Nursing Times Issue 01

NursingTimes

2Is0su2e01

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2Is0su2e01

Contents

Achieving success

4 ANCC Accreditation with Distinction
My Journey: Becoming an Infection Control
Nurse at Raffles Hospital, Chongqing

Calling all nurses

5 The Nursing Career Path
6 Nightingale Challenge 2020

The nursing advocate

7 My Insider Scoop on Being the First Advanced
Practice Nurse in a Private Hospital

We Welcome Clinical Educator,
Ms Siti Zarinah Abdul Rahman to the Raffles Family

On the radar this quarter

8 NUS Nursing Students in the House
Nursing Education
COVID-19 Training Sessions

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Editor’s Note

Greetings! Contributing Writers
Lilian Yew
We are pleased to introduce this inaugural issue of Raffles Nursing Karyn Choo Li Ping
Times! Moving forward, this quarterly e-publication will be the platform Yasmine Poh
for nurses to stay connected with one another with content contributed Seah Yong Eng
by our nurses and student nurses; keeping us abreast of updated Siti Zarinah Abdul Rahman
clinical practices and new technologies to provide safe and quality Terence Tan Boon Peng
nursing care for our patients. Through this exciting new platform, we NUS Year 3 Student Gilian Poon Yi Hang
hope to stay in touch with Raffles Nurses and our nursing friends. This Contributing Photographers
is an exclusive newsletter for nurses, by Raffles Nurses. Jonathan Yap
Tan Wee Yen
We also take this opportunity to introduce Ms Karyn Choo, our very Creative
own Clinical Educator, to the editorial team. Karyn has been heavily Eva Witarsa
involved in the compilation of this newsletter and will continue to play Tan Wee Yen
an integral role for future issues. Editorial Team
Chief Editor:
The next issue of Raffles Nursing Times will be published towards Lilian Yew, Chief Nurse
the end of August 2020. If you have updates to share with our Members:
nursing community, kindly note that the deadline for submission Karyn Choo Li Ping, Clinical Educator
is 30 July 2020. Please mark this date on your calendar. Png Ci En, Nurse Clinician
Koh Gek Min, Acting Nurse Clinician
For now, sit back and enjoy our updates! Diyana, Acting Nurse Clinician
Cindy Gui, Associate Director
Sincerely, Jonathan Yap, Assistant Manager
Ms Lilian Yew, Chief Nurse Get Involved!
Raffles Hospital If you would like to submit an article, or share a nursing story,
contact [email protected]

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Hospital ACCREDITED ANCC Accreditation with
PROVIDER Distinction

WITH DISTINCTION Raffles Hospital is pleased to announce its accreditation with
distinction from the American Nurses Credentialing Centre (ANCC)
as a provider of nursing continuing professional development. This
accreditation is valid immediately through 31 July 2022. As of Apr
2020, only 24% of ANCC accredited providers have been awarded
ANCC Accreditation with Distinction. We are proud to be among a
distinguished group of providers that have completed a review without
any progress report requirement. This accreditation is solid testament
to our professionally trained nurses who enjoy international recognition
and acceptance by the relevant licensing boards and regulatory bodies.
“Raffles Hospital, having earned the honour of ANCC Accreditation
with Distinction, gives nurses the assurance that they will receive
the best CNE available, when they choose to further their career with
Raffles,” said Ms. Lilian Yew, Chief Nurse.
“Our dedication to providing CNE for nurses is exhibited through this
recognition and reflects the diligence of our nursing team. Today,
Raffles nurses can be assured they are receiving updated knowledge
of nursing practices and have access to the highest caliber of
education to meet certification or licensure requirements, which in turn
contributes to improved patient outcomes,” continued Ms. Yew.
For more information on ANCC Accreditation Program, please scan the
following QR codes:

