Higher Nitec in Nursing (wef Apr 2024 intake)

Enrolled Nurses (ENs) work as an integral part of the healthcare team to assess, plan, implement and evaluate nursing care for patients, in partnership with the family, significant others and the community to achieve the most optimal care outcomes.

The Singapore Nursing Board’s core competencies for Enrolled Nurses define the knowledge, skills and attributes for ENs to practice in the healthcare sector. The core competencies of ENs encompass generic skills under the following categories:

• Client/Health Assessment / Reassessment
• Provision of/Assist in client’s Activities of Daily Living
• Management of Care
• Infection Control
• Communication, Teamwork & Service Skills
• Client/Health Education & Community Care
• Critical Thinking / Problem-solving Skills

In this regard, to be competent and safe, the enrolled nurse is required to be efficient in psychomotor and co-ordination skills in order to handle equipment and accessories (for e.g., suctioning apparatus, BP monitoring devices, infusion pumps and dressing sets).

Nurses should have good communication skills to interact with patients and to better anticipate their needs and requests.

Shift work is a requirement of the job.

hand and finger dexterity, physical mobility, colour recognition ability, sensory (visual, hearing) ability, communication skills, interaction with strangers, interpersonal skills

attentiveness to safety & hygiene

mental agility in dealing with non-routine schedules

ability to work long hours and under time constraints

Higher Nitec in Nursing graduates can be employed in various healthcare organizations and hospitals upon registration with the Singapore Nursing Board.

Due to the job-specific requirements of the healthcare profession in the delivery of direct patient care, all applicants have to pass a pre-admission medical examination and fulfil the 'Fitness to Practice Advisory' for nursing student stipulated by the Singapore Nursing Board:

FITNESS TO PRACTICE ADVISORY FOR NURSING STUDENTS

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

1. Mental-Cognitive ability (interpersonal-communication ability and behavioural stability) to:
   1. provide safe care to populations, including safety to self
   2. demonstrate emotional-behavioural stability to function under the stress and pressure when performing nursing care on patients
   3. being observed by instructors and other health care personnel during clinical practice attachments.
       
2. Physical ability to:
   1. move around in the clinical environment, walk/stand, bend, reach, lift climb, push and pull, carry objects
   2. perform patient transfers and complex sequences of hand-eye coordination.
       
3. Auditory ability to:
   1. hear faint body sounds
   2. auditory alarms
   3. normal speaking level sounds (i.e. blood pressure sounds, monitors, call bells and person-to-person report).
       
4. Visual ability to:
   1. detect changes in physical appearance, colour and contour
   2. read medication/ drug labels, syringes, manometers, written and electronic communication accurately.
       

The above required abilities are stipulated in consultation with Singapore Nursing Board to ensure nursing students are fit to practise when they apply for registration/ enrolment upon graduation from nursing programme.

Interested applicants with known condition(s) or unsure if their condition(s) may affect their ability to deliver safe and effective patient care are highly encouraged to contact Institute of Technical Education for more information.