A celebration for the nurses and the nation

By Banu Priya, Year 2, Diploma in Nursing

Don't you like our recyclable costumes?

On 27 July 2011, the School of Health Sciences (SHS) celebrated Nurses Day and National Day in advance.  This event, organized by the SHS Academic Club and staff, was held at Block K garden from 3-6 pm. The area was beautifully decorated with red and white balloons which are the symbolic colors of our nation. There was also a banner at the back of the stage and Singapore flags hung at various areas.

 So why is there a need to celebrate Nurses Day and honour our nurses? I went around and asked some students who attended the event.

Celebrating Nurses Day and National Day with lots of good food and more

“Well Nurses Day is a day to appreciate the nurses and their noble profession. We honour them because as they are the ones who literally help save lives of patients with their consistent care,” said Akmalina Zuhrah, a Year 2 student from nursing group 1001.

Muhammad Farhat Bamadhaj, a Year 3 nursing student, added that it is a day to honour nurses who made a difference in the past.

“We should celebrate Nurses Day to honour all those renowned nurses such as Florence Nightingale, who was a pioneer of modern nursing.  We could also acknowledge nursing as a profession, because nurses contribute greatly to society.”

Honouring our top students

The event also recognised top students in Diplomas in Nursing, Radiography, Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy. The students received these awards from Ms Wong Luan Wah and Ms Lau Cheng Mun, Directors of Nursing and Allied Health respectively.

a rollicking good time

 Of course, what is an event without performances, right? We had Year 1 Nursing students, Dain Azrinda Binte Kasrin, Hafizah Binte Hassan, Then Hui Yee and Myat Mon Aung, performing two dances. One was an Indian dance and a modern dance, which was a crowd favourite. We also had a singing performance by Year 3 Nursing student, Khairul Azree, accompanied by the blissful music of his guitar.

Up next were performances by lecturers.  Mr Jim Lim from Social Sciences (Social Work) sang a popular National Day song and even had the audience sing along the chorus.  This was followed by lecturer Mr Ibrahim Shaik Mohamed who he sang a Hindi song accompanied with a band member from the percussion group.  His performance also got the audience clapping.

Black is the new Black!

 Another highlight of the event was the fashion parade. The challenge was to use recycled materials to create a design that can be used as nurses’ uniforms in the future. A wide variety of designs were showcased with names like ‘Cleopatra’ and so on.

All the futuristic costumes made with recycled materials

Pairs of students were asked to parade on stage with catchy music in accompaniment. I believe the models enjoyed showcasing their creations and so did the audience. The winners were awarded with gift vouchers.

In conclusion, the various highlights of these events managed to attract a large crowd. It was a successful event with lots of scrumptious food. Hats off to the SHS Academic Club and SHS staff for pulling off this awesome event!