Built on this simple belief of delivering quality nursing care, CGH piloted pro-family policies which helped our nursing staff balance their family life with work by offering them more flexibility in managing their own time.

Such working arrangement gives them more time to rest which helps keep their fatigue at bay. When our nurses are well-rested and coping well with their family life, it results in better quality of care and continuity of care for our patients. At the same time, these efforts have clinched the Family Friendly Firm award for the hospital and CGH was cited as an example of a pro-family organisation by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Senior Staff Nurse Parvathi is one who has benefited from the flexible 12-and-a-half hour shift scheme implemented by the hospital as the arrangement fits the demands of her family well.

She joined the hospital three years ago and was glad that she opted for the scheme when it was piloted. In the previous six-day-a-week schedule, she hardly found time for her three children who were between the ages of seven to thirteen.

"I used to get just one day off and that was taken up by chores like running errands and shopping for essentials," she said. Under the old scheme, Madam Parvathi would sometimes work longer hours than her shift required to complete tasks such as those arising from emergencies. She was left with less time for her family.

"At the end of the day, we cannot just drop our patients like a stack of papers," she said, adding that the working arrangement makes for better handing over of duties to the nurse on the following shift, resulting in better organisation of work.

Although the staff put in longer working hours each day, working up to 12-and-a-half-hour daily, they can rest seven days for every seven days of work. This translates into more time with the family. At the same time, they also work fewer night shifts and can swop off days with colleagues. The nurses on these shifts can even arrange which days they want to work in a week.

The extended shift also means better quality care for patients as nurses are able to better plan their patient care duties such as giving medicine, feeding and cleaning.