I came from NJC! Spent 6 years there in the Integrated Programme. The IP gave me a LOT of opportunities to pursue things outside of the general curriculum, since we didn’t have to revise and “slave” for O Levels. Out of the many opportunities I had, I pursued more scientific ones: advanced science classes, research projects at labs in school, NUS YLLSoM, and A*STAR.
Growing up, I didn’t really know what I wanted to be. It jumped from forensic scientist to astrophysicist to teaching to astronaut or whatever. In Sec 4, however, while doing a research project at YLLSoM, there was this realization that I wanted to remain in this field. For whatever reason, I set my heart on Medicine.
The “calling” for this field came even clearer one time when in JC, when I administered CPR to an old lady at her house before the paramedics arrived. My head was extremely clear, and the only thought in my mind was to save her life. It was a turning point for me I guess, since at that moment, I knew that I had the potential to be a good doctor. To make sound, rational decisions, and do what is necessary for the best outcome for the patient. The calling and the passion was there.
Why am I in Nursing then? Long story short: I was so busy enjoying my other commitments like CCA and putting my heart and soul into my research project (where I developed a biosensor that helps detect organ failure faster!), that I neglected my A-Level preparation. After scoring well academically from Sec 1-4, after doing so well in my research.. I felt extremely ashamed of my acads in JC, especially my A Levels. I scored very poorly, not allowing me to apply to the course that I set my heart on.
Nonetheless, I knew I wanted to be in healthcare, not just in Science. This is where Nursing came in.
I applied for Nursing, despite my own and others’ reservations. Stigma-wise, I did receive some: a doctor that I was working for after A Levels advised me not to take Nursing, and to just do Engineering or Science before postgrad medicine. I got where she was coming from, and I personally was worried too.
It wasn’t until I started uni and went for full-blown clinicals that I had a thorough understanding of how extremely important nurses are in hospitals. Nurses are really the backbone of hospitals and they would cease to function without them. We are the ones who are with the patients most of the time, and are the first and last line of defence against medical errors. My initial perspective towards Nursing was completely overhauled.
And now, there is no other course I’d rather be doing. You never know what the future holds, but right now, I’m happy where I am. I am on full scholarship and consistently on the Dean’s List (top 5% of the cohort) every semester.
I can understand how daunting it can be – especially since you’re signing up for a specialized course/professional degree where you know exactly what you’ll be at the end – a nurse. This is a field that I am head-over-heels in love with – and I’m just really happy that I’ll be able to contribute in whatever way I can, one way or another.
The main differences would be the pay, how fast you get promoted, and your job scopes! For the pay, the difference would be around $800-1000 monthly, depending on the hospital.
With a degree, you will come out as staff nurse I, and with a diploma, you will come out with staff nurse II (I is higher than II). Staff nurse I is only one position away from senior staff nurse.
As for starting pay, degree holders earn about $3,500 a month, which is the same as Pharmacy degree holders. From government employment data from last year, Life Science degrees/Arts degree holders earn only about $3100-3300 a month on average.
References here: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/more-poly-graduates-employed-six-months-after-graduation-with-12261278 and this https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/education/post-secondary/files/web-publication-nus-ges-2018.pdf
Know this: doctors cure, nurses care.
Everything we learn is geared towards our roles. While doctors learn much, much more in-depth stuff to pinpoint what the dysfunction in the body is, nurses learn just enough so that we are able to catch any potential mistakes. For example, sometimes medication is mistakenly ordered when patients have drug allergies, or when patients have other conditions that are contraindicated (when you can’t give a certain drug for a patient with a certain condition) for that drug. Nurses play a big role in knowing the general science to prevent such fatal mistakes.
The short answer: Medicine delves deep, deep, and wide, while nurses generally just learn the basics, good enough to catch mistakes but not deep enough to the point that we are able to treat diseases with multiple complications (for example)!
Also, when a patient walks in with a limp, a doctor will zoom straight into the condition. For example: which meds can I give or surgery can I do to cure this patient? If the same patient walks into the room, nurses will look at the patient and family. He is limping, how will I help him up the bed? How will this affect his job? His family? Does he have children? What will the side effects of the meds/surgery be? Will he be able to cope?
Nurses are usually dubbed as jack of all trades. We can wear many hats in one single shift – one moment you can be educating a patient how to take care of their surgery wound at home, and the next moment you can be trying to calm down a patient’s relative who is turning aggressive. Some things we do are not even supposedly in the job scope – but it’s part and parcel of what nurses do.
So ask yourself, which role do you want to play?
