Ms Elena Mohamed Ayob (second from right) receiving the President’s Award for Nurses from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at The Star Gallery on July 19. ST PHOTO SHINTARO TAY
SINGAPORE – Ms Elena Mohamed Ayob’s father wanted her, the eldest of his five children, to become a teacher – a noble profession, particularly for the older people of his generation.
Instead, she studied to be a nurse at Nanyang Polytechnic.
On July 19, Ms Elena, 45, received the President’s Award for Nurses – the highest accolade for the profession in Singapore.
She is one of five nursing leaders who received the award from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam in a ceremony at The Star Gallery.
Ms Elena, a deputy director of nursing at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) where she has been working for the last 26 years, said she was attracted to the profession by the starched white cap nurses used to wear in the 1960s and 1970s.
To her, the cap stood for nurses’ compassion, professionalism and passion to care for others – traits they also inspire in others.
She was disappointed when the caps “were done away with in 1989 after the hospitals were restructured”, she said.
As it turned out, her father, who has since died, was not disappointed with her decision to become a nurse.
“To be fair, my father did not outwardly or violently object to my choice of career. (In fact), as time went on, he did become very proud of my achievements,” Ms Elena told The Straits Times.
In 2021, she assumed the responsibility of overseeing the nursing staff at SGH – a portfolio often viewed as one of the most challenging within the nursing division.
For one thing, the annual attrition rate of nurses across Singapore was a key concern at the time – at SGH, it was 8.1 per cent.
Working with her team and the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ms Elena managed to reduce the attrition by over 30 per cent to 6.7 per cent in 2023.
“One of the things that we focused on for the last few years was ensuring and improving the well-being of the nurses and staff by increasing opportunities for engagement activities,” she said.
“We have a platform for the nurses to raise issues and concerns safely, and for the supervisors and hospital to work on, such as creating an environment where the nurses feel safe to work.”
The platform is “a physical huddle” where nurses discuss incidents that happened in the ward, how to de-escalate them, and what kind of peer support should be given to those involved.
As Ms Elena was co-chair of the hospital’s staff well-being committee, she ramped up the number of engagement sessions for nurses to hear their concerns, guiding them towards resolving the issues on their own where possible.
With this approach, she has inculcated a culture among nurses to speak up and take responsibility for one’s own well-being.
Another recipient of the President’s Award is Ms Doris Koh Sok Hian.
The 50-year-old assistant director of nursing at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) has made an impact on the lives of mental patients and mental healthcare in Singapore.
She was in the first batch of nursing students at Nanyang Polytechnic. When she graduated from the polytechnic as a registered nurse in 1995, she chose to work at IMH despite not knowing much about mental illness.
The initial months were tough as she had to deal with patients with unpredictable behaviour, those who were in denial of their conditions, increased levels of aggression, and others who refused medication.
It made Ms Koh doubt if psychiatric nursing was the right path for her.
“As I was a new graduate, it was definitely a culture shock. There were 48 patients in each ward and I had to remember the medication for each of them. There was a lot of medication,” she said.
“My supervisors and colleagues were very patient, walking me through my duties and providing me with reading materials. It helped me stay in the job.”
She persevered and has been working for the mental health community since.
“When I see patients or caregivers in great distress, my heart goes out to them.
“I know it is not easy for them. So I listen, and try to understand their situation before I find ways to help as much as possible,” she said.
“Sometimes, it could be just listening to them. Sometimes, I provide advice or link them with other services or support from other healthcare providers.”
For many patients, the emergency room is the first time they come into contact with mental health providers. Here, Ms Koh and her team try to make them feel that they are in a safe space, show empathy and provide help without judgment.
“Expressing genuine concern and understanding can help build trust and rapport, making patients and caregivers feel more comfortable and supported,” she added. She noted that mental healthcare professionals need to maintain boundaries so their emotions do not interfere with the clinical judgment.
With over 19 years’ experience in emergency psychiatric nursing, Ms Koh made great contributions in establishing the IMH Neurostimulation Services (NSS), in the areas of process mapping, care redesign and development of educational materials and staff training.
NSS provides electro-convulsive therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation services to patients as short-term treatments for depression, mania, mood swings and schizophrenia.
Ms Koh raised the idea to equip NSS nurses with advanced clinical knowledge by launching a neurostimulation course in 2021 to train nurses from various hospitals.
She has also helped to produce educational videos, develop training curricula and extend training to staff from other institutions implementing similar services.
She, Ms Elena and three other award recipients each received a trophy, a certificate signed by President Tharman and a $10,000 cash prize that can be used for their professional and personal development.
Launched in 2000, the President’s Award for Nurses honours sustained outstanding performance and contributions to patient care delivery, education, research and administration.
The award is open to nurses and midwives from healthcare institutions in the public, private and community care sectors, as well as the educational institutions.
The candidates are nominated by their institutions, public or peers, and interviewed by a panel.
Since the award was inaugurated, there have been 98 recipients, including the latest batch of nurse leaders.
Recipients of the President’s Award For Nurses 2024
- Dr Chan Ee Yuee, deputy director of nursing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital
- Ms Elena Mohamed Ayob, deputy director of nursing, Singapore General Hospital
- Ms Doris Koh Sok Hian, assistant director of nursing, Institute of Mental Health
- Dr Tan Hongyun, assistant director of nursing, Woodlands Health
- Ms Stephanie Yeap Theng Hui, chief nurse, SingHealth Community Hospitals
