Singapore Red Cross & Singapore Nurses Association inks agreement
More nurses in humanitarian efforts – locally and abroad
Singapore, 12 August 2017 - Singapore Red Cross (SRC) and Singapore Nurses Association (SNA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which provides a collaborative platform for nurses to participate in local community services and overseas humanitarian programmes. The MoU signing was witnessed by Guest-of-Honour, SNA Patron Mrs Mary Tan, wife of President Tony Tan, at a ceremony marking the opening of the newly renovated SNA’s Training Centre, on the occasion of SNA’s 60th Anniversary.
The partnership will facilitate nurses’ active involvement in community outreach and advocacy; as well as health promotion and mentoring for the elderly and vulnerable persons. This will be done through SRC’s local services, such as ElderAid, HoME+ (Home Monitoring & Eldercare) and Clinic-on-Wheels (to be launched end-year). Additionally, nursing students would have the opportunity to participate in SRC’s overseas humanitarian programmes, whilst nursing professionals would be able to deliver in-country training programme to build the capacity of nurses from the region. Such efforts are expected to directly benefit some 500 persons from vulnerable communities in the first year.
Explaining the significance, Mr Benjamin William, Secretary General/CEO of Singapore Red Cross said, “This partnership holds great potential for Singapore’s nursing expertise to be embedded in the humanitarian services that SRC delivers internationally and locally. It will also ignite in the Red Cross Youth members, an interest in the nursing profession, which in turn will help secure our future healthcare. This is a lifesaving partnership, where the impact can be significant and manifold.”
“Nurses are the bedrock of the entire gamut of health care services, and they play a key role in the promotion and maintenance of health, disease, prevention and care of the sick. Day-to-day, many go above and beyond the call of duty. We are glad to partner with the Singapore Red Cross to facilitate our nurses’ access to humanitarian missions, for them to touch more lives in the communities they choose to serve in,” said A/Prof Lim Swee Hia, President of Singapore Nurses Association, which is committed to supporting the professional development of nurses.
The Singapore Red Cross has over the years mobilised volunteer-nurses on several projects, including peacetime missions to Myanmar and Indonesia; disaster response missions following the Nepal earthquakes and Typhoon Haiyan; training of volunteers and health screening at local community outreach, amongst others. These joint-projects were presented in an exhibition by SRC, which Mrs Tan visited, alongside chief nurses and nursing directors of major healthcare institutions.
Speech by Singapore Red Cross Secretary General/CEO Benjamin William