SINGAPORE : The first batch of mid-career executives have joined
Singapore's nursing ranks.
A total of 49 of them graduated on Tuesday after pursuing a
two-year accelerated nursing diploma course at Nanyang
Polytechnic.
They received help from the Strategic Manpower Conversion
Programme, an initiative by the Workforce Development Agency, as
part of efforts to ease the shortage of nurses in the
industry.
Ms Wong Yoke Ping, 38, started out with a Business degree.
And after a stable 12-year career, she made a bold switch with a
pay cut to become a nurse.
Her interest began when she cared for her cancer-stricken mother
some 15 years ago.
She is now working in the Geriatrics Ward at Changi General
Hospital.
Ms Wong said: "The smile from my patients, the reward itself is you
see them well and they actually walk out of the hospital
door."
Training for Ms Wong and her classmates was fully funded by the
Workforce Development Agency and hospitals.
They also received an allowance during training, while their
employers get wage support for the first three months.
There have been five intakes of over 300 mid-career professionals
in nursing since April 2003.
And there are plans to expand the programme to other areas in the
healthcare industry.
Goh Eng Ghee, Assistant Chief Executive of Workforce Development
Agency, said they were currently discussing with the Ministry of
Health to look beyond nursing, for example, in therapy areas.
There are currently over 19,000 nurses in Singapore - 77 per cent
of whom are Singaporeans.
The next intake is in January 2006. All applications must be
submitted online to WDA (www.wda.gov.sg) by August 19.
A Career Preview will be held on August 6 from 9.30am to 1pm for
those interested to join the nursing profession and the SMCP
(Healthcare). - CNA/de