Many nurses want to further their higher education after working for some time in the clinical environment. Some are lucky enough to be fully sponsored by a hospital and are able to pursue full-time study. Some nurses, despite all the challenges, choose to pursue their higher education in nursing part-time. Hence, with the high standard of nursing curriculum at the prestigious IMU, they start their journey as nursing degree students. Let us hear from one of these students, Tang Mei Kwei on how she manages her work-life balance in her journey with IMU so far.
| Mei Kwei’s Journey Towards a Nursing Degree |
|---|
“I work most of the weekends. My day off usually falls on a weekday when my children are in school. So, I usually spend most of my day off focusing on my IMU assignment.” Work-life balance is important to Mei Kwei, and for her it is a daily challenge to revisit. According to Mei Kwei, inappropriate stress handling will lead to damage in productivity; thus, leading to unhappy family life.  Being a mother of two special children with learning disabilities, age 5 and 7 respectively, the meaning of work-life balance is faded sometimes, especially when it comes to the family’s financial status. “My husband is a full-time house-husband who cares for our children while I am working full-time in an Emergency Department. And, yeah! I am studying at IMU too.” It is never easy. Personally, she is still juggling to balance her work, study and family at the same time. “Working in Emergency Department is always to “expect the unexpected”. Nonetheless, no matter how tough the challenge is, I try my best to schedule my time by working it out with my husband.”  She feels lucky to have a very supportive spouse who is always willing to assist her in childcare and give her time to complete her assignment. According to Mei Kwei, proper planning is very crucial to ensure that both she and the husband strike a balance of work and time for the children.” She is also very thankful to her supervisor at her workplace who is very attentive and supportive. “My supervisor never stops motivating me. She played her role well by showing her concern to her staff.” To rejuvenate herself, Mei Kwei has her coping mechanism to de-stress. “There are times when the environment is really stressful after a hectic shift at work and I just want to lay down and rest without any disturbances.” Because of her determination to complete her degree in IMU, she will overcome anything in her way. She added, “It is still a struggle when it comes to work-study-life and home life for me, but I am not giving up just yet.” |
We applaud Mei Kwei for her strong determination to continue her nursing education at IMU. We wish all the best and hope that she will continue to have this strong willpower to overcome all the odds in her life.
Written by Yee Bit-Lian Edited by Dr Lim Swee Geok
