SINGAPORE: “Why is the stigma surrounding nurses so bad?” a local Reddit user who has chosen to study nursing asked in a June 3 (Tuesday) post.
U/mashpotatoesarecool wrote on r/askSingapore wrote that every time she tells someone that she’s studying nursing at a Polytechnic, they give her a “judgy look.” Moreover, the “nicer ones” ask her if nursing had been her first choice.
“For anyone wondering, yes! It was my first choice,” she wrote, adding that she could have gone to a Junior College with the scores she got on her O-levels but chose not to, deciding instead to go into nursing.
She also wrote that the past couple of weeks have been “nothing but amazing so far” and that for now, she has no regrets over her decision.
The post author also wondered why the cut-off point for nursing is so “crazily high” and noted that the entry point into studying nursing at the National University of Singapore is “so low,” adding that “this just makes the stigma surrounding nurses SOO bad.”
While others have the idea that nursing is for people who did not do well at school and have no other options, she wrote that what she’s learning at the moment is quite difficult.
She also touched on the low pay nurses receive, which adds to the perception that nurses are merely “helpers for doctors,” who earn much more.
“Nurses aren’t just helpers, we do so much more,” she wrote, adding that even if she could go on to study medicine, she wouldn’t want to do so because of how much she loves the interaction nurses have with patients.
“Nursing is so versatile, there are so many different pathways to go to after you start working, and every day is something different,” she wrote, also noting that she would like to hear how other Singaporeans feel about nurses.
Many Reddit users have weighed in on her post, and the top comments have involved thankfulness for nurses and the opinion that nurses should be paid more.
Others, however, answered the post author’s question about why nurses are poorly regarded.
“Because a society like Singapore pegs admiration and respect accordingly to how much $$$ one earns, instead of integrity, dignity, and character or morality,” wrote one.
Another wrote that if a nurse earned at least 75 per cent of what a doctor makes in the same number of years of experience, “You’ll see nurses being a highly coveted career in SG.”
“People are ignorant of the fact that nurses are the ones who take care of them in spite of how poorly regarded they are.
It is a crime that healthcare workers are treated badly, and there needs to be a change in our society where hard physical work is looked down upon, and worse, derided for being low-class when they are the foundations of every society. And it should start with the leaders to put their money where their mouths are and start recognising and paying our nurses their worth.” /TISG