Elizabeth Ho/
The General Elections is upon us.
Honestly, I am pretty excited, because from the age of 21 till 32, I never had a chance to vote.
Some of you might start to wonder: what has politics to do with the nursing profession? Nursing and politics shouldn’t be mixed at all.
credit: overseas-education.in
From age 8 to 19: I sang “Majulah Singapura” and cited Singapore pledge with pride. I remember those moments, especially during National Day, there would be this stirring of pride in my heart. I’m serious — I was very proud to be a Singaporean, and knew that our independence and development hadn’t been easy.
I was excited to see open-topped cars with loudspeakers, PAP logo and yes, usually a man wearing white waving down the streets of Ang Mo Kio and Bishan. As a child, my family mattered the most, having a roof over my head, good living conditions, able to attend schools, no wars and no riots. Under this safe environment, I grew up aspiring to be a nurse to serve my country.
Age 20 to 24: I started working as a staff nurse in a restructured hospital. I gradually understood the healthcare system within a ward, within an organisation and as a system providing healthcare needs to Singaporeans. Anybody working as a nurse in Singapore, at one time or another, will dread this system and want to give up nursing. I had my fair share. The nursing profession in other countries is much more professional. The policies governing the education, development, welfare, and the safety concerns for nurses are more detailed and well-thought. 3 basic things: Nurse-patient ratio, nurses’ basic education standard and nurses’ professionalism (pay pegged to level of recognised professionals e.g. teachers).
Even though with 4 A1s in both Pure Maths; Pure Bio and Pure Chemistry in O Levels, I forsook the expected JC path and enrolled in Nanyang Polytechnic for a nursing diploma. With no local universities offering nursing degree course, when other professions can have the simpler route from JC to local universities, I tediously saved money and travelled to Australia to pursue my own nursing degree. I was envious. Truly envious of Australia, Canada and the US nursing system. Neighbouring countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines and Thailand have universities with nursing faculties.
Although there is a local university that has a nursing faculty, my heart goes out to the polytechnic RNs who have the potential to do their degrees and yet need to fork out higher costs to pursue their nursing degree education.
Age 25 to present: Having returned from Australia, I had the privilege to experience primary care to tertiary care, especially in the area of diabetes care. I’d personally seen and attended to patients having difficulty financially, till they would rather not seek treatment or stop their medications. Patients who are visually challenged, needing to draw their insulin, and we had difficulty finding social help for them. Patients staying under bridges, and temples, “homeless”. The list of medication in the standard list that allow for subsidies is often limited and unbalanced.
I finally realised that it is all about the system, system, system, at the end of the day, is still the system.
Micro system ruled by macro system governed by national system.
That is why I am resigned. Resigned to the “It’s like that”, “Singapore is like that” mentality.
– How is country run, what values does it emphasize?
– How does a country value health?
– How much money does a country want to put into the healthcare sector?
– How much money does a country want to put in to help those who are needy with established diseases?
– Does the country want to emphasize local nursing education development?
– Does the country want to place emphasis on local healthcare people development or earnings from agents recruiting foreign nurses/ healthcare personnel?
– Does the country want to re-look nurse-patient ratio, nursing hours, nursing pay in comparison to local professionals like teachers, police, regular SAFs, etc, and drawing comparison to overseas nursing pay rank among professionals to retain our own nursing local talents?
Please do not say that this will inflate healthcare costs and transfer the guilt topatients, because it is mooted by the same argument of not charging citizens for low crime rates, and not charging citizens for the hefty costs of defence, not increasing school fees because of rising costs in education while providing affordable quality education. This is only true if the budget for healthcare remains constant and poor allocation of financial resources.
Does the country want to do the above to attract locals into nursing for our future generation?
The road of status quo is like palliative care. Whatever additional changes are like “comfort care”. As long as underlying basic policies of funding to healthcare and areas of emphasis are not changed, nothing will change for the better. No matter how much I yearn to be 8 again, seeing nursing itself and politics as something else, is wishful thinking. Politics influences healthcare tremendously – the needs of my patients and nursing itself. I’m resigned because it is politics, and ‘nothing to do with nursing’. If I am given a chance to vote, at least, I can vote for a hope. Like a patient with a terminal illness, anything else represents hope.
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May 4, 2011 at 3:18 pm
It is ridiculous that the Singapore system has our citizens tied up in knots everywhere we turn, be it housing, healthcare, education or employment. We have been urged to stay healthy, work as long as we can (minimum retirement age will be pushed back farther). And yes, we just all have to do that, I guess, since we can’t afford proper healthcare (subsidized healthcare gets you ignorant interns or FT doctors who don’t even speak your language and could care less what your real health problems are) or even nursing homes as our dear ah Khaw rreminds us it’s more convenient and cheaper to go to our next door neighbours.
Singaporeans who have worked their lives away for this country now are urged to go wait out their dying years on foreign lands. The system that “should not be broken” is the very one that grinds our bones to dust and when nothing else can be squeezed from it, conveniently dumps us. I’m tired of hearing propaganda about progress for Singapore – I say progress for Singaporeans, please.
May 4, 2011 at 5:06 pm
i’m a nurse and i feel the same way too. more should be done and can be done by them.
May 4, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Who said Singaporean got no talents ? We have so many young adults who can’t enter our own Singapore Universities just becouse the quota is full or there’s no such course to persue but need to fork out more money for oversea study.
Due to the two IR’s opened, the courses for tourism, resort management, hotel management blah blah blah are the most hot cake and our young adults have choosen this path, follow the trend, but same thing, after graduation from poly, do they have any courses in Uni for them to persue further study ? Can anyone prove me wrong.?
Hence, for me, as a low qualification ordinary citizen, wanted to know when the government has decided to open the two IRs, did they also think for any solution to imply advance diploma, degree courses if they want to continue to study or advance nursing courses if they knew that old age population is increasing. They should know the impact will be strong, shouldn’t they ? Or they just want to close their eyes to recruit more nurses so called “FTs”, sponsor them to study in our poly, pay them monthly allowance of $800 then sign a 6 years bond with the hospital. Let me tell you the truth, many HDB flats, 4 rooms unit have converted into their hostels for them to stay. JTC has bought over the units and I think EM services are the sole agent to handle them cos my neighbours have been moving in and out every year. The FTs needed to sign one year contract with them but need to move out after 1 year. They need to relocate their stay after that. So far, I have seen 3 batches from China and Mynmar. They are as young as 17 or 18 years old. Why our youths nowadays do not want to go nursing line ? It is a very noble job. Do they really dislike it ? It’s because the government never treated it as a professional job. Instead, the government is promoting tourism sector.
May 4, 2011 at 7:24 pm
I too am a nurse. Because of the many government policies many elderly patients are struck in between. The hospital want them out; their children cannot look after them at home because they need to work to feed their families. They cannot have a maid because of their low salary; they fail the means test because they live in a terrace house which is their family house and not owned by them. And nobody cares to help them; it’s so stressful for the whole family and of course the nurses too because they’re the ones who face hell for not able to discharge patients in order to free the beds for new admissions.
May 4, 2011 at 10:13 pm
It is good that the professionals working in hospitals stand up to confirm that all is not right with our health care system.I heard that there is such a shortage of beds that patients are being discharged earlier than it should be. I used to accompany my father to his routine check up and the wait is so long that my father refuses to go for follow up now because he just does not want me to take time off too often from work.
May 4, 2011 at 11:10 pm
The government keep encouraging people to choose the healthcare as a career choice. However the government also keep bringing in foreign nurses who in turn compete for jobs with the local nurses. Which is very unhealthy for the local nurses especially those who graduate from ITE because most of they cannot upgrade themselves into diploma holders if their GPA is not more then 3.1%. However the government keep encouraging us to upgrade ourselves, but not chance is given to ITE gradutes nurses. A salute to all nurses, as its a vocation which involves passion not just a career choice.
May 5, 2011 at 2:02 am
i truly salute all nurses around the world. It definitely has to be one of the most tedious job, yet they’re not paid well. And my heart goes out to the financially poor patients who’ve got no money to seek the right medical treatment as soon as possible. What happens is that their conditions worsen just because they don’t have money, because they don’t have a truly caring government. What a disheartening post to read…
May 5, 2011 at 2:48 am
It is indeed a sad day for Singapore that many patients are not being treated well.
It is true that there are insufficient RN (registered nurses) and medical doctors in our hospitals. So the need to employ FT, who maybe better trained but paid lesser.
Question is how many Singaporeans are prepared to work as Nurse. It takes a special calling to want to serve.
