The Health Ministry has collaborated with the National Institute
of Education to offer a part time Postgraduate Diploma in Higher
Education for Healthcare Professionals.
The programme, to start in April, will provide them with the
knowledge and pedagogical skills to be effective educators.
Announcing this, Director of Medical Services, Professor K
Satkunanatham, says he has also spoken to the directors at the
Nanyang Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education
College to conduct short courses for nurses to equip them with the
knowledge and skills of being an educator.
Encouraging those in the healthcare profession to take up these
courses, he says his vision is to equip nurses with the skills to
teach and guide the student and junior nurses.
In this way, nurses can prepare themselves and their students to
deliver high quality and effective care to their patients.
Professor Satkunanatham was speaking at an international nursing
conference on Advance Nursing Practice.
He says Advanced Practice Nurses, being a new profession in
Singapore, require the support of other healthcare professionals in
order to be successful.
For example, APNs working with family physicians, can manage
nurse-led follow-up clinic services for patients with chronic
diseases.
They can also conduct patient education and counseling sessions
which will include re-enforcement of self-management skills,
emphasis on medication adherence and evaluation of treatment.
Professor Satkunanatham says he is working with the Chairmen
Medical Boards, Chief Nursing Officer's office and Directors of
Nursing to define the role of APNs in Singapore. - CNA