At 8.30pm one night, while finishing
up her shift, Li Zhen received a call
from her patient’s daughter asking for
help to administer an injection. The
patient had been discharged earlier in
the day and the nurses had already gone
through the steps of administering the
injection with the daughter, but she was
still not confident about doing it.
Li Zhen headed over to the patient’s
house after work and patiently went
through each step with the daughter
again, making sure she understood the
procedure completely before she left.
Helping patients at their homes after
working hours is not uncommon for Li
Zhen. “It is important for nurses to step
into their patients’ shoes and see things
from their perspective in order to relieve
their anxieties and resolve their issues,”
said Li Zhen.
She brings this philosophy into the
Basic Care Assistant (BCA) training
programme at the Singapore General
Hospital, which she pioneered in 2016
to train new BCAs with no nursing
background to help with patients’ daily
needs.
She had to tailor her training and
communication technique to suit
participants from diverse backgrounds;
from housewives with no working
experience to university graduates.
She was heartened that some BCAs
eventually went on to pursue nursing
education or take up other patient
service roles in the healthcare sector.
“Besides helping to improve patients’
care experience, BCAs have been a
tremendous help to nurses as they can
perform simpler patient care tasks. I’m
proud that my training programme,
which combines simulation training
and on-the-job training, has groomed
14 batches of competent BCAs who are
able to lighten the load of the nurses,”
she said.
Li Zhen also strongly encourages
nurses who are not proficient in the
English language to join the SingHealth
Toastmasters’ Club, where she is the
president.
“The club gives nurses and healthcare
staff a platform to develop their public
speaking skills and provides continuous
evaluation and feedback in a supportive
environment. This will instill greater
confidence in them to express their
ideas in their daily work,” she said.
Ye Li Zhen
Nurse Clinician
Ward 58 - General Surgery
Singapore General Hospital
Recipient of the Singapore Health Quality Service Awards (SHQSA) 2020 Superstar Award - Nursing Category