If people take up Nursing to be gainfully employed, then they will not be happy with their pay after working several years in this thankless career.
They will want higher income, which will eventually drive up the cost of healthcare.
It is different in Australia, U.S., Korean or even Japan. Healthcare is funded by high Income Tax and expensive healthcare insurance.
In Australia & US, every dollar that you earn almost half (50cents) goes to TAX.
Of course, they can fund the healthcare needs of the people.
Are you prepared to be taxed?
Healthcare insurance is several hundreds to thousands every year.
Are you prepared to pay that amount every year till you really need it?
If you don’t have insurance in the US, the hospitals will also not treat you.
At least in Singapore, you only need to pay when you need treatment.
Depending on the Class you choose, you are given certain subsidy and you pay accordingly.
You can also purchase health insurance to cover for the amount that is not covered by medishield and medisave.
Medishield can be bought using your CPF, so no out of pocket expense unless you purchase medical insurance from private insurers like AIA, GE or Ntuc.
So to say that healthcare is totally unaffordable is not true, there are social avenues if one is unable to afford. Govt funding is available.
Perhaps, the current system can be fine-tuned further to ensure that all Singaporeans will not be left out.
So those who can afford, buy insurance to cover – no need to worry about means testing.
Those who can’t afford, pretty sure the MPs will find a way.
So Opposition MPs, do need seat on your laurels, if you are voted into parliament, do something….. this are the REAL issues and not inflation, minister’s pay.
Don’t end up like Low T.K. and Chiam S.T. in parliament as opposition voice for the people of Singapore for more than 20 years, still didn’t do enough…..Wake up Opposition MP.
Focus on the real issues……solve one problem at a time.
May 5, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Kimimp, don’t blame the Opposition for not doing enough when there are only two of them against the reuling party. To say that our medical care is subsidised, let’s be transparent, how by much? What’s the real cost? Likewise, HDB flats – 30k to 40k grants are you sure it is real subsidy as well? What’s the cost of building a block of flats.PErhaps all the grant amount has been included into the cost of an HDB flat. My point is without transparency, I will not take the words of the govt. Of course you have a choice to choose the Class since the money is your hard earn sweat money!!! What has the govt contributed to your CPF funds? 2.5% + 1% extra which is what you deserve as a citizen because other than that you get nothing from them. Yet, you don’t have a say on how you want to use your $. Also remember that not everyone has sufficient medisave to pay for hospitalisation or $ to buy medical insurance. We should wonder why all the polyclinics and hospitals are managed by Nat Health Care Gp and Singhealth instead of by the govt. Doesn’t make sense to me because this will create unhealthy competition in terms of staff, cost cutting, profitability…. like SP Power….all these will only lead to higher costs to the people. I am a regular blood donor for over a decade. The nurses at Nat Blood Ctr used to be local…then replaced by Filipinos… now many are from Myanmar. FYI, I was told that the older, experienced staff nurses were re-employed on a yearly basis and posted to dept like A&E, cancer centre etc. I want to tell you that ministers’ pay are related to many REAL issues in Singapore. When the govt pay astronomical salaries to attract talent from the pte sector to become ministers, can I say that these people join the govt becaue of $ and not because to serve the country and people first? Otherwise they would have volunteered their services right? Then can I also say that since they’ve decided to join the govt, they have to agree and support policies that the govt implements? So am I right to say that these talented ministers’ 1st priority is Money, 2nd Govt, 3rd, Country and sad to say lastly the People of Spore? So because these ministers are paid such a high salary, they can neither reject govt policies nor speak on behalf of the people. Look around you. Housing, Food, Jobs, Healthcare are all real issues. And it doesnt help that we have ministers who cannot speak up for us. How do you recover millions in salary yearly? Look at the spending on YOG. Look at investments in US, Australia, Thailand etc… Spore is a developed country… what else are there to really build other then to improve roads, add a few more hospitals, schools… then where are all our reserves? Why can’t we use some reserve to help the needy? Since two Oppo MPs can’t do much, let’s hope they’ll win more tahn 1 GRC and SMCs.
