1 Aug 2007
SingHealth Nurses Celebrate Nurses' Day

News Release

Minister turns ‘ice-cream man’ in honour of nurses

About 2,000 SingHealth nurses gather at mega party to celebrate Nurses’ Day with cool treats from Minister

1 August 2007 – Nurses from SingHealth’s 9 healthcare institutions celebrated Nurses’ Day today with a visitor who dished out ice cream treats to his former colleagues at the SingHealth Nurses’ Day Celebration. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports returned to see familiar faces at Outram Campus where he served as Medical Director of the Singapore National Eye Centre till 2000, and then Chief Executive Officer of Singapore General Hospital before he was elected Member of Parliament in 2001 and subsequently appointed to Cabinet.

With a ‘Blast From The Past’ theme, all aspects of the celebrations from the stage performances and food served at stalls were reminiscent of yesteryear. Dr Balakrishnan, a trained ophthalmologist, kicked off the morning’s festivities by visiting nurses at the Accident and Emergency Department, Operating Theatre and ward at SGH. Armed with parcels of snacks and Nurses’ Day gifts, Dr Balakrishnan gave these out to nurses whose duties kept them from attending the celebration party.

Following the hospital visit, Dr Balakrishnan surprised more than 2,000 nurses at the SingHealth Nurses’ Day Celebration party by playing ‘ice-cream man’ for the day – after making a grand entrance pushing an ice-cream cart, he delighted the nurses by dishing out ice cream cones. He was joined by Dr Della Lee, representing the Lee Foundation, which has been a strong supporter of SingHealth’s nursing advancement initiatives over the years.

Together with SingHealth’s Group CEO, Prof Tan Ser Kiat, Dr Balakrishnan then met and gave out hampers to residents from two homes for the aged who were invited by the SingHealth nurses to join the party. This is in keeping with the nurses’ tradition of sharing their annual festivities with the less fortunate.

Highlights of the day’s celebrations included the launch of SingHealth’s new nursing uniforms, which were showcased in a preview fashion parade for guests at the party. Designed with inputs by the nurses, the new uniforms will be rolled out from October this year, outfitting more than 5,000 nurses who work at SingHealth’s 9 healthcare institutions.

A segment of the SingHealth Nurses’ Day Celebrations Party was devoted to recognising the future nursing leaders at SingHealth.

13 nurses from different levels were awarded the Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing Scholarship. The scholarship was established to encourage and support talented SingHealth nurses who want to pursue their academic goals at universities locally and abroad. Of the 13 awardees, 5 nurses will pursue a Masters of Nursing and the other 8 nurses will take their Bachelor degree in Nursing (please see Annex A for more information). Dr Della Lee presented the scholarship awards.

In addition, Dr Balakrishnan presented 13 exemplary nurses from the cluster the SingHealth-Lee Foundation Excellence in Nursing Award. The awards, totaling $26,000 in cash, were given in recognition of their commitment, excellence in work performance and service to patients (please see Annex B for information on the recipients).

The scholarships and awards were made possible by the generous support and donation of the Lee Foundation in support of SingHealth’s efforts to strive for nursing excellence. The Lee Foundation donated more than $10million in 2004 for the establishment of the SingHealth Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing and the SingHealth-Lee Foundation Excellence in Nursing Award.

“We greatly appreciate the strong support the Lee Foundation has given SingHealth nurses to develop professionally. Our nurses are integral to our healthcare delivery system so it is only natural that we value and support them in their goals to continually upgrade their skills and deliver excellent care,” said Professor Tan Ser Kiat, Group CEO of SingHealth. “We are proud of their achievements not only in receiving these peer reviewed awards but also the national recognition they have received garnering the President’s Award for Nurses”.

Special mention was made of this year’s recipients of the President’s Award for Nurses, all from the SingHealth cluster. They are Ms Gwee Pek Hoon, Director of Nursing, SingHealth Polyclinics; Ms Tracy Carol Ayre, Assistant Director of Nursing, Singapore General Hospital; and Ms Elaine Ng, Senior Nurse Clinician, Changi General Hospital.
 

Dr Balakrishnan presented the SingHealth Nursing Debate Award to the team of nurses who won the inter-institution nursing debate. This was particularly apt as many remember Dr Balakrishnan as an active debater in his youth.

Other party highlights included more than 9 food stalls manned by SingHealth’s senior management who served the nurses retro foods such as ‘muah chee’, ‘kueh pie tee’ and ‘laksa lemak’, the SingHelath Talentime Contest and numerous song and dance performances by both doctors and nurses.

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Notes to the Media

For enquiries or more information, please contact Tina Nambiar, Manager, Corporate Communications, SingHealth at DID: 6557 4949

About SingHealth:

SingHealth is the largest healthcare group in Singapore, offering a complete range of multi-disciplinary and integrated medical care. The group consists of 3 Hospitals, 5 National Specialist Centres, and a network of 9 polyclinics. We have a faculty of internationally qualified medical specialists and are also well equipped with advanced diagnostic and treatment medical technology. We are dedicated to providing quality healthcare that is affordable and accessible to our patients. Through clinical excellence, commitment, and collaboration, we aim to be the trusted leader in healthcare for our patients, partners, staff and the community.