List of Accredited Organizations ANCC Accreditation Program

My Journey: Ms Seah Yong Eng
conducting Infection Control
Becoming an Infection Control Training Course with our
Nurse at Raffles Hospital, ChongQing colleagues.
Chongqing
For me, this valuable learning experience painted a clearer picture of
I am grateful to be given an opportunity to work at Raffles Hospital the healthcare system in China. With her diversified knowledge in
in Chongqing as an Infection Control Nurse (ICN). It was a steep the healthcare industry, Ms. Yew has generously shared with us her
learning curve as I did not start out with expertise in this area. expertise and experience during meetings or any career counselling
Preparation for this role began in July 2017, when I received a call sessions without any reservations.
from the Chief Nurse, Ms. Lilian Yew. She patiently walked me Throughout my journey to becoming an ICN, I am thankful to
through the training requirements for the 9th Asia Pacific Society of be learning from a mentor who is not just a role model, but also
Infection Control (APSIC) Training Course in Infection Control, as well someone who has explicit trust and faith in me that I would be able
as attachments to the infection control unit and on-the-job rotation to to succeed in this
ICU, among other critical details of the training programme. new role.

Any doubts on my part were quickly dispelled during the
conversation with Ms. Yew to assess my readiness and
commitment to this role. She gave her assurance and full support
to provide any required guidance during the training. To ensure I had
the adequate exposure and understand the importance of cultural
differences, Ms Yew also gave me opportunities to interact with
Chinese patients who visited Raffles Hospital in Singapore.

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The Nursing Career Path

At Raffles, our Nurses are given numerous avenues for
growth, to learn new skills and forge a clear nursing career
pathway that supports their passion to serve and make a
difference to our patients.

Nurses can choose to specialise in clinical, management and
education career tracks, and progress along the following
career paths:

Senior Manager  Advanced Practice Senior Nurse Clinician Senior Nurse Educator
Associate Director Nurse Nurse Educator II  I
Deputy Manager 
Progression Nurse Clinician II  I Progression Requirement:
Manager Requirement: Post grad/ Adv/ Spec Diploma or equivalent
#* Executive  Master in Nursing (NUS)
#* Senior Executive  certificate in clinical education
Assistant Manager Progression Requirement: Educational Track
Management Track Post grad/ Adv/ Spec Diploma or
equivalent certificate in nursing specialty
#* Senior Clinic Coordinator
Clinical Track
#*Clinic Coordinator III II I
Senior Staff Nurse II  I Clinical Educator /
*Senior/ Nurse Coordinator II  Clinical Instructor

Staff Nurse II  I Progression Requirement:
Progression Requirement: Clinical Instructor (CI) and/or
Diploma/ Degree in Nursing or RN Certificate teaching and assessing course and/
or Spec Dip in Clinical Education
Senior Enrolled Nurse II  I

Healthcare Assistant II  I Progression Requirement: Enrolled Nurse II  I
#Only applicable for RM clinics *Only applicable for SOC NITEC in Nursing or EN Certificate

Why I Chose Nursing rewarding. When I see them coming back to
visit us in the wards, my passion for nursing is
with Raffles… once again ignited.

An Interview with Ms Yasmine Poh I am grateful to my mentor, Ms. Lilian Yew,
who provided guidance to me when I had
Nursing is a unique career with two main just started as a novice on the management
aspects – human touch and unlimited empathy. path. Her willingness to share her immense
You learn to see things from different experience and her desire to develop people
perspectives and empathise with people in is very inspiring. What touches me greatly is
different situations. The biggest fulfilment her genuine interest in helping each one of
that I get from nursing is seeing my patients us succeed without any payback in return.
recover and walk out of the hospital feeling Ms Yew is keen to share both her “how I
better than when they first came. did it right” and her “how I did it wrong”

Ms Yasmine Poh With the opportunities given by Raffles, I have stories as both experiences provide invaluable
Senior Manager learnt to think critically and adapt to varying opportunities for our learning. Her openness
Raffles Hospital – Medical / Surgical Ward situations. Knowing that I have played a part in and generous mentorship also helps to build
my patients’ journey to recovery is extremely up trust in our relationship.