May 5, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Once a Minister takes a salary that is so large that it looks like a heist in comparison with similar jobs in government across the Globe, he breaks the compact with the citizenry. His job becomes a commercial contract and should be gauged in a strictly commercial manner. There are standard methodologies for valuing jobs and the job of being Ministers is no exception. I suggest that if a substantial opposition gets elected in Parliament, it moves the motion to revalue the jobs done by the various Ministers. The parameters involved in such a valuation exercise includes estimating that portion of the GNP attributable to the Minister whose job is under appraisal. It also includes estimating a discount rate which consists of a risk free rate and a risk premium. Intuitively without doing the calculations now, you can see that the portion of attributable GNP is very different from the GNP itself. It has been touted by the PAP that they created the whole GNP, which is not correct because patently commercial, industrial and financial enterprises are the engines which brought the process of creating the GNP to completion. For instance the ministers do not operate, the finance houses, factories and every enterprise in the country. The share of the GNP created by each Minister is a sliver of the country’s GNP.
This sliver of GNP is then operated on by the discount rate to arrive at a figure of value of the job of each Minister..The risk premium ( which as mentioned above is a component of the discount rate) would be entirely absent in Ministerial jobs so that what remains is the risk free rate which name itself reveals the nature of Ministerial jobs- essentially risk free! You should find that the resulting figure of value of the job should bear comparison with figures of actual remunerations of the Parliamentarians in the first world countries, as Singapore prides itself to be first world. You will then see the utter absurdity of claiming that a Ministerial salary in Singapore is to be 6 to 10 times more than its comparable in the first world governments. Thus the present salaries of our Ministers would be found to be grossly wrong in fact. Whether they are also wrong in Law has to be investigated, given the fact that these Ministers in this one party Government of Singapore in effect drew up their own salaries scales and paid themselves from that self- serving blueprint..They are judges in their own cause. Moreover they went to war with the oppositions for 50 years using the legal apparatus of the State, destroying them and in the process remain the Ruling Party for all of 50 years and eradicating the concepts of Human Rights by unprincipled use of defamation Laws, ISD arrests etc.The next question is whether they should be asked to return the excess payment to the State, as many bankers and CEOs were asked to do so when it was found that they did not deserve such remunerations or such remunerations were extracted by false representations..
As citizens we should break up the nonsense of Million dollar salaries to Ministers on spurious claims of uniqueness.Singapore is on the same planet as New York, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Amman. None of the office holders in these countries demand such grotesque salaries. Not only do we support a big heist but we also engender a colossal greed in these supposedly exceptionally noble people. One of the most ludicrous deeds instigated by such salaries is the pump priming of the economy by overwhelming the country with foreign labour. We will be sitting ducks for the next get rich quick scheme.
May 5, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Very true.. I also a staff nurse. Newly graduate. From what I see, I already thinking of quitting nursing. For the hrs, patient attitude, and low pay.. How can people expect a high quality service when the nurses and being taken for granted. Overworked. In the end, all the local nurses will migrated to oversea and there will only be forgein nurses here to take care of the aging population. And all of us know that the foreign nurses are only using Singapore as a stepping stone to go oversea. I dread to see that day coming. So I have planned ahead that if there is no changes, within the nxt few years, I will be migrating to Australia or USA. So the government should take health care workers into consideration. Don forget the nurses here are mostly made up of foreigners.
May 6, 2011 at 11:12 am
bye bye…
May 5, 2011 at 9:37 pm
We need to revisit and re-examine our major poicies, healthcare, housing, transport, education.. All seems not right. Nurses are important to all healthcare system and I agree that nurses here are usually not treated well.. In other countries, the profession command more pay and more respect. I overheard a conversation sometime back that MOH was seriously thinking of cutting back the subsidies which are already not very much…We need to hold gov’t accountable to us on how they allocate the budget and how they spend the money. It really upsets me to hear over and over that we need to pay our ministers millions in order to weep out corruption. What lame arguement is this…To my simple mind, it is pure greed and more greed.. and are we supposed to look up to them and expect that they will look after you in your old age.. Singaporeans, wake up to the hardtruth than PAP now is not the same as PAP 30 years ago. We badly need opposition in the Parliament.. Now,, not later….
May 7, 2011 at 3:36 am
Need to correct following.
I need to see doc for fever, US$120; if no insurance then no doctor, for Americans also. USA , no sudsidized healthcare.
Europe, free, but 40% to 50 % monthly paycheque taxed for all govt services.
My Dad got heart bypass in GH, stay 2 mths,. Actually must pay S$8000 for deposit . becoz surgical technicalites and approach social welfare, admission office refuse to accept a single cents from us.
