| Nursing
with a heart |
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SSN
Selvarani takes the time to listen
and understand
her patients. |
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For Senior Staff
Nurse (SSN) Selvarani Singaram, her interest in
nursing began when she joined the St. John’s Ambulance
Brigade uniform group in her secondary school days.
But she only truly fell in love with the profession
when she started work as a psychiatric nurse at
the Institute of Mental Health (IMH)/Woodbridge
Hospital. She is now into her 15th year at IMH.
For SSN Selvarani, learning is a lifelong journey.
She has a health science (nursing) degree from the
Singapore Institute of Management, in addition to
the Advanced Diploma in Mental Health Nursing from
Nanyang Polytechnic. She was also awarded the Health
Manpower Development Programme scholarship in Rehabilitation
Psychiatry.
Despite the fact that she was a fully qualified
nurse when she decided to further her studies, SSN
Selvarani pursued and obtained her degree, all the
while balancing the demands of family and work.
Working with the mentally ill is often not the choice
field of profession for many nurses. SSN Selvarani
was no different.
She started out as an assistant nurse at the neonatal
intensive care unit of Kedang Kerbau Hospital. She
then went for training to become a staff nurse.
When she completed the training, she was informed
that she would be posted to Woodbridge Hospital
as a psychiatric nurse. She reluctantly took up
the posting as she needed the job stability, having
just started a family.
Back then, there were many misconceptions about
mental patients. This remains true to this day.
She said: “People have the misconception that mental
patients are aggressive, good-for-nothing, talk
nonsense… However, not all patients are violent.
There is usually a reason behind their behaviour
if we take the time to listen and investigate.”
Eventually, SSN Selvarani grew to enjoy her job
and discovered that psychiatry helps her in every
aspect of her life.
“Not only have I learnt
to use psychiatry to help my patients, I also apply
it to my daily life and family,” she said.
“For example, knowledge of psychiatry helps me to
motivate my patients to do things which they believe
they are not able to do. In the same
way, I also use my knowledge to encourage and motivate
my children
to study.”
Working as a psychiatric nurse is vastly different
from being a normal nurse. She explained: “An ordinary
nurse takes care of a patient’s physical condition
and often, his or her job ends when the patient
is discharged. A psychiatric nurse, however, has
to deal with a patient’s emotions, feelings, behaviour,
and his/her family. So a psychiatric nurse provides
extended care to the patient and even his family.”
Sharing on the demands of her job, SSN Selvarani
said: “Being a psychiatric nurse involves using
yourself as a therapeutic tool. You go through a
whole range of emotions. Fortunately, we have a
great team of staff to share the load.”
So how does she handle difficult patients?
“I talk to the patients, try to understand them,
tell them I will help them, do the task with them
and give them lots of praises,” she said.
This gentle, caring approach has helped many patients.
For example, there was a lady patient who was diagnosed
with obsessive compulsive disorder. She had a fear
of nearly everything, even the most mundane tasks
like doing the laundry. After staying in IMH for
two and a half months, the patient could take the
bus, cook, do her laundry and express herself better,
thanks to the tireless efforts of SSN Selvarani
and her multi-disciplinary team comprising doctors,
nurses, social workers, psychologists and other
healthcare staff. The patient was discharged in
early 2004 and has had no relapse since.
SSN Selvarani’s advice to aspiring nurses is never
to give up, no matter how tough the going may get
sometimes.
“Don’t lose hope in your patients,” she said. “A
psychiatric nurse must be caring, but most importantly,
be committed and have a passion for
the job.”
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By
PS21 Office
Next: A caring profession |
