More nurses deployed at nursing homes under NUHS-MWS initiative

SINGAPORE — To strengthen the capabilities of nurses working in nursing homes and to ease the manpower crunch in the healthcare sector, the National University Health System (NUHS) will be kicking off a partnership programme in late November with Methodist Welfare Services (MWS), in which it sends full-time staff nurses to the nursing homes run by the charity.

The collaboration is aimed at helping nursing homes attract more nurses to join them with the training provided by the deployed nurses, and to alleviate the bed crunch that hospitals are experiencing.

The demand for nursing care is set to increase as one in eight Singaporeans are aged 65 and above, and this proportion is expected to double to one in four by 2030.

For the first phase of this Regional Health System Manpower Partnership, in late November, about five staff nurses from NUHS will be sent to work with the 18 staff nurses at Bethany Methodist Nursing Home.

They will share their knowledge and experience in an acute care setting with the nurses at the home, as well as improve capabilities in dementia care, infection control and fall prevention.

The deployment will also enable the facility to improve its productivity in management and to meet the enhanced nursing homes standards that the Health Ministry enforced with effect from this April.

The home’s nursing manager, Ms Winnie Tan, 58, said: “At times when occupancy is full, running the wards can be difficult due to manpower constraints.

“(The programme helps) to alleviate the situation. And with the sharing of experiences and knowledge, and the transfer of skills, there are better outcomes and quality of care for the residents.”

A professional physiotherapist will also be sent to the nursing home to improve its physiotherapy capabilities. It has just six allied health staff members, including physiotherapist aides, at present.

The collaboration will last two years, after which it will be evaluated for feasibility, for instance, by looking at the number of re-admissions from nursing homes to hospitals, and the number of rejected referrals for transfers to nursing homes.

Through the programme, NUHS aims to get insights into the long-term care sector, to prepare outgoing NUH patients for their transfers to nursing homes with the relevant information and care plans.

Adjunct Associate Professor Joe Sim, deputy chief executive of NUHS, said that the programme would hopefully improve the current mindset about nursing homes being a “black hole” career option for nurses.

With the five extra nurses serving as mentors for junior nurses, they can help to promote a career in a nursing home setting as a more attractive and fulfilling place.

Dr Tan Xin Quan, deputy head at the intermediate and long-term care unit at NUHS, said that the number of staff members sent to work with MWS would not impact their daily care delivery.

The programme will be extended to the charity’s new nursing home, which will start operations next July.