Nursing Specialities

Our skilled and knowledgeable nurse clinicians in the Nursing Division provide specialist-nursing service in tandem with the medical advancement and development of each medical specialty to achieve the mission.

Breast Care

Breast cancer is the number one cancer in women in Singapore. Singapore General Hospital sees between 500-600 newly diagnosed cases annually. The Breast Cancer Nurse provides pre-operative counselling upon diagnosis. She is also responsible for a comprehensive rehabilitative program for postoperative patients and is involved in the follow up support services that include advice on external breast prosthesis, reducing the risk of Lymphoedema (arm swelling after surgery). She has a strong network with survivors of breast cancer and meets the support group members regularly.

Community Nursing

Community nursing services in the Southeast region of Singapore are provided by nurses from Singapore General Hospital, stationed in these five Communities of Care: Bukit Merah, Telok Blangah, Chinatown, Tiong Bahru, and Katong.

Diabetes Education

Diabetes Mellitus affects 9% of the adult population in Singapore and the incidence keeps increasing. To ensure success in the treatment of diabetes, patients have to persevere and comply with the treatment plan and lifestyle modifications. The Diabetes Nurse Educators support the services in the Diabetes Centre. They are trained to provide education, counselling and support to patients and their family caregivers, both in the inpatient setting and at the Diabetes Centre. The Diabetes Nurse Educator collaborates with the endocrinologist, physicians, surgeons, dietitians, therapists and pharmacists to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive continuum of care for the patients with diabetes.

The Diabetes Nurse Educator is also responsible for the development, implementation, review and evaluation of guidelines for nurses and patient training.

Geriatric

In Singapore General Hospital there is increasing emphasis on the provision of specialised and holistic care for the geriatric population of patients. The multidisciplinary Geriatric team was formed in 2003. The main aim of this team is to identify the subtle but usually complex medical, social, psychological and emotional issues associated with aging and illness in the elderly.

The Geriatric Nurse is responsible for identifying, planning, developing, implementing and evaluating standards for nursing practice for the older aged patients. The Nurse also develops patient care guides and protocols for early discharge planning and forms the main link between the patient, patients' caregivers and the other members of the multidisciplinary geriatric team in the hospital and the various step down facilities in the community.

Infection Control

Infection Control Nurses (ICN) are members of the hospital infection control team who are concerned with surveillance of nosocomial (hospital acquired) infection and infection control practices. The quality of a hospital is often measured by its overall infection rates. Prevention and control of infections help to reduce the patients' morbidity and mortality as well as occupational hazards of employees. Hence, the Infection Control Nurses play an important role in inculcating infection control consciousness among staff through continuing education programmes and strict compliance to infection control guidelines and practices. They conduct epidemiological investigation of outbreaks of infections and liaise with supporting departments to ensure an effective infection control program for the protection of both staff and patients from nosocomial infections.

Neuroscience

Caring for patients with neurological problems and disabilities requires special knowledge and skills to support the optimal functional level, quality of life, and patient outcomes. Injury or diseases involving the nervous system often have far-reaching effects. The effects are not only physical, but also on the cognitive functions, personality and their behaviour.

The care of neurological patients is usually multidisciplinary. The unique role of a neuroscience nurse is to co-ordinate the different aspects of patient care. In collaboration with other team members, the nurse ensures the safe and efficacious delivery of specialised neuroscience care to the patients.

The Neuroscience Nurse receives referral to attend to patients requiring complex care, discharge planning and preoperative teachings. She co-ordinates a biweekly teaching programme for stroke patients and their families.

Patients and their families need psychological support. Hence the need of support groups for this special group of patients. The Neuroscience Nurse is active in the support groups for neurological conditions.

Nutrition Support

Nurses play a major role in the maintenance of patients' nutritional health. The Nutrition Support Nurse is a member of the Nutrition Support Team comprising gastroenterologists, surgeons, pharmacist and dieticians.

Our nurse conducts daily rounds with the team to see and discuss the nutrition/feeding plan of all patients who are referred to the Nutrition Support Service for management of their nutritional status. The Nutrition Support Nurse also coordinates the follow-up care on the tube feeding regimes, performs feeding tube changes and motivates and guides patients to adapt to changes in lifestyle for better quality of life.

In addition to developing patient care guidelines and protocols on nutrition support, the Nutrition Support Nurse also helps to coordinate and manage the assignment of acute and chronic nutritional access devices, both for enteral and parenteral feeding, and is also responsible for providing education and training to nurses, Allied Health professionals and caregivers.

Orthopaedic

Musculoskeletal conditions rank second overall in frequency and cause of restricted / limited activity, affecting millions of people in the world. The impact of these conditions necessitated the development of the specialty of orthopaedics nursing. As a specialty, orthopaedics is diverse, crossing all age ranges and developmental stages from infancy to geriatrics. Orthopaedic nursing is devoted to the care of patients experiencing musculoskeletal disorders.

The role of an Orthoapedics Nurse is to provide consultation services to nurses and paramedical staff for optimal care delivery to patients of this speciality service. Our nurse is involved in planning, directing, coordinating and evaluating all daily activities related to the care and counselling of orthopaedic surgery patients and their family. The Orthopaedics Nurse also takes on the responsibility to develop and review guidelines and standards of clinical nursing practice to achieve its goal of enhancing quality nursing care.