A Levels 2019
10th percentile: CCD/B
90th percentile: AAA/A
Polytechnic GPA 2019
10th percentile: 3.33/4.0
90th percentile: 3.86/4.0
Not for everyone. Usually, the interviews are only done for people with RP near the cut-off point, to prove that you are not joining nursing purely because you can’t apply to any other course with your grades. This will weed out people who have absolutely no passion or no idea about nursing. There are people who get in with lower RP than the IGP, but if you really want to get into Nursing, please put Nursing as your 1st choice as that is a factor too.
The format is somewhat like a panel interview lasting 15-30min, with 1 or 2 faculty members as your interviewers. Be prepared but do not memorize a script. Just think through the usual interview questions and some of these additional questions below. (I came up with these questions; it is in no way supposed to be representative of what the school will definitely ask. This can be used for any interview/personal statement.)
Prepare for these questions:
There are 2 kinds of “scholarships” – one is the MOH Scholarship and the other is called hospital sponsorship. There is also financial help available from NUS and Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies(ALCNS) itself. Please refer to the NUS/ALCNS website for more information.
Know that you don’t need to decide whether you want to take a scholarship now. Many people go for clinicals in different hospitals to see which hospital they want to get sponsored by after 1 or 2 years.
MOH Scholarship
The MOH Scholarship pays for your tuition fees, hostel fees, and provides a book and computer allowance. It gives you $1,100 a month (given on a 6-monthly basis)!
Hospital Sponsorships
Hospital sponsorships, on the other hand, gives you $1,000 a month!
First 2 Years
Generally, for the first 2 years, we focus on learning the different body systems, how they function (Anatomy & Physiology) and dysfunction (Pathophysiology), coupled with each condition’s nursing management and hands-on skills. Interesting modules will also be taught such as effective communication, how to be culturally sensitive in a clinical setting, basic psychology for nurses, mental health nursing, and even ethics and law.
3rd year
The 3rd (and final year for most) will focus more on gearing us for eventual practice in the clinical setting with modules tackling leadership and community health. Finally, we will embark on a 3-month final clinical placement to emulate the real pace and nature of work, ensuring that we are competent to practice as registered nurses upon completion.
For people who can and choose to finish with an Honours degree, they embark on a year-long research project usually in their area of interest. Faculty staff members and hospital staff will act as mentors for these projects. Some examples of research projects can be found here: https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/nursing/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/Project-list-AY2018-19.pdf
If you have an honours degree, the basic monthly starting pay for some hospitals are different: it may vary between $50-100 according the the annual graduate employment survey here: https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/education/post-secondary/files/web-publication-nus-ges-2018.pdf
Some overseas Masters/PhD programmes require either an honours degree (directly) or a normal bachelor’s degree with at least a few years of clinical experience, and some hospitals/employers may view an honours degree more favourably in terms of salary and/or career progression!
Here is the complete information here on the NUS Nursing website, subject to changes every year: https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/nursing/education/bachelor-of-science-nursing-bachelor-of-science-nursing-honours/academic-information/
Fun! We have fake FULL wards in school where we learn all the nursing skills, practise on mannequins that can breathe, have pulses, and so on. We also have these people called standardized patients who are trained actors for us to practice our communication skills. They act like real patients with real symptoms and real family issues!
There are people in Nursing who haven’t done bio since Secondary 1/2, and from Poly who did non-science courses such as International Business or Mass Communication.
The kind of biology that we learn is different from H2 Bio. H2 Bio deals with the very minute things like oxidative phosphorylation, ETC, Krebs cycle, all the small molecules and that kind of stuff. However, we deal with humans here. Nursing doesn’t delve into the very minute things like molecules and stuff, so no worries.
We deal with human anatomy and physiology, the human body and how it dysfunctions. The anatomy and physiology mods are pretty similar to secondary school biology class – you learn about the heart and how the blood flows in general, as well as how it dysfunctions. However, we don’t delve too deep into the molecules at all – that’s for the medical students to do. But yes, there will be a LOT of medical terms, and you have to be ready for that if you join nursing or any healthcare-related field, honestly.
Just like learning a new language, the bio content in nursing is like that. Once you learn the alphabets and the phonetics, you can start stringing words together.
It’s hard at first, but once you get the hang of it, it will come naturally 🙂
You are required/allowed to take a minimum of 2 (for a bachelor’s degree) or 3 (for an honours degree) unrestricted elective modules outside of the faculty for the duration that you are in NUS. That means that you can take almost any module of your liking, like French, Astronomy, Forensic Science, Drama, Philosophy, etc. This allows us to explore our interests outside the nursing curriculum.
