A Presidential Achievement

​

Congratulations to our Chief Nurse, Ms Stephanie Yeap, for being accorded the distinguished President's Award for Nurses 2024 – the highest accolade in Singapore's nursing profession! 

We sat down with Stephanie who shared with us her nursing journey of over 30 years.


When I was a junior nurse…
"I was fortunate to be blessed with good mentors and colleagues since the start of my career. When I first entered the work force as a junior nurse, there were 10 of us who were from the same batch working in the same ward. As we were a small department then, our nursing officer was the preceptor (a senior nurse who buddies and teaches new nurses how to manage and care for patients) for all 10 of us – it's usually a 1-1 ratio! She gave us a 5-day orientation which prepared us well.

As some of us were staying in the same hostel too, we gathered for reflection sessions after work regularly to share with one another our learnings and experiences. This had helped us greatly as junior nurses, to enhance the provision of care for our patients."

 
My encounter with SARS (as a newly minted nursing supervisor)
"When SARS hit Singapore, I recall being the first in my ward to be quarantined after coming into direct contact with a SARS patient. Soon after, a few patients in my ward started to exhibit SARS symptoms. The whole neurological ward, including all patients and care team members, had to be transferred to another acute hospital.

Having completed my quarantine, I was handed the mammoth task of restarting the provision of care and service of the neurological ward together with a few of my colleagues, as more focused care was needed for this group of patients. With SARS being an unknown disease at that time, everyone was filled with anxiety and fear.

I felt the same fear and anxiety myself, on top of the uncertainty that I was already feeling, as I was only less than a year into my new role as a nursing supervisor. However, I pulled myself together and put my apprehension aside to rally the team, acknowledge their concerns and encourage everyone to press on. With good teamwork, we eventually overcame all challenges and managed to restart the service in the ward smoothly for our patients."


Setting up SingHealth Community Hospitals (SCH)
"After more than two decades at the acute hospital, my nursing career took an exciting turn when I was approached by my supervisor to be part of a pioneer team spearheading the formation of SingHealth Community Hospitals – Singapore's first cluster of community hospitals.

It was a good learning opportunity and an enriching experience working with the SCH leadership team. Besides the great team dynamics we had when setting up SCH, it has also been an amazing journey growing the SCH nursing domain, starting from one nurse (myself) to a team of over 900 nurses today!

Of course, I could not have done this alone. I am most grateful to my team of very committed nursing supervisors and educators who have helped me build the SCH Nursing team."


A memorable patient
"I once cared for a patient who had a rare neurological condition. Although she was only in her 40s, she became disabled due to her condition and had been abandoned by her family. She seemed to be quite lonely during her stay in the hospital.

One day, I walked over to this patient to ask her what she would like to eat. She mentioned siew mai (a Chinese dumpling made of ground pork), which I proceeded to buy for her from the hospital's food court. Till this day, I can still remember how her face lit up the moment she saw the siew mai!

I also got a new name that day. As she had difficulty pronouncing my name, she said 'Thank you, Tampines (instead of Stephanie)', and started calling me Tampines whenever she saw me in the ward. Because of this encounter, I would always turn my head when I hear someone say the word Tampines!"


My advice to young and aspiring nurses
"We need not do big things to have great impact on our patients. Sometimes it just takes small gestures, some kindness and some mindfulness, to make a difference to our patients' experience."