Health · Healthcare & Policy · 3 hrs ago
Singapore’s first breast care nurse still supports patients at 74
Nagalingam Saraswathi pioneered breast care nursing in Singapore after setting up services at Singapore General Hospital in 1992.
Breast care nurses guide patients through treatment and offer information and emotional support after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Saraswathi trained in England and then developed the hospital’s service.
She trained nurses from other hospitals, helping breast care nursing spread across Singapore in the 1990s.
For a decade, she was the only breast care nurse at the hospital, and the number of patients she saw grew from about 100 a year to around 500.
Her work helped patients feel heard and supported as they faced treatment and uncertainty.
At 74, she still cares for breast cancer patients, more than three decades after starting the service.
Nagalingam Saraswathi, Singapore’s first breast care nurse, continues to support breast cancer patients at 74.
She established breast care nursing services at Singapore General Hospital in 1992.
After training in England, she taught nurses from other hospitals and helped expand the service across Singapore.
Her work included explaining treatment and providing counselling and emotional support to patients.
- Who
- Nagalingam Saraswathi, known to patients and colleagues as Sister Sara.
- What
- She pioneered breast care nursing in Singapore and still supports breast cancer patients at 74.
- When
- She established the service in 1992 and continues to care for patients more than three decades later.
- Where
- Singapore General Hospital and other hospitals in Singapore.
- Why
- To guide breast cancer patients through treatment and provide information and emotional support.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Saraswathi attended a 10-week breast care nursing course in England as Singapore’s only participant.
She established breast care nursing services at Singapore General Hospital.
Saraswathi ran six-week training courses for nurses from other public and some private hospitals.
Saraswathi, aged 74, continued to support breast cancer patients.
- Name
- Nagalingam Saraswathi
- Age
- 74
- Hospital
- Singapore General Hospital
- Service established
- 1992
- Training course
- 10 weeks in England
- Patient caseload
- Grew from around 100 a year to around 500 a year within two or three years
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What people are saying
On the flight back, I wrote everything I needed to do in my little diary – which I kept.
I’m very happy that I developed a lot of breast care nurses
I don’t remember leaving work at 5pm; I worked 12 to 15 hours a day.
It makes a lot of difference to them to feel that they have been heard – they then opened up to me more.