WorldSkills Singapore 2012: Always with the Patient in Mind

By Ho Khin Wai, Year 2, Diploma in Banking & Financial Services

Meet Gladys Aw and Audrey Foo, two of our NYP competitors in this year’s WorldSkills Singapore 2012, where they represented NYP in the competition area of ‘Caring’. They worked as a team against other teams from the various educational institutions. 

These second year Diploma in Nursing students from the School of Health Sciences (SHS) have come a long way to be part of WorldSkills Singapore 2012. For both Gladys and Audrey, enjoying the whole experience is just as important as winning awards.

I caught up with the girls during Day 2 of the competition at ITE College West.  When asked how they thought they had fared in the item they had just completed, they humbly replied, “We did our best.” It was an intense round, as Gladys and Audrey were tasked to deliver a thirty-minute training programme on Diabetes to a patient and her caregiver while constantly being assessed by a panel of judges.
 
Their meticulousness, positive attitude and passion for caring pulled them through the round successfully. Tears of joy were seen rolling down their faces as they emerged from the competition arena, and then proceeded to hug their coaches, families and friends who came to support them.

Said Audrey, “What was challenging was the communication between us and the patients. We have to be prepared for their responses and try to administer the best care that we could give them. There were those little surprises as well, that had us on our feet…but we managed to complete this round!”

For both the girls, they have learned that “what is done is done”. Regardless of how they fared in past performances, they would not to dwell on these issues and move on. Most importantly, they have learnt to be more patient-centered, and to always have the patient in mind as top priority.

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This year, NYP is proud to have four of our students from the Diploma in Nursing to be taking part in WorldSkills Singapore 2012! Besides Gladys and Audrey, the other two competitors are Yeo Min and Eri Fara Tsuboi. All the best, NYP gals!

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	Khin Wai is an NYP Year 2 Banking and Financial Services student from School of Business Management (SBM). He started writing for NYP Portal in 2011 out of interest and was soon "addicted" to it. He has also written book reviews for Straits Times YA Classified. Besides writing, he loves singing and has performed for various events in NYP under NYP Soundcard.

Coming Full Circle: Kelly's Long Journey to NYP

By Kelly Liew, Year 1, Advanced Diploma in Nursing (Midwifery)

Have you ever been asked to give up what you want because of 'what's best for you'? Have you ever felt so strongly about something that you always come back to it, regardless of everything pulling you away from it? When that happens I call it  passion, and that's how I feel about nursing. I have always been passionately attracted to it.

Since I was a child, I always knew that service was my thing. I always smiled at strangers and when I started a part-time job as a departmental store brand promoter during my teens, I knew I loved to serve.

My big dream was to work in an internationally-recognised hotel. But that changed during the year of my 'O' Levels. During an unplanned trip to the hospital, I got a glimpse of nurses in action. I saw nurses carrying out their duties with the same level of service as the guest service officers in hotels. it was at that moment that I realised I wanted to serve with a purpose.

As a child, I wasn't a genius, but I was able to perform well in comparison to my peers. So with nursing in mind, I did my 'O' Levels.

When the results came back, I was determined to come to NYP to start my Diploma in Nursing. However, my parents had some reservations. Out of respect to them, I decided to pursue my 'A' levels instead.

After my 'A' Levels, I was prepared to go into NYP again to study nursing. But my parents wanted me to enrol in a university. Coincidentally, in 2006 NUS started its first cohort of nursing students. I finally felt like I would be able to fulfill my wish of becoming a nurse without having to disobey my parents.

Here I am (first from left) with my pals from NUS.

Studying in the university was fun. But being a nursing student was even more fun. Like the nursing students in NYP, we also had to complete clinical placements in the hospitals. We empathised, smiled and sometimes even cried with our patients. But in general, we were just a bunch of crazy girls passionate about serving our patients.


I graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science (Nursing) with Merit. It was a good year, I spoke proudly at the commencement ceremony as Valedictorian and shortly after, I joined the National University Hospital as a registered nurse.

Speaking at my graduation.

Many would agree that nursing is a difficult career. We face the sick everyday but we have to stay strong because we are our patients' pillar of hope. We need to be skilled enough to help patients while always wearing a smile - no matter how tough the job gets. Everyday can be a struggle. With patients' needs being paramount, we sometimes forget that we too, need to go to the toilet, have our lunch or simply take a break.

A small note, but it means so much.

Don't be mistaken, I don't think it is bad bad to be a nurse. It has many wonderful moments. With all the countless 'thank-you' and hugs I have received , I  have nothing to complain about. Silly as it may sound, but I always find it hard to hold back my tears of joy when I receive words of thanks from my patients. To some, I am just doing my job, to others, I make a world of difference to their lives.

"You think nurses light up patients' lives? No, I would say they light up ours."

I have my fun moments too. I get to take amazing pictures with my patients. You think nurses light up patients' lives? No, I would say they light up ours.

