How to Build a Successful Nursing Career Path

Jobstreet content team – updated on 10 March, 2022

Being in a nurse career path is more than a career. It’s a vocation. According to a 2020 study in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing written by Gek Phin Chua of Cancer Education and Information Service (Research and Data), National Cancer Centre Singapore, nurses not only comprise the largest proportion of healthcare workers in Singapore, but they are also the only health providers who are available 24/7 for patients.

Though difficult, it is a rewarding job that requires not just medical expertise but also astute emotional and social skills. Do you think you have what it takes to be a nurse? Learn more about becoming a nurse in Singapore.

What does a nurse do?

Nurses are primarily responsible for the entire patient experience, so there is no doubt that it is one of the most important professions in public healthcare. They are tasked to deliver high-quality and full care towards patients as they prepare them for treatment and recovery.

Being a nurse requires using your mind and your heart; the job employs a mix of critical thinking and compassion. Nurses must be able to conduct physical exams and evaluations and assess patient conditions, as well as make judgments based on their subjective experiences with an individual’s needs.

Gone are the days when nurses were merely seen as physicians’ assistants. In Singapore, nurses play an important part in collaborative healthcare, bringing their own unique capacities that improve a patient’s healthcare journey. According to the Singapore Nursing Board, these are some of the tasks that nurses are responsible for:

Obtaining and recording patients’ medical histories

A patient’s medical history is how doctors get a picture of said patient’s health. It is a key component in assessing a patient and designing the best-quality care that would result in optimised outcomes.

Performing physical exams that help determine critical decisions

Nurses may also perform certain physical exams depending on the patient’s symptoms. This allows them to help evaluate a patient’s condition and subsequent courses of action.

Writing nursing care plans for patients and ensuring these are followed

A nursing care plan is a formal process that outlines a patient’s health needs and treatment goals. It includes the patient’s health assessment, medical results, diagnostic reports, expected client outcomes, nursing interventions, and evaluation. A comprehensive care plan enables proper direction and continuity of patient care and provides detailed documentation of a patient’s record.

Administering medications, treatments, wound care, and monitoring them for possible reactions

Nurses need to be well-trained in specific care management skills that are imperative to a patient’s overall treatment and recovery. These include administering the right and proper medication; being knowledgeable of contraindications, adverse effects, and drug allergies; providing timely and effective wound care that facilitates optimal healing; and implementing measures to prevent infection.

Providing support and counsel for families and communities

Families and communities are crucial to a patient’s overall care or recovery. Nurses, for example, talk to the patient’s relatives to prescribe treatment and recovery instructions upon checkout.

Nurses may also work in communities where healthcare isn’t as accessible. Though this is unusual in Singapore, nurses are known to provide direct care to clients and patients within their own environments. More than nursing, this type of community nurses launch education programmes about health, teaching communities things from managing chronic diseases and preventing sexually transmitted infections to providing mental health and grief support.

Salary Range

While many nurses work for hospitals or clinics, they can also be employed in other facilities such as schools, companies, private homes, assisted facilities, and more.

A nurse’s salary depends on the length of their experience. An entry-level nurse with less than a year of experience may expect an average monthly pay of S$2,750, according to the JobStreet Salary Report 2020. Meanwhile, nurses working in junior positions can expect to receive a monthly salary of S$3,576.

Senior nurses earn an average monthly compensation of S$3,990, while nurse managers receive S$4,868 each month. Senior nurse managers take home an average monthly pay of S$7,429.

What is the career path of a nurse?

In Singapore, nurses can take on any of these four paths : clinical nursing, management, education, or research. These career tracks further shape the skills and competencies a nurse must hone, in addition to their chosen speciality. There are a number of nursing roles and positions available for nurses of all career stages under these tracks.

Clinical Nursing Track

Nurse clinicians are tasked to provide holistic and comprehensive care to patients and their families, based on their specialised discipline. You will be in charge of managing patients’ acute and chronic illnesses, planning and implementing treatment plans, and assisting in the training of nurses and other healthcare staff.

Nursing Research Track

Nursing graduates who are passionate about advancing breakthroughs in the fields of nursing and healthcare through research may consider becoming nurse researchers. Nurse researchers champion facilitate research efforts of nurses with the appropriate healthcare partners.

Nursing Education Track

If teaching and imparting insights strike a chord with you, you may pursue the Nursing Education track. A nurse educator is in charge of training new nurses, creating and implementing training programmes in healthcare institutions. Nurse educators may also consider careers in academia.

Nursing Management Track

Nurses who excel in management and possess leadership skills may want to consider the Nursing Management track. You are tasked with shaping your team’s professional and personal development, as well as creating a good working environment. You will handle manpower sourcing, planning and retention, job evaluations, and policy review.

