This nurse is a fighter, just like her tiniest patients
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A nurse of almost 17 years, Sister Aliza is today a nurse manager who oversees the operational and clinical needs of two neonatal wards.
She also leads a team on palliative and bereavement care, as well as guides and supports parents through their babies' NICU journey.
"As a nurse manager, I oversee the operational and clinical needs of the National University Hospital (NUH)'s NICU and neonatal high dependency wards, alongside four other Sisters,” shared Ms Nur Aliza Binte Kamsan, fondly known as Sister Aliza to her colleagues.
In addition to handling operations and staff welfare, she also leads a team on palliative and bereavement care. She also helms a parents’ support group for families with critically ill babies, guiding them through their NICU journey and offering comfort should they face the loss of their infant.
At NUH NICU, she gets immense satisfaction from nursing the tiny babies back to health and seeing their parents’ indescribable delight in watching their little ones achieve their milestones.
“Before joining NICU, I had never encountered babies this tiny, as well as sick newborns. My passion grew as I nursed them back to health and discharged them months later. The joy of seeing their parents sharing their babies’ milestones as they grow up after ‘graduating’ from NICU gives me immense satisfaction.”
Sister Aliza’s passion for nursing began well before she officially joined NUH NICU as a fresh nursing graduate in July 2007. "I wanted to help and give back to others,” she recalled. “This calling grew even stronger when I was involved as a caregiver to both of my late grandfathers in their old age.”
Sister Aliza recalled a little angel who touched their hearts with its fighting spirit. “I had a critically ill baby who persevered for more than six months. Sadly, the baby passed on despite our best efforts, and every one of us bawled our eyes out during the debrief.”
"While we may be nurses and not bonded by blood, we are still human and deeply affected by what happens to the infants we care for as our own.”
- Sister Aliza
”For babies who are with us for longer periods, they’ll achieve their milestones during their stay. This means that nurses also serve as their first ‘teachers’ by providing stimulation to their brains for development, and doing exercises guided by physiotherapists and occupational therapists to help them with their growth."
Outside of the hospital, Sister Aliza is a proud mum to four children.
Beyond navigating the challenges of motherhood, she has the added responsibility of caring for a special needs child.
She recalled an incident three years ago, when her then-six-year-old special needs son suddenly went missing. “Knowing that he’s non-verbal, we were worried out of our wits,” she recalled. “Luckily, someone spotted him in his uniform and called the school, which then contacted us. Our boy managed to write his name down for them,” she said.
“I was in denial,” she admitted when she first learnt about her son’s autism diagnosis. The journey has not been easy, but Sister Aliza has the backing of her colleagues, teammates and even her bosses who occasionally check on how she is coping with her children, and if there is anything that they can do to help.
Without hesitation, her colleagues offer a listening ear, whether it is her woes, struggles or grievances, and they celebrate the milestones her boy achieved.
Working in the NICU has also taught her resilience, thanks to the tiny fighters and their parents who will go all out for their children.
Even her interactions with the parents whose babies are in NICU have taught her resilience. “Their never give-up attitude and going all out for their children mindset rubbed off on me and made me a tougher mum,” she shared.
In addition, through relying on NUH’s vast network, Sister Aliza was able to have discussions with doctors and therapists to help create materials to aid her boy with advancing in his speech.
“This year, with him turning nine, colleagues who have seen him since young acknowledge our effort as a family and praise that his development is on the path that we want. From a single-word conversation, he is now a chatty and bubbly boy who can express himself, and can tell us stories of what happened at school,” declared the proud mum.
It’s not been easy, but the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” rings true, especially in Sister Aliza’s case.
In addition to her workmates, there’s also the reassurance of having family members around so that she can fully focus on her job.
“Open communication and sharing my feelings and thoughts helps me balance my emotions, not only with my husband but also with very close friends.”
“I literally grew up in NICU — from when I was single, then engaged and eventually married — and definitely learnt along the way how being a parent feels.”
There are only so many hours in a day, and although there are times Sister Aliza feels that she does not have enough time to give her attention to each of her children, they are mature enough to see that their mum still does her best to be there for them.
“Like my eldest child says, ‘we do not need to go out and can spend time at home as a family because mum is busy as a nurse; mum is a chef who cooks for us therefore we have our own personal restaurant; mum is a teacher who guides us through school; mum provides us with a ton of books so we do not need to go to the library’,” Sister Aliza shared.
These comments from her children assure her that being a nurse is a calling.
Despite all that life has thrown at her, Sister Aliza wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Every single good deed I’ve done in caring for my vulnerable patients, is acknowledged by God, if not by the baby’s parents. In return, I have gifts of my own, my precious children and an understanding husband,” she said, adding that her work has even inspired her 10-year-old daughter to want to be a neonatal nurse in the future.
In consultation with Nur Aliza Binte Kamsan, Nurse Manager, Neonatal ICU, NUH.