Our school is only around 3 – 4 days a week, with only 2 to 4 hours of lessons each day. Plenty of time to work or have CCAs. Additionally, some lectures are video lectures – that means you can watch at home at the pace you want! But of course, there are e-lectures to watch and tutorials to do and textbooks to read, so it’s not like you won’t have to do much studying outside those 2-4hrs/day. But if you manage your time well, it’s alright!
Also, do note that NUS Nursing students (and all other nursing students in the country) are very special. You have clinical placements! For every university holiday, half of it will be spent in the wards (eg if 3 months break, 1.5 months in the wards). But you will be reimbursed (paid) for the whole duration of placements!
All teaching staff in ALCNS are previously doctors, nurses or pharmacists (for pharmacology). Usually, our heavily science-based modules are taught by previous doctors (e.g. Anatomy and Physiology, Pathophysiology), whereas more nursing-based modules are taught by previous or current nurses. This honestly helps a lot as our lecturers and tutors have past experiences in the clinical world, and are therefore better able to relate what they teach to the clinical setting.
There are exchange programmes available. ALCNS partners with several universities in different countries worldwide for student exchange programmes. Some countries include: Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, Indonesia and Korea!
The exchange programmes may occur during school time or vacation time, and usually lasts 1-4 weeks. The selection process is through application and is based on the student’s own merit (academic achievement and portfolio, contributions to the school).
During nursing school we have cadaveric sessions: this means that you get to see real, preserved human bodies and you are required to touch and observe them, texture and all, during those anatomy sessions. They don’t look like normal fresh organs anymore – you can search up “science cadavers” to see what they look like!
As for blood, generally you have to be alright with the sight of it as your first lab session will already have a finger-prick glucose test that you do on your friend (and vice versa). During clinicals, you will be exposed to wounds that may be huge and bleeding, so you have to be okay with it. I do have some friends in nursing and medicine who are afraid of blood and needles and things like that – but you can get used to it, through repeated exposure.
As a real nurse: You have to be alright with these sights as there of course may be some instances when the patient vomits blood/starts bleeding from somewhere and you have to manage the patient. If you are scared of blood and get posted to the operating theatre as an OT nurse, then you will be assisting doctors in surgeries where you WILL see these. I suggest you try to watch some youtube videos to see if you can take it. Do know that you can get used to it! The bottom-line is, you can’t be afraid of your own job!
Truthfully, for where I am right now, this time of my life feels perfect. I can’t imagine myself in any other field except healthcare. I can’t say that I’ve always wanted healthcare, BUT what I do know is that I enjoy it, I look forward to it every day, and in all humbleness, I’m really, really freaking good at it.
Through attachments, I learn my strengths and areas for improvement. I learn to be more confident in myself and also to have faith in others. I learn not just nursing, but humanistic nursing, the act of healing and caring all in one. I’m still honing that nurse’s eye – I have a long way to go but am learning so much from every nurse that I meet.
Feels surreal that I’ll graduate in 1 year too. Some of my closest friends are doing mostly Medicine/Archi/intense engineering and most of them are taking 5 to 6 year courses. So this feels a little scary, being the first one to have to “adult”. I haven’t decided whether or not I wanna do honors, but what I do know is that regardless of when I graduate, I’ll be having the time of my life working.
The ex-chairman of A*STAR told us before that scientists don’t have work life balance. They should aim to have work life alignment. And honestly? I’m experiencing that here in this line of work. Everyday I go to work, I’m living the dream. My thirst for scientific knowledge is quenched (with supplementary googling and watching surgery videos), my thirst to educate patients and talk and talk is quenched by sneakily injecting chitchat sessions whenever I answer callbells/do admission/discharges/physical assessment.
It’s still premature to say what my future plans are, but oh, how much I’m loving it. What a pleasant, pleasant feeling being somewhere you both enjoy and excel in.
You go in as a staff nurse (which is more senior than staff nurse II, Enrolled Nurses, healthcare attendants, etc.), and the implication is that you will usually be the main person in charge of a cubicle. This means being in charge of around 4-8 patients at any given time, updating the family members, doctors and other healthcare professionals.
DO WE JUST WASH BUTTS? I love this question about the stigma surrounding nurses. Okay, anyway, the seemingly “dirty” jobs like cleaning butts and bathing patients and changing diapers MAY not be done (or are not usually done) by staff nurses – it is usually done by nursing aides/nursing assistants/enrolled nurses.
