26 Dec 2010
DURING Christmas, most foreign Catholics here would have headed back to their home countries to spend time with their loved ones.
But Filipino staff nurse Yvonne Florentino has, instead, chosen to spend her Christmas tending to patients in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) at the Singapore General Hospital.
The 35-year-old Catholic sacrificed going home to celebrate the festival with her husband, Mr Florante Florantino, 36, a cargo company branch manager, and their six-year-old daughter Kimberly in Cebu, Philippines.
She is among the 500,000 foreigners working in Singapore and in SGH, she is among the 14 per cent of foreign health-care workers who come from more than 23 countries, including India, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico.
Said Mrs Florentino, who came to Singapore six months ago: “Sometimes you need to sacrifice your time for others. My colleagues, who have been working here much longer, should get to go back home.”
She confessed it is not easy to spend time with critically-ill patients, especially on Christmas Day.
SICU patients are those who are badly injured after accidents, suffer from severe infections or are fresh out of cancer surgery and have other serious medical conditions.
Cheerful greeting
Mrs Florentino said: “Even though they are not fully conscious, we go in and greet them cheerfully.
“Yesterday, I wished them a merry Christmas joyfully. I tell them the time and just try to have normal conversations with them.”
But while she said she can put aside her emotions to tend to her patients, she said the job does take its toll sometimes.
Over the past six months, Mrs Florentino admitted she has cried three times when dealing with terminally ill patients.
She said: “We go into a nearby office and cry our hearts out. We are human, too. We need to release the sadness before continuing our work.”
Nurse clinician Patricia Yang, 46, who manages the SICU, said: “These nurses are called the SICU angels because of the work that they do. They go into the patients’ rooms, talk to them and try to be upbeat. At the same time, they have to assess the patient’s grimaces and other vital signs.
“It is certainly not an easy job.”
Madam Yang has 56 employees under her care, including nurses and other health-care attendants. They include Singaporeans, permanent residents and foreigners from Myanmar, the Philippines and India.
Apart from Mrs Florentino, another Filipino nurse was on duty yesterday.
Said Madam Yang: “It is hard, but the patients need them and it’s great that these two stepped up to help out.”
Yet, Mrs Florentino admitted she does miss spending Christmas with her family. “We go to midnight mass, open gifts and have a feast. It’s lots of fun,” she said.
She revealed that she had an emotional conversation with her daughter when she told her she wouldn’t be back for Christmas.
“I asked Kimberly what she wanted from Santa Claus and I expected her to talk about toys or other stuff.”
“But she said in her little voice, ‘I want you, mama.’ ”
Added Mrs Florentino, with tears in her eyes: “She’s only six. I was shocked. Of course, that would break any mother’s heart.”
She added that right away, her husband tried to diffuse the situation by telling his daughter that his mother would never fit in the green Christmas sock by the window.
Said Mrs Florentino: “It’s hard to be away from them, but it’s for the future of my family...that’s why I came here.”
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