The impact of the Singapore programme on my daily learning

Hello, my name is Risako Yokochi. I am a second-year student majoring in Nursing in the Department of Health Sciences at Nagoya University. From the 26th of August to the 5th of September, I participated in an exchange programme with five fellow nursing students at the National University of Singapore (NUS). There, I met wonderful people and gained practical experiences that I can directly apply to my study, which I would like to share with you all. I would be very happy if this report will spark your interest in overseas programmes and Singapore.

On our first day in Singapore, Professor Hiroshi Imaizumi kindly gave us the opportunity to interact with Japanese students, NUS students and a doctor working there. Seeing my seniors, who are also university students working abroad, strongly influenced the thought process about my career and gave me the desire to work abroad in the future. It was also very reassuring to receive a warm welcome from everyone in a place that was completely new to me, and I felt confident that I would be able to do my best in the programme starting the next day.

During the programme, we visited several hospitals. One thing all hospitals have in common is that they are integrated with nature. The hospitals have courtyards and open spaces. This indicates that they pay attention to the mental health of the patients and respect patients’ feelings during long hospital stays. I was struck by the words of one hospital staff member said: “The garden in the hospital, the hospital in the garden”. Also, even though Singapore is as hot as Japan during summer, traditional hospitals use large fans installed in the ceiling above each bed instead of air conditioners. Of course, they would also use them, if necessary, based on the temperature and the physical condition of the patients. On the other hand, the newer hospitals in Singapore built in the past few years were perfectly air-conditioned and had elevators and wagons that delivered hospital food to patients automatically, and even a multi-purpose Temi robot. With the changing times, hospitals in Singapore have been transforming to meet the various needs of their patients.

Another great benefit of the programme for me was meeting motivated nursing students from all over the world. During the programme, I took classes and toured facilities with students from Australia, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam. It was interesting to compare the differences in healthcare policies in each country by sharing our findings during our studies together. For example, the beverage menus in restaurants in Singapore showed a four-point scale from A to D, according to sugar and saturated fatty acid contents. When I asked Australian students about this, they told me that there is a similar indicator called Health Star Rating, which uses a five-star mark to indicate if the food is healthy or not. This reminded me of a question I asked during a hospital tour about whether Singapore places more emphasis on prevention or care regarding dementia. In recent years, with an ageing population, the Ministry of Health has been focusing on prevention by providing the public with information on how to eat and exercise to stay healthy. In Singapore and Australia, it is clear that the whole country is focusing on the prevention of disease and promotion of health. This is important for the ageing Japanese society too. I thought it would be good if Japan could also introduce some systems to indicate healthy food that everyone could recognise at a glance.

By learning about the Singaporean health care system and national characters while interacting with local students and medical staff, I learned that it is important for nursing to be carried out with a warm heart. For example, I think the custom that family members take care of the elderly in Singapore shows the spirit of cherishing their relatives. In addition, the classes in NUS focus on interprofessional work and I have learned the importance of understanding other occupations and cooperating with each other. This feature of the national characters and education has probably helped foster the culture of helping each other with peers from childhood. We Japanese members were also helped many times by their caring behaviors. When Singaporean students come to Japan, I would like to welcome them with gratitude. Thus, wonderful encounters with friends from all over the world during the programme were stimulating for me. We promised to keep in touch and visit each other's countries after returning home. I hope to continue these relationships and influence each other positively in my life.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who gave us such a wonderful opportunity and supported this programme, including the National University of Singapore, Professor Hiroshi Imaizumi, and the Nagoya University professors. I will make use of this experience in my future nursing studies and practice.