Oncology

Cancer, which can affect any organ or system in the body now ranks as the highest cause of deaths in Singapore. The diagnosis of cancer can be a devastating experience for the patients and their families as it is often viewed as a death sentence despite the advances in medicine and science, which now give a better prognosis.

The Oncology Nurse is not only a specialist nurse in cancer care, but also a "generalist" as cancer not only affects the diseased organ but also the person and his family caregivers - both emotionally and socially. The Oncology Nurse provides psycho-social support and encouragement for patients and their families during their difficult times, from the time diagnosis is made throughout the treatment phase, and often to the end of life for those with terminal disease.

The Oncology Nurse also acts as a resource person, conducts training and offers clinical consultation for the ward nurses in the care of cancer patients with complex issues. Our nurse also ensures that the patient care protocols and nursing care standards are up-to-date with the rapid advancement in cancer care. In addition to patient care and staff training, the Oncology Nurse also conducts and participates actively in nursing research to propagate continuous improvement in the care of the cancer patient.

Pain Management

Pain is an almost universal after-effect of an injury. In this context, it serves as a warning system. Pain can occur without any discernable trauma or it can continue to persist beyond the period that the actual injury takes to heal. Hence, it has become even more important now for any healthcare institution to provide a well-organised multidisciplinary team collaborating to manage pain. The Pain Management Nurse is an important member of the multidisciplinary pain management team comprising of anesthesiologists, pain specialist, neurologist, surgeons, pharmacist, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, psychologist, psychiatrists, the patient's family caregivers/friends and the patient.

The Pain Management Nurse is the expert nurse and resource person responsible for attending to the urgent referrals for the Pain Service who conducts the initial pain assessment and discusses the management plan with the multidisciplinary team. The Pain Management Nurse is also responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating training programmes for the nurses and paramedical staff, as well as patient education guides.

Rehabilitation

A multidisciplinary team comprising of doctors, nurse clinician, therapists, dietitians and medical social workers manage the Rehabilitation Service in Singapore General Hospital. The goal of rehabilitation is towards optimal functional ability and mobility, enabling a discharge home and reintegration into family and society. The Rehabilitation Nurse plays an integral role of coordinating, collaborating and communicating the operational activities and development of nursing guidelines for the care of the rehabilitation patients.

In addition, the Rehabilitation Nurse also develops, implements and evaluates programmes for staff training and patient teaching.

Renal

The disease management programme for renal patients in Singapore General Hospital aims to detect renal disease early and to retard acceleration from chronic renal failure to end-stage renal failure. The Renal Nurse supports the Renal Medical Team, coordinates and collaborates with other disciplines to manage patients with multiple medical problems efficiently and effectively, to achieve quality care for the patient.

The Renal Nurse trains nurses on the management of patients with renal disease and conducts courses on dialysis therapy.

Rheumatology & Immunology

The SGH Department of Rheumatology and Immunology was established in 2003. The multidisciplinary team comprising of rheumatologist, physicians, nurse and therapists work collaboratively with other specialists to provide up-to-date information and management for patients referred to the team.

The Rheumatology and Immunology Nurse plays a major role in the coordination of care for patients admitted with autoimmune system deficits or connective tissue diseases (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Arthritis, Wegner's granulomatosus, Sjogren's syndrome and many others).

The Rheumatology and Immunology Nurse is responsible for planning, developing, implementing and evaluating patient care guidelines and protocols for the management of rheumato-immunology patients. Our nurse develops and implements training programmes for nurses and paramedical staff and assesses patients for psychosocial and emotional responses to their conditions, counsels them and makes appropriate referrals to the therapists. The Rheumatology and Immunology Nurse also develops and provides education to patients and their caregivers relevant to the disease conditions.

Stomatherapy

The Department of Colorectal Surgery in Singapore General Hospital sees about 600 new cases annually. Approximately 50% of these cases end up with a stoma creation (an artificial opening on the abdomen to act as the rectum for discharging of faecal matter). Having a Stoma can be a daunting experience for anyone who is not fully prepared for the changes as it entails changes in body image, lifestyle and almost every activity.

The Stoma Care Nurse is the main link between the patients and the multidisciplinary team comprising the surgeons, physicians, therapists and patients' caregivers. The Stoma Care Nurse is an active member of the colorectal surgery team, who provides up-to-date and evidence-based information on the nursing management of colorectal patients with a stoma. Our nurse trains ground nurses and other support staff to provide individualised counselling to the newly diagnosed patients with stoma creation, and their caregivers. The Stoma Care Nurse is also the expert nurse with advanced skills in managing the ostomy appliances and is a member of the Ostomy support group and a strong link between the newly diagnosed patients and the support group members.

Vascular

The Vascular Surgery Team at Singapore General Hospital offers a continuum of care for patients with peripheral arterial and venous disease. There is a growing need to educate our aging population to be aware of the complications arising from chronic diseases that may lead to avoidable amputation of limbs.

The Vascular Nurse provides nursing expertise in the management of patients who are referred to the Vascular Surgery Team. Some of these vascular problems include abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral vascular disease, venous insufficiency, vascular access for haemodialysis and arterial or venous lower limb ulcerations.

The Vascular Nurse is responsible for the development of patient education guides, nurses' training programmes, patient care guidelines and standards of practice. The Vascular Nurse works independently and intradependently with other members of the health care team including her supervisors.