President's Award for Nurses 2024

PRESIDENT'S AWARD FOR NURSES 2024

Five nurses were conferred the President's Award for Nurses this year. They received their award from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at an award ceremony and reception this afternoon. This brings the total number of recipients since the inception of the award in 2000, to 98.

2. The highest accolade in Singapore's nursing profession, the President's Award for Nurses recognises nurses who have shown sustained outstanding performance and contributions to patient care delivery, education, research and administration.

3. This year's award recipients are:

4. Each awardee received a trophy, a certificate signed by President Tharman and a $10,000 cash prize that can be used for their professional and personal development. More information on the award recipients is in the Annex.

5. The national award is open to nurses and midwives from healthcare institutions in the public, private and community care sectors, as well as educational institutions. The nominees were nominated by their institutions, public or peers, and interviewed by a panel chaired by Dr Tan Wu Meng, Chairman of the Health Government Parliamentary Committee.

Annex

Dr Chan Ee Yuee 程依瑜
Deputy Director of Nursing
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Age: 57

Ee Yuee is the Deputy Director of Nursing and Head of the Nursing Implementation, Translation and Research Office at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). She also serves as an adjunct faculty at the Alice Lee Centre of Nursing Studies.

Ee Yuee was the first nurse in Singapore to be sponsored for a Masters degree in Health Research Methodology (Clinical Epidemiology) at the prestigious McMaster University. She was also the first nurse awardee as the principal investigator of the National Healthcare Group Research Support Scheme and National Innovation Challenge Grant. She has a comprehensive track record of impactful scholarly work, including 42 peer-reviewed publications, 16 competitive awards in research and innovation, and more than $10 million in competitive grants received for research and innovation. Her research has resulted in clinical care transformation, leading to better health outcomes. An example is her research on oral decontamination which led to a change in oral care practice in intensive care units to reduce the risk of patients developing ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Over the last decade, Ee Yuee led ground-breaking research to better understand the situation of caregivers in Singapore, resulting in her caregiving support initiative Project Carer Matters, Singapore's first nurse-led hospital-to-home framework of care to support patient-caregiver dyads at home. Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, the framework provided valuable support to family caregivers struggling to manage the needs of their loved ones at home, with the provision of tele-support and coaching from a team of caregiver support nurses. This is now being implemented in the inpatient wards at TTSH and has benefitted over 700 caregivers and their loved ones.

She is now leading a team to strengthen the caregiving ecosystem through Project Carer Matters 2, supported by MOH's National Innovation Challenge. Over the past two years, her team has developed a caregiver-centric mobile application, to be launched in 2025.

She possesses an unwavering vision to develop the research capability within the TTSH nursing community to advance the level of research literacy and evidence-based practice. Her single-minded desire is to build the nursing research pipeline and develop the nurse clinician scientist hybrid track to attract and retain talent that will allow nurses to expand their job scopes beyond traditional nursing roles. She conceptualised and pioneered the hybrid Nurse Clinician-Scientist career track in TTSH. Moving beyond the traditional realms of research methodology alone, she also pioneered the move towards new fields of science, building a pool of nurses to be trained in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science to enhance capabilities for interpreting and applying data insights to improve nursing care.

Ms Elena Binte Mohamed Ayob

Deputy Director of Nursing

Singapore General Hospital

Age: 45

Elena demonstrated exceptional leadership, in the face of the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. She led multiple teams of nurses in managing the Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) wards, navigating the complexities of COVID-related policies, and successfully converting general wards into ARI wards to meet the nation's demands for surveillance. Her guidance and support were instrumental in these efforts. Elena's leadership prowess was further evident in her pivotal role in setting up the COVID-19 vaccination service at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), where she led a team of nurses and spearheaded the development of policies and workflows to ensure the safe delivery of vaccines to staff and patients.

In her current role as Nursing Manpower in-charge, Elena has been instrumental in recruitment and hiring strategies, as well as implementing retention initiatives to support the well-being of nurses and care staff. Her collaborative efforts have resulted in increased hiring efforts and sponsorship awards, contributing to a decreasing attrition rate within the nursing team.

