Soft (service) skills in nursing care: Training versus Reality

55^th World Advanced Nursing and Nursing Practice Congress

March 13-14, 2019 Singapore

Lee-Keng Ng

Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Nursing education has transformed over time. This is particularly evident in the integration of technology in pedagogy. However, it is not evident whether the training of soft (service) skills has also evolved effectively. On one hand, such people skills are much less tangible than technology. On the other hand, they are so perennially relevant and important for nursing care that is essentially people-oriented. Based on research outcome, patients and family members rated these people skills to be the most important for nurses: Being reliable, willing/prompt to help and able to communicate in easy, clear language. The conclusion was that besides knowledge acquisition and technical competency, nursing curriculum can explicitly incorporate more soft (service) skills to enhance the nursing care standard.

Biography :

Lee-Keng Ng has five University Degrees (bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate) in subject areas such as Philosophy, Management Research and Business Administration from National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University as well as University of Western Australia. She has received a total of six teaching excellence awards at two educational intuitions. Prior to joining the academia, she was a Director at Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education. She has more than 20 years of work experience in diverse service roles and management positions, across sectors such as healthcare, hotel and education.

E-mail: LeeKeng.Ng@SingaporeTech.edu.sg