This is the speech that I gave in July 2005. I was told that my speech had motivated some of the audiences to choose nursing as their second career. I am say that I have no intension to deceive them as the speech was written at the time when I have really strong feeling for this career.

Unfortunately, with the injury sustained during the work, of course with no compensations and sympathies, I found myself drifted away from nursing. Although it had been a history for me now, but I am still disappointmented with the whole nursing thing here. I also feel sorry for those nurses who have been treated unfairly by their superiors and also sad that to observe that no matter how hard the nurses had try, nursing are still not perceived as a profession by many. I sincerely hope that this will change with the new NUS graduates nurses coming into this industry. Keep my finger crossed as I really not able to see that it will happen soon.

My two cents worth.

On July 2005, in the hospital auditorium:

Good afternoon,

Mr. Ng, Chief Human Resource Officer,

Directors of Nursing,

Ladies and gentlemen.

It is indeed my greatest honor to be given this opportunity to share my experiences with you.

Men that are nurses are NOT “doctor wannabes” or people who couldn’t get into a medical school; we must all get this straight: we are not failures! The fact that we chose this as our next career is because we dare to be different. Each of us is unique and we have our own noble reasons for choosing Nursing as our new career. I studied nursing because I believe that I have a lot to offer.

I had been working in the Information Technology Industry for 10 years. Although I get immense satisfaction in doing well in IT but deep inside me, I felt empty. I was contemplating a career switch but had no idea of what directions to take.

In my spare time as a licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, I find that I enjoy treating the sick, as well as improving the health of those who came to see me. I felt that I had not equipped myself with the adequate knowledge about Western medicine. I wanted to be more knowledgeable about the different aspects of treatments available, so as to be able to help the sick better.

With God’s grace, I came to know about the new Accelerated Diploma in Nursing under the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme. This was the opportunity for me to be immersed in the healthcare, so I decided to choose nursing as my next profession.

The first hurdle that I needed to overcome was to get a sponsor. I was quite pessimistic about getting one because of my age. Very fortunately, NUH and Alexandra Hospital had made me an offer. From the bottom of my heart, I am very grateful to them because at almost 40, most of the institutions would not be interested to invest in me. This is evidenced by the fact that most of my classmates are in their early thirties.

During my training stint with NYP, the biggest issue I encountered was not the number of subjects that I had to study in each semester. A lot of time was wasted tackling internal group conflicts during discussions. However, I have learnt how to agree to disagree and ways of thinking win-win. Also, my greatest satisfaction as a student was when I found more time to communicate and interact with patients. I was also happy to be able to nurse the ill back to health and render support to patients and their families.

The Accelerated Diploma in Nursing has equipped me with a basic foundation in nursing. Although, the knowledge and skills enabled me to embark on my nursing career, there are a lot of operational issues that I need to learn on the job.

I realized that beyond the facts and figures that I have learnt, I needed to have the extra 6th sense. I had to be able to pre-empt things that may go wrong and be able to react to the situations STAT. We are not superior to the young graduates but I guess the experiences that we have under our belts do give us some advantage. Other than that, all of us have garnered similar knowledge in NYP.

Very recently, I was confronted by a patient demanding Pethidine or Marijuana injections. I explained to him that such drugs need to be prescribed by Doctors. He blew up and challenged me to give him an injection immediate if I were really a Staff Nurse. I went on to explain that I could give him the prescribed oral analgesic and only at the time stated in the inpatient medical record. He then threatened to punch me. I calmly and assertively told him to calm down as his behavior would disturb the rest of the patients in the ward. I then told him that I believe that his frozen shoulder was hurting him badly and suggested that his attending Doctor to come down and see him immediately. After listening to my explanation, he became less agitated and returned to his bed. As I have experienced confrontational scenario before in my work previously, I am able to manage them better.

When you graduated as a Staff Nurse, be prepared for the six-day work week and three rotating shifts. Do not expect red carpet treatment when you start work. You will not be automatically on a faster career track. You would not get any extra respect from your colleagues just because you are older. You have to work as a team to earn your respect. There are eyes watching your every move closely. You are expected to be able to manage and contain awkward situations. In addition, you will also be bombarded by stress.

Learn as much as possible during the clinical attachments in the hospitals. Open you hearts and minds; get yourselves immersed in the nursing culture. These are good opportunities for you to test your beliefs about choosing nursing as your next career. Ask when you are in doubt and follow the protocols that are already in place and not to deviate from the norm. Eat your humble pie and prepare to work hard. Please be thankful to the Staff Nurses who are willing to teach you. They have to put in extra energy and time to teach you on top of their routine duties.

You should keep in mind that nursing is a physically and at times emotionally demanding job. The workload can be pretty heavy. Each day, we are thriving on working in an intense atmosphere and most of us here are swimming very hard to stay afloat. We have to put in extra hours to finish the paper work and on top of that, we have to chalk up 80 to 100 hours of training per year. Although this may seem long, most of us think that such training is essential for us to acquire more skills.

After spending 2 months working as a Staff Nurse, I realize that I am in the progress of writing a colorful chapter in my life. I have embarked on a rewarding journey and have learnt to keep my chin up. This is a great profession, and I will not let any negativity get to me.

Making the mid-career switch to the healthcare sector is never easy for most of you here. You must do it for the right reasons and from within your hearts, because only then will you enjoy working with and helping people.

I wish you every success in your new career and hope that you will continue nursing for more years to come.

Thank you.