Male nurse Nidu Maran Shanmugam not only cares for patients, he also does research that helps to improve their lives

THREE months into his pre-university accountancy course, Mr Nidu Maran Shanmugam decided that crunching numbers was not for him.

After quitting the course, he was not sure what he wanted out of a career. But he was certain that he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.

Flipping through the Ministry of Education’s Joint Admission Exercise booklet, the nursing course caught his attention. By then the applications were already closed. He tried his luck anyway and appealed to enrol in the Diploma in Nursing course at Nanyang Polytechnic. He was placed on the waiting list and later accepted for admission.

Touching lives
Says Mr Nidu Maran, who works in the Orthopaedic Surgery Department at the Singapore General Hospital: “People often think of nursing as a female occupation. Fortunately, more males are  taking up nursing now and there are less stereotypes.”

He hopes other male nurses will encourage more men to take up the profession.

“The nursing profession has given me the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. It’s also a profession that will always be in demand. Nurses are versatile because the work that they do requires a wide range of skills.

“As a nurse, I get to deal with people from all walks of life when they are unwell and anxious. It takes a lot out of you. It builds character and has made me a better person.”

Working with patients who have undergone orthopaedic surgery is especially demanding. These patients are often in pain after their surgery. He gets them on the road to recovery by helping them with their post-operative care, such as pain management.

“My greatest reward is to see them walk out of the hospital and back to their normal lives,” he says.

“It’s especially challenging when it comes to patients who need an amputation. I try my best to help the patients and their loved ones to come to terms with having their limbs amputated.

“I make the time for them to talk through their fears, their sense of loss and how they are going to cope after the amputation. I provide them with a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on.”

Mr Nidu Maran often goes to the homes of bedridden or wheelchair-bound patients to help them dress their wounds for free. As an active member of the amputee support group, he organises outings for them from time to time. He also assists the Indian community by providing first-aid for events such as Thaipusam.

Best practices
On top of doing his rounds in the wards to check on patients — finding out how they are doing,
counselling and guiding them about post-operative care and updating their family members about the patients’ conditions — he finds the time for research as well.

“It’s my special interest and passion for research and finding new evidence by conducting systematic reviews,” he says.

One of his studies was on the administration of medication prior to surgery to reduce postoperative pain. It was presented at the Canadian Orthopaedics Nursing Conference. The findings of his study resulted in a new practice of giving medication to patients before they undergo spinal surgeries. Patients now report less pain after their operations.

Another of his research subjects — to reduce fasting time for elective surgical patients — won the best systematic review at the Evidence Based Practice Seminar organised by SGH last year. The findings have been implemented and now not all patients need to fast for long periods before undergoing surgery.

Room for growth
Mr Nidu Maran sees a bright future for himself. He is in the midst of his internship as an Advance
Practice Nurse. After that, he intends to pursue a doctorate in nursing.

“There are few careers as diverse and satisfying as nursing. There’s so much room for career
development. You can choose to be an administrator if you prefer management work, you can be a researcher if you have a curious nature, or you can be an Advance Practice Nurse if you prefer to be in clinical areas.

“If you want to teach, you can be an educator at the hospitals, polytechnics and university. If you are IT-savvy and a computer geek, you can opt to do nursing informatics. I can’t think of any other job which touches so many lives in the course of your career,” he says.