13-05-2025
Retiring nurse reflects on how her love for nursing began at Normah Medical Specialist Centre
Lucy delivers her speech during the NMSC 2025 Nurses Day celebration.
KUCHING (May 14): Normah Medical Specialist Centre (NMSC) nursing officer Lucy Voon Siaw Lin once dreamed of venturing into the world of finance—however, fate had other plans for her.
She recounted how she began her career as a nursing aide through the centre's 18-month training programme.
'I started off from the lowest level of nursing here at the Normah Medical Specialist Centre back in January 1989 when I was 25 years old.
'Through the programme, I was trained in bedside nursing, bed making, patient positioning, understanding patient needs, and introduced to hospital settings and policies.
'NMSC has given me great support in achieving my goals—it is a hospital with strong accreditation, good policies and dedication to excellence in patient care,' she said during NMSC's Nurses Day 2025 celebration yesterday.
After over 30 years of service, Lucy reflected on the challenges she faced, and one particular experience still remains vivid in her memory.
'I remember my early days in nursing—my nursing instructor at the time often emphasised the motto 'CARE: Compassionate, Attentive, Respect and Empathy', which I still hold close to my heart today.
'At the time, I did not fully understand what it meant, especially on 'Empathy', until an incident where I had to attend to a patient who was bleeding heavily. The smell of blood was so intense that I had to quickly run to the toilet, retching. But I immediately regretted it when I saw the look on the patient's face.
'That experience taught me to put myself in the patient's shoes. From then on, I always remind myself to be considerate and empathetic of others,' she recounted.
Lucy expressed her hopes that the future generation would continue the legacy of many other nurses, caring for patients and offering the best service to contribute to the community.
She said nurses are trained with the theories and foundations of nursing, but believed the new generation of nurses should also focus on building soft skills so they can have compassion and empathy towards patients to better connect with them.
Lucy acknowledged she had encountered many ups and downs along the way in her career.
'I have gone through rough patches, but I managed to overcome them and make my nursing life interesting and meaningful, all the way until today—my retirement year,' she said.
Having spent her entire career with NMSC, Lucy is retiring in October at the age of 60.
'I want to enjoy myself after all the hard work and just see what else life has in plan for me.' healthcare lead Normah Medical Specialist Centre nursing