The staff nurses’ main roles are as follows:
For dispensing medication, you will be the last check between the doctor’s orders and the patient. Some doctors may order the wrong dose or wrong medication due to fatigue – the onus is on you to check whether the drug is appropriate for the patient (some drugs for heart failure cannot be used for diabetic patients etc.).
You are THE EYES. You’re in charge of the patient’s assessment – skin integrity, making sure that the patient is well during the hospital stay in general. We spend the most time with patients – hence, we are the perfect people to see any subtle changes in their conditions. This includes, but isn’t limited to: side effects of medication, psychological state, family/patient concerns. All these subtle changes, if needed, should be immediately escalated to the doctor for further treatment.
As for patient and family education, we spend the most time with patients. Doctors are only there for about 5 minutes a day, hence any questions will be directed at you. For example: “Nurse! Why does my father have an IV drip?” – You’ll then have to explain that it’s because he needs to be hydrated as he cannot take anything by mouth before surgery, and so on.
Sometimes, staff nurses may get assigned (or just have to do) the “cleaning” duties due to reasons such as understaffing or assessment of skin integrity. That’s honestly good, to remain competent with basic nursing care of the patients such as helping with activities of daily living (bathing, toileting, etc).
Nursing is actually one of the highest paid degrees in the market.
As mentioned earlier, refer here: https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/education/post-secondary/files/web-publication-nus-ges-2018.pdf
There are 3 different tracks that nurses can pursue after a basic bachelor’s degree. After working for about maybe 1-3 years, you can take an Advanced Diploma or Master’s degree then pursue one of the 3 tracks.
These tracks are: management, clinical and education tracks.
For management, you would be in charge of the ward, the staff, troubleshooting patient staff probs, patient patient probs, staff staff problems etc, admin stuff.
As for the clinical track, you will be called an Advanced Practice Nurse, and kind of like a “mini doctor”. If you didn’t know, some clinics in the polyclinics are PURELY run by nurses alone – they can manage diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and prescribe meds (you must take an extra course) without doctors. The only thing they cannot do will be surgery.
For the education track, you might come back to the Nursing Polys/NUS/SIT to teach.
Occasionally, some people do two tracks: clinical and education, for example. This is called a joint appointment! So please, let your parents know that degree nursing is really not about washing butts anymore! 🙂
Can refer to: https://www.moh.gov.sg/hpp/nurses/career-practices/CareerNPracticesDetails/nursing-careers
I think different countries and different schools have different niche areas that they focus on. For example, we import a lot of nurses from other Asian countries – firstly because they are extremely good with their skills while the labour cost is cheaper as compared to Poly/NUS/SIT Nursing graduates from Singapore. The Singapore nursing schools (Poly/SIT and especially NUS Nursing) are trying to produce nursing leaders for Singapore’s future. Hence on top of hands-on skills, the focus will be on cultivating the ability to lead the healthcare team that they are part of – because indeed, as a fresh grad, you are already in the same position as foreign nurses who may have already have years of experience and more.
There’s also a flip side. In other parts of the world, that is. Nursing in the US, UK, Australia, from what I’ve heard, have much more autonomy than nurses here in Singapore – they are generally able to do more. If I’m not wrong, they are called Nurse Practitioners there, similar to our Advanced Practice Nurses in Singapore – with much more autonomy in prescribing meds/doing procedures, etc. (you can search to find out more about it). Generally, their pay is higher also – but that may be due to the fact that the standard of living is much higher there as well.
I think one thing you should ask yourself is, do you want to serve your home country? If yes, you have to settle for the pay here. On top of that, how do you want to serve your country? An overseas nursing degree, like any overseas course, will offer you insights that you can hopefully translate back to the clinical setting here in Singapore. However, getting a local degree will ensure that you are the most up to date when it comes to the Singapore healthcare system and its current issues.
The bottom line is, it’s up to you, and depends on what is most important to you 🙂
I haven’t personally experienced it as a nurse, since I haven’t been in the wards long enough. However, I will answer based on my personal experience (when my grandma passed away), as well as my conversations with other nurses/healthcare professionals.
Give yourself time to grieve. We are all humans, with real emotions and feelings. While many years of being in healthcare may get you used to people dying/being struck with fatal illnesses every day, someday, you may still encounter a patient whom you may get too attached to – and the unthinkable happens. Please, take the time to grieve and reflect. Talk to people who understand. See the bigger picture. I once performed CPR on an elderly lady (not in the hospital – at her house), and she passed on a few days later in the hospital. Though it may seem tragic, since it’s a death after all, I know that she’s in a better place now. She does not have to suffer the complexities of her diseases or any broken ribs due to the CPR, if ever.
