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By Linette Lai, The Straits Times

WHEN Ms Pauline Tan first joined health care 36 years ago, she was just an enrolled nurse - the lowest tier in the profession.

But next month, she will become Yishun Community Hospital's first chief executive, and the first nurse to attain such a high post.

Her new appointment is like a homecoming of sorts, after seven years as the Health Ministry's chief nursing officer.

At the ministry, she was involved in making the broad strokes of policy, which was "a whole different ball game" from the work she had done in both public and private hospitals previously.

"In one, you are fighting fire on a day-to-day basis; you are managing emergencies on the go," said the 54-year-old.

"Whereas up there, you have to do forward planning, think ahead, pre-empt and so on. It is two different worlds."

Her challenge - and proudest achievement - was bringing both worlds together.

Under her watch, the National Nursing Taskforce was set up in 2012 to chart the course of the profession. Its recommendations - including pay rises, broader job scopes and better career progression - were formally accepted by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong earlier this year.

Ms Tan also championed the Return to Nursing initiative, which seeks to attract former nurses back to the workforce.

For her efforts to advance the profession, she was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2011 by her alma mater, La Trobe University in Australia.

But she is not one to rest on her laurels.

Ms Tan has big plans for the new 428-bed Yishun Community Hospital, which will provide intermediate care for recovering patients who do not require the intensive care services of an acute care hospital.

Beyond just getting the hospital ready for its official opening at the end of next year, she wants the hospital to get involved in the community before people become patients there.

"We don't want to do what has been done all the while," she said.

Said Mr Liak Teng Lit, group chief executive of Alexandra Health System, which will oversee the new hospital: "Health care of the future will be totally different, and we need people like (Ms Tan) who are both very grounded and exposed to different ideas from all around."

Her previous post of chief nursing officer will be filled by Ms Tan Soh Chin, who was formerly director of nursing at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

Ms Pauline Tan advises young nurses to make use of all the opportunities they can. "Before, to climb to the top, you would really have to work very, very hard," she said. "Now, it is all there for you to take and run with."

linettel@sph.com.sg

Source: The Straits Times Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission.