Taken from the straits times: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/nursing-manager-skills-boost-redefines-her-role-as-healthcare-professional
Nursing manager’s skills boost redefines her role as healthcare professional
Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital leads the way in building capabilities of the community care sector
When Ms Serene Tan, 39, decided to pursue nursing after her O levels, her family tried hard to dissuade her.
They felt that nursing was not suitable for someone so young, asking her if she was ready to “clean up patients”.
But after being in the profession for 16 years, the nursing manager at Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital (KWSH) feels her career goes far beyond the notion of being an intensive patient-care job; it is more than performing menial or unpleasant tasks.
Besides her nursing duties and managing a team of 85 nurses, she also fronts projects and brainstorms ideas to improve operational processes and maximise efficiency within the hospital.
“When I come across an area that is problematic or can be refined, I will always discuss with my team, and do a deep dive into the root causes and analyse the situation,” says the single mother of two.
Before joining KWSH in 2018, Ms Tan had stints as a nurse educator at Mount Elizabeth Hospitals, nursing lecturer at the Institute of Technical Education, and senior staff nurse at Changi General Hospital.
“If the issue is process-related, we’ll work out a solution on our own, and we’ll raise it,” she says, adding that her bosses are always receptive to perspectives from the nursing staff.
For example, she recalls suggesting a way to improve the showering process of patients that reduced the number of nurses needed – from seven to six – leading to better well-being among the caregivers and greater efficiency.
She is also given projects to optimise patient care, such as introducing the use of a gravity milk feed for nasogastric tube patients – a more convenient method of feeding such patients compared to the conventional approach of using a syringe.
But not all solutions can be found internally. Collating observations and ideas from her colleagues, Ms Tan shares that her responsibilities include sourcing and working with external vendors to find solutions that benefit both the patients and the caregivers.
“Times are different now. We can use technology to carry out trials and overcome barriers. Many of us have also been attending courses to upgrade ourselves, learning about the latest evidence-based practices to improve the quality of nursing care.”
Embracing training opportunities
Ms Tan’s capacity and capability to contribute is largely the result of KWSH’s firm commitment to training and developing its staff.
With the support of KWSH, Ms Tan has attended a range of courses: from leadership training to nursing-related programmes that equip her to nurse her patients more holistically, both physically and mentally.
A course that particularly hit home for her focused on community care nursing leadership.
“There’s no book that can tell you what a good leader must be like. It boils down to your soft skills and other qualities,” says Ms Tan.
“Attending the workshop enlightened me, showing me that there is no correct way to be a leader, and it’s up to us to create our own leadership style. I now better understand myself.”
The courses, she says, have enabled her to “think more in-depth and embark on a project more systematically with the requisite planning, instead of jumping the gun”.
After 16 years, Ms Tan’s passion for nursing remains, although she reveals that there have been moments of despair, especially during the pandemic crisis.
What pushes her onwards is the belief that she can help patients all the way to “the end of their life journey – (that) we can make a difference”.
Sharing their expertise
Over the years, KWSH has earned the reputation of harnessing an open, transformative approach toward community care and its skills uplifting.
As one of Singapore’s oldest charitable healthcare institutions, the integrated healthcare organisation, is primed to take a leading role in the evolution of local community care.
KWSH has two hospitals. The main hospital located in Serangoon has a 750-bed capacity, while its second nursing home in Potong Pasir has a 400-bed capacity.
“The sector is made up of organisations with diverse maturity levels,” says Mr William Loh, 51, KWSH’s assistant director of learning & organisational development.
He adds: “Some are well-resourced with proper staffing and structures; some lack the resources to make learning a strategic priority. There is room for all of us to make a difference, and KWSH is well-placed in contributing to the learning, upskilling and innovation space.”
After four years of preparation, KWSH launched its Community Training Institute – the largest in the local community care sector – in 2018.
“One of my key priorities was to build KWSH into a beacon of strength and inspiration in community care’s learning and innovation space.”
He aims to maximise the potential of staff by “creating a dynamic workplace learning culture that emphasises upskilling, reskilling and personal development”.
Underlying its formation are effective collaborations with a range of partners, including institutes of higher learning and government agencies.
“We have more than 100 training programmes recognised by the relevant government bodies,” he says. About 2,000 KWSH employees and external individuals have benefitted from the classes.
Mr Loh believes that KWSH’s efforts to elevate community care led to their appointment in 2020 as the first SkillsFuture Queen Bee in the sector.
“SkillsFuture Queen Bees” are industry leaders who pave the way in promoting skills development by guiding and mentoring small to medium-sized enterprises, helping them to identify and acquire the skills needed to grow their business.
By the end of next year, KWSH aims to boost the community care sector by providing 270 training places and 33 mentorship projects for community care providers.
The purpose: To build the sector’s capabilities in areas such as healthcare innovation, process improvement, technology adoption and workplace learning, and support the deepening of skills and expansion of job roles.
“Together with our partners, we focus on four key pillars: new products and services, processes, human capital, and automation and digitalisation,” says Mr Loh.
Efficient, effective with tech
Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital’s use of the automated mobile robot (AMR) during meal times, which was rolled out last November, is one example of how it uses technology to enhance community care.
Mr William Loh, the hospital’s assistant director of learning & organisational development, elaborates: “We adopted the AMR which we believe is the first of its kind in the sector that runs without a guided track. This innovation has greatly reduced the manpower needed to deliver the meals from the kitchen to the wards.”
The process of wound scanning has also been simplified and enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI). The tedium of manually checking and recording the condition of wounds has now been replaced with an AI-embedded device.
In training, “we are actively involved in co-creating microlearning programmes with other nursing homes to upskill their care staff and nurses in several clinical areas”, says Mr Loh.
But, he says: “The healthcare sector is considered by many to be a ‘low tech, high touch’ industry. The patient’s experience and needs are still the most important. We don’t want to sacrifice that aspect for the sake of (technological) efficiency.”
For more information on SkillsFuture Queen Bee networks and other SkillsFuture initiatives for employers, head to enterprisejobskills.gov.sg/therealcost.
This feature was produced in partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore
