When Yvonne Yap became a nurse 18 years ago, one comment she heard about her job was: “Nursing is just cleaning the backside. It is full of bacteria.” Then, many saw nursing as a lowly job, and care duties as dirty.
But Yap, who is now the deputy director of nursing at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), said these menial caregiving routines are the heart of nursing.
She recalled an elderly stroke patient she cared for in 2011 when she was a young nurse. “He was very unkempt and had a long beard that was very smelly. He was also uncompliant and kept trying to stand up and insisted on going home.”