In her role as co-chair of the SGH Well-Being Council, Elena strategised initiatives to enhance staff well-being, including the setup of wellness enclaves, the installation of vending machines offering F&B at highly subsidised rates, the implementation of animal-assisted interaction programs and propagating a campaign titled Get Rid of Stupid Stuff (GROSS) to improve work processes for staff. Her commitment to staff well-being was further demonstrated through her leadership of the Nursing Peer Supporter (PS) program, where she has significantly expanded the number of Nursing PS and continuously supports them through huddles with Medical Social Services.

Elena's dedication to mentorship and professional development is evident through her role as a mentor in various programs, including the SGH Mentoring Programme and the Clinical Mentoring Programme for newly promoted Nurse Clinicians. Her guidance and mentorship have been instrumental in the professional growth and success of numerous nurse leaders across SGH. Recently in February 2024, Elena was nominated by the Chief Executive Officer of SGH to be a mentor in a group mentoring programme, Peer Circles, where Elena mentors nine Medical Heads of Department in SGH.

Furthermore, Elena's national-level contributions as the workgroup lead for MOH Job Redesign Efforts for the Inpatient Support Care Staff (SCS) underscore her commitment to improving hiring and retention of SCS on a national scale. Her efforts in harmonising job scope, nationalising training curriculum, and developing an extended Career Development Pathway for SCS have been pivotal in enhancing the attractiveness of the role for locals and augmenting nursing care in clinical areas.

Ms Doris Koh Sok Hian 许淑娟

Assistant Director of Nursing

Institute of Mental Health

Age: 50

A 29-year veteran in psychiatric nursing with over 19 years of experience in emergency and crisis care, Doris is a familiar face and steadfast presence on the front line at Institute of Mental Health's (IMH) Emergency Services. Her strong leadership, compassion and willingness to go the extra mile have had a profound impact on the lives of patients facing emotional and psychological distress.

Various initiatives have been introduced under Doris' guidance to provide a nurturing and safe environment at the Emergency Services, which caters to patients in acute mental health crisis. These include putting in place protocols for assessing and triaging patients so that those with high risk and needs are prioritised for urgent psychiatric care, as well as establishing an Observation Ward to provide short-term crisis intervention for patients who might not require ward admission. Doris places great emphasis on making her patients feel comfortable. She often walks around to check in on patients, and provides snacks and ready-to-eat meals to those who need them.

With her strong interpersonal and organisational skills, Doris played a key role in establishing IMH's Neurostimulation Service. She was involved in process mapping, care redesign, staff training and the development of educational materials.

When the repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation service was established in IMH in 2016, Doris identified and trained a team of nurses to handle the treatment protocol, which uses magnetic pulses to treat patients with treatment-resistant depression. As the role was typically performed by clinicians, the nurses were initially hesitant to take it on. Doris helped to boost their confidence and overcome their reservations by developing and providing specialised skills-upgrading programmes.

Doris' impact was also felt in IMH's Community Mental Health Nursing from 2017 to the present. She led the implementation of the Omaha system in IMH, enhanced the competency framework of community mental health nurses to aid in skills development, and established community nursing training programmes. She also designed the COVID-19 pandemic workflow for community nurses in IMH to better respond to patient needs while adhering to strict infection control measures.

A firm believer in continuous learning and empowerment, Doris imparts her knowledge to ground staff through various platforms such as Journal Club sharing, mentoring and training. Her strong operational knowledge and commitment to excellence have led her to produce educational videos, develop training curriculums, and extend training to staff from other institutions that are implementing similar services.

Dr Tan Hongyun 谭鸿韵

Assistant Director of Nursing

Woodlands Health

Age: 44

Graduating with a nursing diploma in China in 2000, Hongyun commenced her career at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in 2002, where her keen interest in geriatric nursing began to flourish. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to teaching, and in 2014, she was accredited as an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN), solidifying her expertise in geriatric care.

