Nurses in line for more pay, opportunities

SINGAPORE — Over the next two years, about 23,000 nurses here can expect a 0.5-month special bonus and a salary increase of up to 10 per cent each year, over and above their annual pay increments.

The pay raise will be enjoyed by eligible nurses in public healthcare and Intermediate and Long Term Care (ILTC) institutions supported by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Nurses will also be given more opportunities to advance in their careers and take on bigger responsibilities, as part of a raft of recommendations made by a task force looking into ways to enhance the profession, which has been hit by a severe manpower crunch.

The proposals were all accepted by the MOH yesterday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Nurses’ Merit Award ceremony held at Orchard Hotel, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said efforts to attract and retain nurses must go beyond just salaries and remuneration.

“It is also creating opportunities, making the job more exciting, more fulfilling, more rewarding,” he said.

To that end, the MOH is creating a new Assistant Nurse Clinician role to expose nurses to leadership development and opportunities early on in their career. Nurses will also be empowered to make more decisions, including the authority to make protocol-based diagnoses, investigate certain disease profiles and order treatment. For instance, the ministry will work towards granting experienced senior nurses — such as Advanced Practice Nurses and Nurse Clinicians — the authority to prescribe medication for patients.

The ministry is also loosening the Grade Point Average (GPA) criteria, so that more enrolled nurses, trained at the Institute of Technical Education, will have the opportunity to be upgraded to Registered Nurses as their work experience will now be taken into account. Previously, a GPA of 2.8 was required to enrol in the bridging course. In terms of remuneration, nurses will receive an additional monthly salary increment of between 3 and 10 per cent each year over the next two years, depending on their job grade and current salary. A Nurse Special Payment will also be made in December every year. For this year and next year, the amount is set at 0.5 month of the nurses’ base salary.

The MOH will set aside S$300 million to fund the salary increment and special bonus. The National Nursing Taskforce was set up by the MOH in 2012. It has since received feedback from more than 2,000 nurses.

Noting the increasing demands on nurses as the population ages, Mr Gan said health and care delivery needs to be transformed. Efforts should also focus on preventive health, primary care and the ILTC sector, he added.

“Nurses are at the forefront of this effort to transform our healthcare system through the myriad of roles they play. More nurses will be needed and we must equip them with higher skills and knowledge, and allow them to practise at the top of their licence and lead the change in our healthcare system,” Mr Gan said.