Remember not to be too hard on yourself. Sometimes you may feel that it’s your fault, for not checking on the patient enough, for missing out the signs. It’s alright. Everybody makes mistakes and we all learn from them.
This is not completely a “Why NOT Nursing,” but if there’s anything that made me want to turn away from Nursing, it’s mostly these that I gathered from conversations in the wards.
You will inevitably get attached to some patients, especially if you work as a community hospital nurse where patients there stay for 3 months or more (as compared to acute hospitals where they stay for only 3-4 days). As a result, you have to be prepared for deaths because everybody dies eventually. While doing that, try not to get too desensitized to the point that you lose your humanity. However, it is a privilege to be there with people in their last breaths.
Sick people are angry people, and their relatives are sometimes angry too. Be mentally prepared to be scolded and criticized (but rest assured the law protects healthcare workers from physical and verbal abuse). But still. On the other hand however, the satisfaction is worth it when they show gratitude after recovery 🙂
Nursing is an extremely tiring job, physically and emotionally. Be prepared to work long hours with limited time for your own needs such as food or even simply toileting. While it is my intention to elevate the profession of nursing by addressing the stigma surrounding it, I do not intend to over-glorify the profession and give everyone the false hope that nursing is very fun and easy. It takes real guts and strength to be a nurse, and you should only join if you think you are up for the challenge to learn and push yourself.
The Faculty of Medicine (Medicine and Nursing) has a lot of student-initiated CIP, both locally and overseas. You can join many things, from conducting free basic health checks in the neighbourhood, to volunteering with patients with dementia at a community hospital, to teaching basic first aid and english lessons to kids overseas – there really are a lot of opportunities for us to give back to the community.
Furthermore, you get to work with the medical students too as most of these projects are jointly planned and executed by both nursing and medicine students.
Similar to “student council” in secondary/JC, you can join the Nursing Subclub, Mednurse Club or SNASC to champion your peers’ causes and hopefully make a difference in their lives and in the profession of nursing. Other leadership opportunities include: leading CIPs, organizing freshmen orientation, nurses’ day etc..
For those not sure/still considering Nursing:
Find out more about the profession. Pinpoint what you are curious or worried about, and ask current nurses/nursing students. Go for nursing attachments or volunteer in hospitals and observe what nurses do. That will give you a good idea whether nursing is a total no-no for you, or something that you think will be very satisfying.
Also know that the face of nursing is changing already. It isn’t about assisting doctors only, or washing butts only, or whatever. It’s about being the patient’s voice. The doctors’ eyes and ears. You have a say in the direction of the treatment, since you’re the one seeing the patient 24/7. You are the one who can see or feel subtle changes in their condition. The responsibility is very, very heavy.
Also, don’t ever ever think that nursing is easy. It’s not a profession you should pursue just because you flunked Os or A Levels. If you come in with the mindset that it’s easy – YOU WILL SUFFER. So, think again. Passion is one of the most important motivators for this profession.
For those sure about nursing:
I’m so happy for you. Thank you for choosing Nursing. The journey will be extremely hard and arduous. Academically, it is content-heavy, you have to be thick-skinned and find opportunities during clinicals, and when you finally become a nurse after uni: that’s when real life begins. You’d then have to deal with work politics and nasty patient relatives and uncooperative patients etc.
But you’d find it so, extremely, fulfilling. Especially if you are in a ward or specialty that you truly love.
You’d see cute little babies being born to parents who have tried to have a baby for many years.
You’d see a very sickly ahma come into your ward, and a few days later, the same ahma will be smiling, hugging, and thanking you for taking care of her.
You’d see relatives who are initially angsty, but after reassuring them, they’d apologize and bring you chocolates and snacks to get you through your shift.
You’d have an ahgong pass away during your shift, but his children will come back a few days or weeks later to thank you for taking care of their dear ahgong in his final days.
Your colleagues will be your best confidantes, and you will share your deepest secrets with them.
You’d trudge back home after a long and tiring shift without lunch and toilet break, but you’d remember the smiles and lives you saved.
You’d look back and realize that there’s really no place you’d rather be.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the interviewees and do not reflect the official policy or position of any institution. They are also not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, class, individual or organisation.
The information contained in this website is intended to provide general guidance only. It should not be relied upon as professional advice and does not 100% guarantee admission into any course.
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