Transformed From Home Caregiver To Healthcare Assistant, Thanks To The SGUnited Skills Programme

5 years ago, Rosenah Binte Zainal quit her 15-year career in early childhood to become the full-time caregiver for her late husband, until he passed on. 

She subsequently returned to teaching, but inwardly wanted to make a career change and try something new.

So when she discovered the SGUnited Skills Programme in April 2021, she felt a calling to the Healthcare Assistant role. Healthcare Assistants work with nurses to provide basic care for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, or community hospitals, and support their activities of daily living. 

Rosenah committed to the 6-month full-time training programme, meant for Singaporeans and PRs to acquire the necessary industry-relevant skills to improve their employability. Trainees can choose to reskill for healthcare, tech light, or tech heavy roles, and receive a monthly training allowance of up to $1200. 

Rosenah's SGUnited Skills Programme Journey

As a former caregiver, Rosenah knew her training as a Healthcare Assistant would be challenging. But she was mentally prepared. 

She persevered through the 13 hands-on, theory, and soft skills courses, and generously shared her caregiving experiences and tips with her classmates, some of whom did not have healthcare background.

In the process, Rosenah also had to relearn some key caregiving skills in the hands-on segments of the programme, such as how to carry patients and shower them safely.

Although the heavy theory modules can be challenging, she did her best to memorise all the medical terms and medication names that were taught. After all, the knowledge would be crucial for her practicum at Yishun Community Hospital's dementia ward, where she would be caring for patients directly!

As she was able to converse in Mandarin, she could communicate easier and build rapport with the elderly patients in her ward. Given her good performance, she was even offered the opportunity to upgrade as a Patient Care Officer after her practicum. 

Though the experience was challenging, it cemented her motivation for becoming a Healthcare Assistant. "The feeling of looking after somebody and making the person feel better is very satisfying," she said.

Rosenah used her $500 SkillsFuture Credit to offset her course fees, and tapped on the monthly training allowance from NTUC LearningHub to defray her daily expenses while upskilling.

After Upskilling

Rosenah had a "wonderful" experience upskilling as a Healthcare Assistant – but this is just the start of her journey. 

She wants to learn more specialised healthcare knowledge, like phlebotomy (collection of blood specimens) and swabbing, and aspires to work in the operating theatre one day.

"I don't want to restrict myself and stick to 1 role," she said. "There's always something to upgrade yourself in." After all, the various healthcare courses offered by NTUC LearningHub offer her many opportunities to craft a unique career path.

"There's no end to learning. If you want to do something different or make a change in your everyday life, you must put your heart into it and just go for it."

Since 2004, NTUC LearningHub has upskilled over 21,000 organisations and achieved over 2.6 million training places across more than 500 courses with a pool of over 400 certified trainers. We are the leading Continuing Education and Training provider in Singapore and we are here to transform your lifelong employability.

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