Once I got a chance to act like a pregnant lady to experience how it felt like. I remember my colleagues laughing non-stop at how I looked.

Just as I became comfortable in my new career as a nurse, the idea of coming to NYP popped up again. Maybe it is fate that brought me back to NYP. After all these years, I thought there was no chance for me to come here, but when the hospital offered  me a chance to do my Advanced Diploma in Nursing (Midwifery) in NYP. I readily accepted the offer.

I am now proud to be a 'freshman'. Coming back to a school environment after working for 2.5 years can be challenging but I am certain I will be well taken care here. I've wanted to come here since I was 16 and  9 years later, I still want to be here.

This is my poly, my choice.

After 9 years, here I am, finally in my NYP Nursing uniform :)

Kelly is a first year student, pursing an Advanced Diploma in Nursing (Midwifery), who loves reading and cooking. She also likes to spend time with her friends, engaging in relaxing activities. Her friends describe her as unpredictable, spontaneous and inquisitive.

Journeying with Ms Ng

Ms Dorothy Ng specialises in mental health nursing. She has worked with adolescents and disturbed teenagers and is familiar with the psyche of teenagers. She is a warm and open-hearted lecturer with so much intuition that she can even sense students’ fears and anxiety. 

It is no wonder this caring and affable School of Health Sciences (SHS) lecturer is well loved by her students.

Ms Ng makes her tutorials fun, telling her students to “rock the whole place,” and sit on the floor, and celebrates birthdays and socialises with her students, allowing them to confide in her.

Little do we know she is actually an avid believer of Blooms Taxonomy, a classification of learning domains, and she believes avidly in stimulating the affective, cognitive and psychomotor domains.

Some of Ms Ng’s teaching methods include making her students experience situations instead learning theory. “I make them teach me things, to build up their self-esteem,” she said. “So they feel like I acknowledge their efforts and strength.”

When students are inattentive during her lecturers, she uses reverse psychology and says “No one seems to be listening to me”.  This works as an effective catalyst and her students look up and tell her they are listening immediately. To motivate students who are late for lessons, she gets the class to clap their hands and cheer them whenever they arrive punctually.

Her students care for her as they do for their family, and ask after her well-being when she falls sick.

There was one particular incident in which Ms Ng recounted, where she was involved in a mishap, and was rushed to the hospital.  

Her previous students were working nurses in that very hospital and accompanied her through her ordeal, reassuring her with the words: “Don’t worry teacher, we will take care of you.”

“I was embarrassed when I knew they had to assist me,” she said. “They used to be playful in school but they were so different when nursing me. My students really took care of me as if I was their loved one, very professional and I was so proud of them. They never let NYP down.”

It is incidents like this that make Ms Ng feel proud and motivated to teach. She describes her students as “awesome” and “uniquely different.” We are sure her students, and future students to come, will feel no less different about her.

Ms Dorothy Ng teaches Year 2 nursing students Nursing Skills & Mental Health Nursing. 

My first harrowing experience as a student nurse

The 10,000^th Nursing student may have graduated. But NYP’s Nursing faculty will still continue to inspire and nurture students like Michelle Kok (Year 2), who shares with us how she overcame a harrowing experience during her attachment.

“ I was previously from ITE, and it has shaped me and defined my choices for the future. Currently, studying in NYP is a whole new experience. I gained a deeper understanding of my coursework and attained a new level of progression. I always enjoy learning new things.

During my first semester in Year 2, I was attached to an obstetrics ward. It was a most unforgettable and fruitful experience for me. I reported to the ward like any other day. But that day, I never knew I would experience an adrenaline rush. I was exposed to blood gushing out from a patient right in front of my eyes. We had learnt about this kind of emergency situations in school; the patient had early postpartum haemorrhage. It was a really rare experience for me. We had to apply APIE: Assess, Plan, Implement and Evaluate. Quick action needed, and every second was very precious to us in order to gain control of the patient’s life.

For me, I ensured that the patient’s vital signs are stable and I talked to her to allay her fears. As I’m only a student nurse, I could not administer medication without supervision especially in an emergency situation like this. However, I was very fortunate to be able to observe the other nurses prepare the emergency kit, and the medication/ drip needed to maintain her vitals. The doctors also rushed down to the ward to assess her, doing a sterile procedure for her right on the spot and removed her blood clots. I felt like I was in the ER drama series. The nurses and doctors made me feel I’m part of their team and inspired me with their efficient skills.

As student nurses, we also got to attend to the pre and post-natal mothers and adorable babies, together with the ward staff. We got to learn and apply the new skills that we have learnt in school and also consolidated the nursing skills we have learnt in Year 1.

I will always bear in mind that overcoming difficulties will make me a stronger person. I enjoy all my placements. I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to our lecturers for preparing and coaching us adequately for our attachments. These experiences will help me on my journey to becoming a qualified nurse.

People will tell you how difficult it is to deal with patients, and for example, how gross it is to change a diaper. But basically, we have to bear in mind that everything has dark side and a bright side, just like any job. J“