Public hospitals making flexible shifts more accessible to nurses

Move aimed at attracting and retaining them to ensure steady flow of nursing manpower

- Joyce Teo

Hospitals here are making flexible work arrangements more accessible to nurses as they continue to look at ways to attract and retain them to ensure a steady flow of nursing manpower to meet the demands of a fast-ageing population.

Traditionally, nurses have three regular shifts a day, whereas flexible work arrangements would include shifts that start and end at different times, part-time employment, and compressed work weeks where nurses work additional hours each shift to get an extra day off that week.

At the National University Hospital (NUH), for instance, flexible shifts have become a mainstream option. "Starting from September 2023, we have progressed and formalised FWA (flexible work arrangements) requests as a norm throughout all our inpatient wards," said Dr Karen Koh, the chief nurse at NUH.

Ms Priscilla Teo, group chief human resources officer of the National University Health System cluster, which also includes Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Alexandra Hospital, said that about 1,500 nurses, or around 25 per cent of the cluster's nursing workforce, are already on flexible shifts.

The cluster has more than 50 shift arrangements for nurses to choose from.

Last week, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) held a media briefing to say it is scaling up its flexi-work arrangements to all 2,500 inpatient nurses by the end of the year.