Informatics Track

​	Ong Chin Wan Nurse Clinician, Sengkang General Hospital

My Nursing Journey:

I started on my nursing journey as a general ward nurse in the renal unit after graduating from the Nanyang Polytechnic in 2004. Since then, I have amassed experience working in the emergency department and was later presented with a chance to participate in the implementation of Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Electronic Medical Record (EMR) initiative, which sought to make an electronic exchange of medical records across healthcare establishments possible.

As I went through the planning, training and execution of the new EMR with a medical informatics team in 2013, I was spurred by the advancements and found an interest in uncovering how technology could continuously improve nursing workflows and practices. In 2016, I embarked on an informatics journey with Sengkang General Hospital (SKH), to be part of the team to set up a new hospital and execute various IT-related systems to streamline workflows.

Being able to combine my interests in nursing and technology while actively exploring innovative ways to improve patient care is satisfying. The nursing informatics field is ever progressive and constantly changing, and I am encouraged to always be on the lookout for technological advancements to improve patient care outcomes.

Some of the projects implemented by the SKH Informatics team over the years include the Automated Medication Cabinet, Medical Device Interface for Vital Signs, Ventilators and ECG; and the Electronic Patient Information Board display that ensures timely and accurate display of patient care information. These projects tremendously reduce the time taken for documentations, which would otherwise have to be done manually. As the information captured is directly synced into EMR, transcription errors are also greatly reduced. Thus, nurses’ workflow and productivity have greatly improved.

As a Nurse Informatician, I emphasise on the need to critically analyse a given situation to source for answers while being mindful of the clinical climate and workflows, which may affect any proposed solution’s longevity and users’ acceptance. To stay relevant and acquire new knowledge in the field of informatics, I am currently undertaking a Master of Science in Health Informatics from the University of Illinois, Chicago, with the support from SKH and SingHealth.

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Providing guidance to nurses on the medication serving process	Providing guidance to nurses on how to leverage on new digital solutions

My Nursing Journey:  

Nursing has always been the job I wanted since my secondary school days. However, the role of a nurse is not as simple as it seems. I realise I was not ready to take on the role of a nurse right after completing my Diploma in Nursing, and this prompted me to further my studies further by pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing.

After graduating, it took me awhile before I decided to be a perioperative nurse. The first five years as a perioperative nurse was definitely not easy, but wanting to provide my patients with the best care possible was and still is my top priority. For that, I decided to upgrade myself by pursuing my Advanced Diploma in Perioperative Nursing.

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With medical technology advancements, our role in nursing care has evolved and improved significantly over the years. It was also during this period of time when I was first introduced to nursing informatics. This encounter with creating an in-house electronic medical records (EMR) sparked my interest in nursing informatics, as I saw first-hand the benefits that innovation has had on our daily work. With EMR, the nurses are able to set aside more time to attend to patients as the amount of manual paper work is greatly reduced. ​Even after 12 years in SNEC, I am still enjoying my work as a Nurse Clinician and I hope to continue learning and growing in this career.

Conducting a hands-on session on digital peri-operative notes