AS SINGAPORE celebrates Nurses' Day today, let us give recognition to all nurses for their selfless and untiring work caring for the sick and aged in our hospitals, hospices and nursing homes.
We should also be thankful to them for having contributed to the improvement of our nation's health-care standards.
Nurses endure long and irregular hours to provide dedicated care to their patients, sometimes exposing themselves to health risks which may be fatal.
When Singapore was hit by Sars a few years ago, some nurses who tended to Sars patients in hospitals were infected by the virus.
It claimed the lives of two nurses, Madam Hamidah Ismail and Mr Jonnel Pabuyon Pinera.
Let us observe a minute of silence today to pay tribute to them for sacrificing their lives in caring for Sars patients.
We should do more to attract our school-leavers to pursue nursing courses at our polytechnics and to make nursing a career.
As our population is ageing rapidly, we will need more nurses with the relevant skills to care for this group.
We should also domore to ensure that nurses are given due recognition through better staff welfare and promotion schemes.
Senior nurses with excellent track records should also be paid well to prevent them from moving overseas, where job prospects for nurses seem better.
They should also be given a chance to switch careers and become doctors after passing the stringent examinations set by the local medical board.
Let us reaffirm the work and wonderful contributions of our nurses and wish them all a very happy Nurses' Day.
