I refer to the report that resignation rates of healthcare workers went up last year (More healthcare workers quit amid growing fatigue, Nov 2, 2021).

Reasons often cited were high stress and fatigue from the long fight against Covid-19, homesickness and getting better offers from other developed countries.

Over the last few years, I have bade farewell to a handful of endoscopy nurses. Many of them left for New Zealand.

The high salaries offered by New Zealand are actually negated by its higher taxation rates and higher cost of living.

The nurses who left told me, however, that they left for another reason: their families.

Foreign nurses here are on work passes that do not allow them to bring their spouse or children here to live with them.

Before the pandemic, they could travel home every few months to see their families.

However, travelling to and from the Philippines, where most of our foreign nurses are from, is now more cumbersome. Upon return from the Philippines, they need to be quarantined for 10 days, which adds to the cost of travel significantly.

New Zealand, however, offers visas for the whole family of the foreign nurse.

To these foreign nurses, salary and workload were not the main reasons for leaving Singapore. They love working in Singapore. But the only way for them to keep their family together would be to go to countries like New Zealand.

If Singapore truly treasures its foreign nurses, it is time that the Government considers offering them a good family package, including schooling for their children at local rates and allowing their spouses to live in Singapore.

Otherwise, Singapore will continue to be a springboard for them to gain the experience needed to migrate to other countries.

Desmond Wai (Dr)

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-grant-visas-to-foreign-nurses-family-members