Nursing

All prospective healthcare students must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with a vaccine regime recognised in Singapore. Those who are medically-ineligible will be subject to prevailing MOH and healthcare institutions’ guidelines. Those who are medically eligible and choose to remain unvaccinated may not be able to access the healthcare and community care settings to complete their clinical posting and meet the clinical training requirement necessary for graduation.

As the delivery of direct patient care is a requisite of healthcare professions, all applicants to pre-registration/ pre-enrolment nursing programmes must pass a medical examination and be certified to have the following abilities to perform patient care activities in a safe and effective manner:

Mental-Cognitive ability (including interpersonal-communication ability and behavioural stability) to:

• understand and respond to verbal communication accurately, appropriately and in a timely manner.
• possess awareness of one's surroundings to avoid causing harm to oneself and others
• demonstrate emotional stability to function under stress and pressure when performing care on patients
• remain calm when being observed by instructors and other health care personnel during clinical practice attachments
• maintain a sufficient level of concentration to complete tasks in a safe and reasonable time frame
• recall relevant information
• demonstrate the ability to perform arithmetic calculations

Physical ability to:

• move around in the clinical environment, walk, stand, bend, squat, kneel, reach, lift, climb, push and pull, carry objects, use both arms
• perform patient transfers
• operate and carry instruments, materials and equipment independently
• perform the necessary sequences of hand-eye coordination to carry out clinical procedures
• have the physical stamina to complete clinical shifts, including rotating shifts

Auditory ability to:

• detect faint body sounds (e.g. blood pressure, heart, bowel, lung sounds using a stethoscope)
• hear different types of auditory alarms and alerts (e.g. patient monitors, call bells, infusion pumps).
• hear and understand normal speaking level sounds in both quiet and noisy environments (e.g. person-to-person report, patient conversations, team communications)

Visual ability to:

• detect changes in physical appearance, colour and contour
• read medication/drug labels, markings on syringes, printed and written documents, coloured digital readings on medical/clinical devices and electronic health records accurately
• assess and describe colour, consistency and volume of bodily discharge and fluids

The above required abilities are stipulated in consultation with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, and nursing schools (National University of Singapore/ Singapore Institute of Technology/ Nanyang Polytechnic/ Ngee Ann Polytechnic/ Institute of Technical Education), to ensure nursing students are fit to complete all components of the nursing programme and thereafter to apply for registration/ enrolment to practise upon graduation from the nursing programme.

Should applicants have any of the following conditions that may affect their ability to meet the mental-cognitive, physical, auditory, or visual requirements outlined above, please contact the nursing school for further information. Where applicable, the nursing school will advise or assist with regard to the necessary adjustments to support students with declared condition(s) to access the nursing programme while adhering to necessary requirements and standards.

• 'Physical health condition' includes (a) chronic medical illnesses or dermatological conditions (e.g. uncontrolled epilepsy, uncontrolled asthma, active tuberculosis, uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, severe eczema on hands) which if associated with an exacerbation or with organ dysfunction complications, may hinder the applicant's ability to provide appropriate and safe clinical care, as well as (b) health conditions or its sequelae which restrict the applicant's subsequent ability to engage in safe clinical practice.
• 'Mental health conditions' refers to a range of conditions which are diagnosed and treated by a registered psychiatrist, and which may affect the decision-making ability of the applicant and compromise the well-being and safety of his patients/clients. These could include anxiety disorders, mood disorders (e.g. depressive and bipolar disorders), psychotic disorders (e.g. schizophrenia), neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. intellectual development disorder, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), as well as addictions.
• 'Other health conditions' refers to other conditions which may compromise the ability of the applicant to assess relevant information in order to formulate a management plan for his patient/client. This may include miscellaneous conditions for example dyslexia and other learning disorders, colour blindness or other conditions compromising the function of the applicant's visual and auditory senses.