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calling all nurses

Raffles Hospital Nursing Education Team

Nightingale
Challenge 2020

2020 has been declared by the World Health Organisation as
the Year of the Nurses and Midwife as we celebrate our 200th
anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, who was the
innovator and leader of nursing healthcare.
The purpose of the Nightingale Challenge is to help develop the next
generation of young nurses and midwives as leaders, practitioners
and advocates in health and to demonstrate that nursing and
midwifery are exciting and rewarding careers.
The aim of the challenge is to have at least 20,000 nurses and
midwives aged 35 years old and below, benefit from this initiative in
2020. The Nursing team at Raffles is nominating 20 nurses to take
part in some of the projects for this challenge.
Stay tuned to hear about more exciting projects coming up for the
rest of the year. For more information on Nightingale Challenge
2020, please click here!
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the nursing advocate

My Insider Scoop on Being the First Advanced
Practice Nurse in a Private Hospital

My name is Terence, and I am the first Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) in a private hospital, a title I am
very proud to hold.
It is exciting working at Raffles Hospital as an APN and because I am the first one in a private hospital
setting, there is a lot more to establish. Raffles Hospital advocates a friendly culture which helps new
staff to adapt and settle in more easily. The management is supportive of my role as an APN and is open
to importing some of my practice and training as an acute care ICU APN to help us achieve better care
results.
In this role, I have the opportunity to perform some work requiring invasive skills as credentialed by Raffles
Credentialing Board for ICU patients. Under a collaborative agreement, I also have the opportunity to clerk
and review Dr Chong Yong Yeow’s patients with his guidance. There is so much more to learn in my APN
journey and I wish to contribute to the clinical care of patients at Raffles Hospital.

Terence Tan Boon Peng
Advanced Practice Nurse

We Welcome Clinical Educator,
Ms Siti Zarinah Abdul Rahman to the Raffles Family

In a close up interview with Having only recently joined as a Clinical Educator in Raffles Hospital, I am blessed to
Clinical Educator, Siti Zarinah, we be partnered with two senior staff, who coach and mentor me on a daily basis, and
asked her to share her thoughts patiently resolve all my intriguing questions. With this luxurious learning environment,
on joining the Raffles family. I was able to comprehend common practices very swiftly, as well as the process of
procedures at the wards that I was assigned to. The biggest challenge for me was
to disengage myself from preceding training that I had received prior and to have an
open mind to receive fresh knowledge and insights into how Raffles Hospital is being
managed.
I am really looking forward to exploring and learning in my new role and carry out my
responsibilities as an educator to contribute to nursing education.

Siti Zarinah Abdul Rahman
Clinical Educator

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ON THE RADAR THIS QUARTER Nursing Education

NUS Nursing Students
in the House

CI Ten Hui Wen conducting a practical IV cannulation simulation session with our
NUS TTP/CCP Nursing Students

Nursing Education Department (NED) constantly provides new
teaching innovations and opportunities to keep our student nurses
engaged in their own learning and enhance their nursing knowledge
while on the job.

“As a sponsored student of Raffles Hospital, I have had most of 2019 Graduating PRCP
my clinical postings here. Raffles Hospital not only provides quality polytechnic students
integrated healthcare to patients, it has also been a nurturing
environment for me to hone my nursing skills, knowledge, and
professionalism. The nursing education department, with its low
educator-to-student ratio, has been especially welcoming and
accommodating in facilitating my learning in the different disciplines.
I look forward to working here together with all the amazing nurses
and staff after my graduation!”
- NUS Year 3 Student Gilian Poon Yi Hang

COVID-19 Training Sessions

In this intense COVID-19 season, nurses from the respective clinical
areas including wards and clinics have been deployed to help in
managing the influx of subsidised patients in our Emergency Care
Collaboration (ECC) and pneumonia wards. Training is conducted
weekly to train up our deployed nurses and patient healthcare
assistants in a collaborative effort to provide optimum care for all of
our patients.
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I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words; they
ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results.

- Florence Nightingale

What is Nursing? Nurses @ Raffles
Nursing can be described as both an art and a The nursing team at Raffles is closely knitted. Our
science; a heart and a mind. Nursing is more nurses come together to care for our patients.
than a career. It is a calling. Our nurses are given opportunities to develop and
A Nursing Career with Raffles build on specialised areas of interests, and are
Find out more about the career encouraged to pursue lifelong learning.
development track and opportunities.

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