What requirements do you need to become a nurse?

Required skills

Registered nurses may choose to specialise in one of several nursing specialisations, learning and applying skills specific to this speciality. Some of these fields according to the Ministry of Health include:

Community Health
Emergency
Critical Care
Medical-Surgical
Perioperative
Ear, Nose and Throat
Paediatrics
Gerontology
Mental Health
Oncology
Palliative Care
Nephro-Urology
Neuroscience
Ophthalmology
Orthopaedics
Perianaesthesia

Generally, nurses are expected to possess clinical skills, as they deal with and care for patients’ lives each day. These skills are usually learnt through a professional nursing programme, and would include some of the following:

Patient care
Telemetry
Telemetry and monitoring vital signs
Documenting patient condition and medical histories
Creating, implementing, and evaluating nursing care plans
Pain management
IV therapy

Other skills

While clinical skills are an absolute must, there are essential soft skills a nurse must also have in order to effectively deliver on holistic health and quality patient care. After all, nursing is a calling â€“â€“ and there are those who possess these excellent skills that help them stand out in providing the best support to their patients.

Critical thinking

In dealing with various patient cases, nurses will have to make quick judgments in complex scenarios. Critical thinking is important when it comes to analysing the best solution to a situation.

Staying calm under pressure

Nurses working in palliative care or emergency rooms will likely be dealing with urgent, high-stress situations. In these scenarios, it pays to be calm and make sound decisions even under serious time pressure.

Communication skills

Whether it is coordinating with another health department, discussing matters with their fellow nurses, or explaining treatments with the patient, nurses will need solid communication skills. These communication skills especially come in handy when providing individualised care to patients. This allows patients to understand the method and rationale behind their treatment and care plans, and fosters confidence, security, and love that aid in their recovery.

Empathy

Compassion and empathy is vital to a nurse’s role. While it is important to know how to assess patients’ conditions, it is a nurse’s responsibility to ensure the highest quality of care for each patient at all times, despite the stressful nature of the job. Being able to empathise and relate to patients and their kin results in a successful, collaborative effort in upholding the best possible healthcare practices.

Educational background

Aspiring nurses may choose between two routes: either as an Enrolled Nurse or a Registered Nurse.

How to become a Registered Nurse

Registered nurses are trained to handle more responsibility and a more complex level of patient care compared to enrolled nurses. These include creating comprehensive patient assessments, designing a nursing care plan, and collaborating with other healthcare providers in order to deliver better outcomes for the patient. RNs can also take on leadership, management, and research roles, and they are trained to solve problems.

Several institutions offer degree programmes and diploma courses for those who want to become an RN. To become a registered nurse, students will have to obtain either a Diploma in Nursing or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. A typical bachelor’s degree will take 3 years to complete, while an Honours degree will take 4 years.

How to become an Enrolled Nurse

Enrolled nurses typically assist registered nurses in providing holistic care towards patients. Those who want to become an enrolled nurse will have to undergo a two-year NITEC course in Nursing. This includes a 15-month-long full-time training programme at ITE College East, as well as a nine-month supervised clinical attachment practice at healthcare institutions. Enrolled nurses are expected to learn how to assist in administering medication, perform certain nursing procedures and treatment orders, and how to communicate effectively with patients and teach them self-care methods.

Required certification and training

After graduating from approved institutions, you will need to take the SNB Licensure Exam. Passing the Licensure Exam gets you registered in the Singapore Nursing Board. To start practising as a nurse, however, you will first need to obtain a valid SNB Practising Certificate to be able to work as an enrolled nurse or registered nurse in Singapore.

Nurses who have not practised the profession for a continuous period of five years to 10 years will have to attend a three-month refresher course called the Return-to-Nursing (RTN) programme before they can work as nurses again.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, nurses who have been out of practice for more than five years but less than 15 years will need to attend the Back to Nursing Practice (BNP) course instead. This is an emergency response course designed to update nurses’ training so they can effectively support the pandemic response. Instead of a three-month refresher, nurses will attend a four-week course at ITE College East for ENs or Nanyang Polytechnic for RNs. This will be followed by a six-month competency assessment period with your employer.

How to write a nurse resume?

A nursing resume must be able to highlight your relevant education experience, additional training and courses, as well as the essential skills that you can bring to the table.

Download this Nurse resume HERE.

Get More Career Insights from JobStreet

Interested in getting employed as a nurse? Update your JobStreet profile and start looking for #JobsThatMatter. For more expert insights on how to succeed in the healthcare field, visit our Career Resources page.

Want to find out more about what jobseekers like you look for in a job? Download the 2021 Decoding Global Talent report today.

More from this category: Finding the job for you