i have a dog.

 

Psychology, like someone said, must study until Masters level, then your son is qualified to practice.

[Evillusion]

 

Lol u think govt hospital pay is low.

Wait till u see those myanmar or sri lanka nursing assistants in nursing homes. Earn same as a maid niah...

this is so wrong.....they are using foreigners to surpressed the pay in many industries and profit from it. I knew of 1 ite nursing grad......gave up after a few month saying the pay and the workload dont tally. In the end she took up a job that pays lower but allows her to work 9-5. If she is still a nurse i wont mind she be my private nurse.....pretty young and nubile.......wooo...hooh!

[Adrianli]

this is so wrong.....they are using foreigners to surpressed the pay in many industries and profit from it. I knew of 1 ite nursing grad......gave up after a few month saying the pay and the workload dont tally. In the end she took up a job that pays lower but allows her to work 9-5. If she is still a nurse i wont mind she be my private nurse.....pretty young and nubile.......wooo...hooh!

 

Can ask her to work in private specialist clinic. 9-5 work.

[Evillusion]

Ask him to consider to be a vet.

 

Murdoch Uni is v popular for Vet studies.

 

Vets are earning bigger bucks and usually pet owners will pay top dollars for their pets. I know coz i have a dog.

 

Psychology, like someone said, must study until Masters level, then your son is qualified to practice.

Dr Pol har? Vet....dont think so lar....he had never shown interest in animals....except for Pokemon......hahaha! Maybe will push the idea of being a physio......

[Lala81]

 

Can ask her to work in private specialist clinic. 9-5 work.

 

those are usually staff nurse.

ITE grad is only assistant nurse.

[Carnoob]

I think pay wise for nurse is not high but it is not low either. The only problem is that our generations are progressively becoming more materialistic, there is nothing wrong to earn more but how to spend it...

 

There goes a saying: the more you earn, the more you spend... We need to educate on one's virtue and not on the things we can buy with money. I have the utmost respect for our Singaporean nurses, what keeps them running is passion...

 

Not just the the clearing sh**, nurses are like cleaners, Public Relations, social workers and care takers rolled into one... Salute to bro @philipkee and still so keen to recruit new blood into the line...

 

Questions: -

 

How does a nurse progress in her / his career? like performance is based on? so Degree and Adv Dip is a must for promotion?

Edited January 29, 2015 by Carnoob

[Evillusion]

 

Can ask her to work in private specialist clinic. 9-5 work.

last i saw her was during her wedding.....think she gave up on the nursing idea. She told me previously she was offered a nursing post.....but salary was lower than her previous nursing job. She rejected it.....think now she prefer nurse her husband........hahaha!

[Adrianli]

 

those are usually staff nurse.

ITE grad is only assistant nurse.

 

Oh, didnt know. My fren's daughter Diploma grad went to work in a private gyne clinic. But she dont like, cos always need to deal with aborted fetus.

[Tonyng]

..The MOM report, which was released yesterday, said that unattractive pay and a preference not to do shift work were among the reasons Singaporeans shunned nursing jobs...

 

 

..One way to improve the situation is through redesigning the job, such as expanding the role of the nurse, and using technology to make the work more efficient, Dr Chia said...

 

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/nursing-vacancies-among-hardest-fill-sporeans-report

 

 

I think it is a travesty that in same report where unattractive pay is cited as why people avoid nursing, the nursing recruitment leader (not a nurse) is offering silly solutions like job redesign etc..

 

 

My surmise is that gov is deeply hypocritical in nursing training, abetted by a poorly organised nursing leadership that is systematically made weak by administrative non-nursing people..

 

Nursing pay is kept artificially low in name of capping healthcare costs...leaders who could effect a change in the system are all paying lip service because anything else is political suicide.

 

Correct me if I am wrong please.

[Evillusion]

I think pay wise for nurse is not high but it is not low either. The only problem is that our generations are progressively becoming more materialistic, there is nothing wrong to earn more but how to spend it...

 

There goes a saying: the more you earn, the more you spend... We need to educate on one's virtue and not on the things we can buy with money. I have the utmost respect for our Singaporean nurses, what keeps them running is passion...

 

Not just the the clearing sh**, nurses are like cleaners, Public Relations, social workers and care takers rolled into one... Salute to bro @philipkee and still so keen to recruit new blood into the line...

 

Questions: -

 

How does a nurse progress in her / his career? like performance is based on? so Degree and Adv Dip is a must for promotion?

its the typical SG quandarry......need good pay to survive (housing, transport,meals) higher pay leads to higher inflation.....and the cycle continue........higher and higher. Last to push down salary they bring in foreigners but forget to adjust the inflation......

[BabyBlade]

I think pay wise for nurse is not high but it is not low either. The only problem is that our generations are progressively becoming more materialistic, there is nothing wrong to earn more but how to spend it...

 

There goes a saying: the more you earn, the more you spend... We need to educate on one's virtue and not on the things we can buy with money. I have the utmost respect for our Singaporean nurses, what keeps them running is passion...

 

Not just the the clearing sh**, nurses are like cleaners, Public Relations, social workers and care takers rolled into one... Salute to bro @philipkee and still so keen to recruit new blood into the line...

 

Questions: -

 

How does a nurse progress in her / his career? like performance is based on? so Degree and Adv Dip is a must for promotion?

 

The Mediacorp drama 你也可以是天使 kept emphasizing on Advanced Practice Nurse or something along that line. I respect Nurses but that drama spells too much propaganda right from the start and it does not seem to portray a realistic picture of nursing life at all (when I compare it to my Nursing friends' experience. I rather watch past Mediacorp productions similar to the forensic drama donkey years ago 'Fa Yi Gu Shi' than this cheesy Nurse drama with all the extremely mediocre actors like Elvin Ng and the SG 'supermodel' girl Sheila Sim.

[Lala81]

 

..The MOM report, which was released yesterday, said that unattractive pay and a preference not to do shift work were among the reasons Singaporeans shunned nursing jobs...

 

 

..One way to improve the situation is through redesigning the job, such as expanding the role of the nurse, and using technology to make the work more efficient, Dr Chia said...

 

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/nursing-vacancies-among-hardest-fill-sporeans-report

 

 

I think it is a travesty that in same report where unattractive pay is cited as why people avoid nursing, the nursing recruitment leader (not a nurse) is offering silly solutions like job redesign etc..

 

 

My surmise is that gov is deeply hypocritical in nursing training, abetted by a poorly organised nursing leadership that is systematically made weak by administrative non-nursing people..

 

Nursing pay is kept artificially low in name of capping healthcare costs...leaders who could effect a change in the system are all paying lip service because anything else is political suicide.

 

Correct me if I am wrong please.

 

Part of it is wayang. But definitely shift work and pay are big issues...

You are right that healthcare costs have to be kept low. There are hundreds to thousands of nurses per hospital.