Singapore doc no bedside manners, but very good experience with doctor from India, caring, attentive and listen to patients.
Foreign nurse becoz, many rich countries USA, JAPAN ,EUROPE all need nurses. Want to emigrate, go be nurse.
Under KHAW, in 2008, he overturned MOH not subsidizing HIV meds law. Now, poor patients can get meds via medifund. Very brave and think outside the box n fight for underdog..
Like FINLAND, send patients to thailand for surgery n all kind of treatment
My dad also going to Bangkok , pro. nurse about S$600 mth
May 7, 2011 at 5:32 pm
God, please help all the lost Singaporeans realise how blessed and fortunate they are to be born in Singapore.
God, please give these people wisdom to walk the right path.
God, please prevent my beloved country from falling into the wrong hands.
May 8, 2011 at 1:47 am
Write so much for what! More & more Singaporean will be suffering for the next 5 years! Guarantee those pro PAP voters will regret when they are old. By then I ‘ll migrate to heaven already!
Enjoy your hell life here! I bet you will.
May 8, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I am a nursing student from NUS and even I envy my friends studying nursing in other countries. Our healthcare system is very harsh on us because every healthcare professional slogs for long hours with a mismatched salary. The tremendous workload also takes a toll on our physical and mental health, and I have witnessed burnout in many other nurses and am starting to experience it too. Nursing education for a developed country like ours is indeed pathetic when we compare ourselves with other countries like Australia and HK. Currently, our academic department is helmed by a predominantly HK teaching and research staff. As a graduate nurse-to-be, I find it hard to apply my supposedly superior clinical knowledge when I am burdened with so many patients. I like to interact with doctors as an equal, but I frequently find myself lacking the time to participate in doctors’ rounds and receiving orders like a servant. I want nursing to be more respected as a profession, but the current system treats us like robots with no needs or emotions. Hopefully, our undergraduate programme heralds a new chapter in local nursing, but ultimately, we still need a healthcare system overhaul that is more humane and compassionate.
May 9, 2011 at 11:58 am
Am totally agreed with what you’re implying, it totally made sense.
How much longer are singapore going to put effort & look into this kinda matters seriously?
May 9, 2011 at 7:11 pm
leave politics first, you have to know one thing, even us can’t afford medical expense.
so simple break your issue into two things:
1. why some can’t effort?
This is really key factor, why government have not allocate enough in medical, because expense too high or what? I don’t see opp party raise question for this?
2. low salary
I have to say, you choose a wrong road, the gov design to use cheap labor to lower down cost, so stop complaining this or later patients will complaint higher service fee if all using local nurses.
this is the truth, a little cruel, that is the really world, we PR all know this
May 27, 2011 at 11:07 pm
And we have foreign doctors and nurses who are not well-trained and inconsiderate to patients’ comfort, pain and protest.
I had my first and only breast mammogram at polyclinic subsidized at half price $50. The wait for long even though three patients and worst of all, the metal plate press was so tight that my eyes tear and both legs gave way.
I called out for the nurse to stop but she refused and ignored my pleas and excruciating pain. I was practically dangling with bent wobbly legs till she finished and released.
That was my first and last horrific experience, I tell myself never ever to get it done again. Mammogram well-done is not supposed to be like that. Why are we having such untrained and unfeeling nurses ?!
I declare that the whole healthcare has failed badly in Singapore.
May 30, 2011 at 12:26 pm
“”Politics influence healthcare” is well-said.
Many in their fifties onwards lament that because govt no care for the old, sick and elderly, nothing much is done to make their old age and medical easier nor better, no sponsored activities or lodge, free or subsidised food (limited only to a certain group). MOH need implement good ideas and action.
Because this is the main cause and example set by govt, that’s why their children and grandchildren are alien and isolated from them as they also hope to be relieved of the burden of taking care of elderly. Those who can afford engage maids, many of whom just leave them in their wheelchairs at void decks while they spend hours talking on phone or friends, even meeting guys. Some simply give medicine to let the elderly sleep through at home.
Our education and nursing salary system and family influence our children not to take up such jobs in the past. Now foreign nurses are employed in private and public sector. We need to review healthcare local staff including pharmacists pay and allowance to qualify for their job scope and for youngsters to join healthcare as a career.