| Ms
Janet Choo, Assistant Director of Nursing from Changi General Hospital,
won the most prestigious nursing award, the President’s Award
for Nurses, on 30 July 2004. The award introduced in 2000 recognises
exemplary |
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| nurses
for their outstanding work performance and contributions to the
profession and community over a sustained period of time. Janet
is the only recipient from Restructured Hospitals to receive this
award in 2004. |
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| Her knowledge and skills extend from clinical
to teaching, clinical pathways and case management, wound management,
nursing research and most recently nursing administration. Janet’s
commitment to nursing is demonstrated by her constant quest to upgrade
her nursing knowledge and skills. In recognition of her consistent
work, Janet was one of the first two nurses sponsored by the Hospital
for a full-time degree in nursing in Melbourne, Australia, in 1995.
Janet is one of the nursing pioneers for
case management and clinical pathways. A clinical pathway is a
plan to coordinate the treatment for a patient, for example, mapping
appropriate laboratory test, referrals to physiotherapists, for
a particular condition or procedure from the time of admission
to discharge. Janet set up the case management unit in CGH in
1996 after visiting hospitals in the United States as part of
the hospital’s quality initiative.
CGH’s first clinical pathway on Heart Attack
was developed on 18 December 1996 with inputs from doctors, nurses
and paramedical staff. Janet was sent on the HMDP scholarship
in case management in 1999 and was invited by MOH to speak at
the 1st MOH Casemix Seminar. Janet was also invited to present
papers on clinical pathways in Singapore, Malaysia, Peoples’
Republic of China and United Kingdom from 1999 to 2004.
Refuting
critics’ comments that clinical pathway encourages “cookbook
medicine”, Janet said, ”Knowledge is power and clinical
pathway is one tool that can be used to empower healthcare professionals
to be proactive in treatment of patient instead of waiting for
orders. A patient’s condition may vary and independent assessment
made and clinical judgement used depends on the patient’s
condition.”
Apart from her clinical excellence, Janet also excelled
in her academic studies and was awarded the “Academic Excellence
Award” by the University of Sydney for her Master in Health
Science Management Course in 2001 for her outstanding academic
performance.
Janet had also facilitated training programme
of nurses from Hunan Provincial Remin Hospital and hosted several
visits by hospital administrators from Hu Bei Province and Fujian
Province, Peoples’ Republic of China, from 2002 to 2004.
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During the SARs outbreak in 2003, Janet headed
the hospital contact tracing.As Head of
the Hospital SARS Contact Tracing Team, she dedicated her time wholeheartedly
to this task force. She put in numerous hours on weekends and public
holidays to produce the contact picture within 24 hours. Her team
has been commended by the Hospital for its fast and accurate response
for tracing almost 400 contacts in its efforts to complement Singapore’s
efforts to contain the virus spread.
Janet has a passion for nursing research and is currently the Chairperson
of CGH Nursing Research Committee. She facilitated three rounds
of nursing debates in November 2003. Under her mentorship, the Nursing
Debate Team from CGH’ emerged as the Champion Team amongst
all SingHealth institutions and hospitals and clinched the Champion
Trophy at SingHealth Nursing Debate in July 2004. At CGH’s
Inaugural Research Forum in August 2004, her Case Management Team
walked away not only the First Prize but also the Third Prize in
in-house Best Nursing Paper Competition.
Looking at her successes
now, it may be hard to imagine that Janet stumbled into the nursing
profession by chance. “I was training to be a secretary and
was waiting for the results of shorthand and typing examinations
when my friend passed me an nursing application form. With my mother’s
encouragement, I decided to go for it. I was pleasantly delighted
when I was selected for the nursing course back in 1974. Since then,
I have never regretted making nursing my career choice.”
Apart from her dedication to nursing, Janet participates
actively in community services. She is currently the Chairperson
of the Women’s’ Wing for Punggol North Constituency.
Tapping on her nursing background, she worked closely with Punggol
North Grassroots Organizations to launch 2 health screening programmes
for elderly residents in her constituency as part of CGH’s
Health Outreach Programme. She also launched a Readstart Programme
for children in Punggol North constituency with an aim of promoting
a love for reading through this programme.
“Janet is
an exemplary nurse with excellent leadership and commitment to her
nursing profession. We are truly proud of her outstanding achievements,
especially, in receiving this year’s President’s Nurse
Award,” said Mdm Ong Ah Khiew, Director of Nursing, CGH.
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