The Health Ministry has collaborated with the National Institute of Education to offer a part time Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education for Healthcare Professionals.
The programme, to start in April, will provide them with the knowledge and pedagogical skills to be effective educators.
Announcing this, Director of Medical Services, Professor K Satkunanatham, says he has also spoken to the directors at the Nanyang Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education College to conduct short courses for nurses to equip them with the knowledge and skills of being an educator.
Encouraging those in the healthcare profession to take up these courses, he says his vision is to equip nurses with the skills to teach and guide the student and junior nurses.
In this way, nurses can prepare themselves and their students to deliver high quality and effective care to their patients.
Professor Satkunanatham was speaking at an international nursing conference on Advance Nursing Practice.
He says Advanced Practice Nurses, being a new profession in Singapore, require the support of other healthcare professionals in order to be successful.
For example, APNs working with family physicians, can manage nurse-led follow-up clinic services for patients with chronic diseases.
They can also conduct patient education and counseling sessions which will include re-enforcement of self-management skills, emphasis on medication adherence and evaluation of treatment.
Professor Satkunanatham says he is working with the Chairmen Medical Boards, Chief Nursing Officer's office and Directors of Nursing to define the role of APNs in Singapore. - CNA