As a geriatric APN, Dr Tan has garnered respect from local and international nurses, as well as doctors for her expertise in managing geriatric conditions and frailty care. Her influence extends to her work with the multidisciplinary team at Woodlands Health (WH), where she has played a pivotal role in innovating the Acute Frailty Unit and APN geriatric consultation service.

Dr Tan's impact extends beyond clinical practice, as she has been instrumental in developing the Ageing-sensitive Nursing Care for Health-system OldeR adults (ANCHOR) programme, a comprehensive five-tiered training programme at WH that caters to nurses, therapists and ancillary staff.

Her confident and accurate diagnosis, as well as management of geriatric conditions, have significantly influenced junior staff, inspiring them to pursue careers in geriatric care. Dr Tan's leadership in leading the local geriatric nursing community of practice and voluntary service at the first COVID-19 Treatment Facility in Tampines during the COVID-19 pandemic further exemplify her commitment to advancing patient care and safety.

Her resilience and positive outlook have been evident in her leadership roles, such as her assignment as a nurse lead, which led to the successful opening of the Community ward in WH. Dr Tan's exceptional interpersonal and communication skills have earned her respect from various stakeholders in healthcare settings, making her a trusted advisor sought for guidance on clinical issues and projects by ward nurses.

In addition to her clinical expertise, Dr Tan's commitment to lifelong learning and professional development is evident in her academic achievements and contributions to nursing research, service development and quality improvement. Her active involvement in research studies and her role in mentoring novice nurses in research methodology and data analysis reflect her dedication to advancing nursing knowledge and practice.

Dr Tan's impact extends to her involvement in national healthcare initiatives, such as her contributions to MOH workgroups and her role in initiating the Singapore Geriatric Nursing Conference along with nurses across other institutions.  

Ms Yeap Theng Hui Stephanie 叶婷惠

Chief Nurse

SingHealth Community Hospitals

Age: 54

Stephanie's remarkable nursing career spanning over two decades at SingHealth took an exciting turn in 2017, when she joined the pioneering leadership team to establish SingHealth Community Hospitals (SCH). As Chief Nurse of SCH, Stephanie played a pivotal role in setting up and overseeing nursing services, standards and operations across three community hospitals, including two new community hospitals. She is in charge of all aspects of nursing development, from infrastructure and regulatory compliance to manpower, policy guidelines and workflows.

In SCH's early years, Stephanie also took on additional roles as the institution's inaugural Chief Risk Officer and Chairperson for the Infection Prevention and Control Committee. As Chief Risk Officer, she developed SCH's Enterprise Risk Management Framework, fostering a culture of risk awareness and accountability to ensure the highest standards of safety and quality in healthcare delivery. Her proactive approach and meticulous attention to detail and clear-sighted leadership were crucial in safeguarding SCH and its patients, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beyond her clinical competencies, Stephanie's empathetic leadership style, discerning approach to challenges and natural ability to connect with others instilled confidence and trust among her colleagues, fostering a collaborative environment where ideas flourished within and beyond SCH.

An example is the Self-Administered Medication programme. This is a novel approach developed by Stephanie and her team to shift away from the traditional model of patient care by fostering a sense of autonomy and responsibility in patients, leading to better health outcomes and adherence to medication regimens post-discharge. Through the facilitation and support of Stephanie, nurses at SCH also participated in a collaborative effort alongside university students, harnessing the utilisation of robots and other advanced technologies to predict and prevent potential fall incidents among patients. Stephanie's leadership and the engagement of SCH nurses were instrumental in exploring innovative approaches to improve patient care and outcomes.

Stephanie not only guided teams to success but also fostered a culture of staff engagement and a growth mindset in SCH. Her dedication to continuous professional development to build nursing capability and capacity has benefited many SCH nurses and support care staff, with more planning to receive advanced training in the pipeline. She also spearheaded initiatives to improve the work environment for nurses, including optimising shift hours and advocating for flexible work arrangements to support the various life stages and academic advancement aspirations of nurses, while ensuring operational efficiency and quality of care.