Non-medical Care Services Provided by Nurses to Patients

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Health (a) whether nurses are required as part of their job scopes to provide services beyond medical care to patients; (b) if so, what training is provided to nurses to do so; and (c) whether nurses are appraised based on the quality of such non-medical care services provided.

The model of nursing care differs between jurisdictions. In Singapore, our nurses develop competencies that empower them to lead in team-based practices, as well as to work in extended settings beyond ward-based care and into the community, where they are increasingly adopting trans-disciplinary roles which expand their scope of work to preventive and rehabilitative care.

Senior nurses like nurse clinicians also conduct case management and care coordination to help integrate care services across settings, such as from acute hospitals to the community. Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) can perform collaborative prescribing and other expanded clinician roles. Finally, nurses take on expanded roles in education and research, which go beyond direct patient care.

Nurses are appraised holistically based on their different responsibilities within the local model of nursing care.