Special tribute for Sister Bee Bee

Sister Bee Bee is featured in The Star today as the mother and daugther team who work together. And it is fitting to write something about her. I am taking this pic from The Star below. She is the one sitting down, and that’s her daughter.

Well, she is the Nursing Sister in the Paediatric Ward in Lam Wah Ee Hospital. And of all the nurses and matrons there, she has this special character about her. I will tell you why I never have problems with her but have issues with the Nursing Director, Matron in the ICU and etc. In fact, I used to bring my problems to the highest authority in the hospital, the Medical Superintendent. So, some either like Mrs. Loh (that’s me) or detest her. (BTW, the hospital belongs to Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew and Lam Wah Ee is Tan Sri’s mother’s name. And having a surname Loh makes people wonder.)

Firstly, hospitals are always short-handed and her nurses had to work double shifts most of the times. Double-shift means 7 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 10 pm. She told me that nowadays, no girls wish to be a nurse anymore and all the experienced nurses have gone to Saudi Arabia to earn USD. So, because they are short-handed, they cannot afford to allocate to my son who needed 1.5 nurses (i.e. one full time nurse next to him all the time and another who is on standby to help) in the High Dependancy Unit in the Paediatric Ward. Due to that, they wanted to move him to ICU where there are more allocation of nurses (but the nurses aren’t trained that well to handle babies, which need different method of care). But Sister Bee Bee was the one who often begged the neonatal ward (which is next to the paediatric ward but for newborns) to allocate one of their nurses over. One gutsy BeeBee who doesn’t take no for an answer. Yay!

Then, at one point, my son needed a warmer which is a baby’s bed with warming lights which goes way up quite high. The spot where the warming bed should go is surrounded by curtain railing that is hung from the ceiling down and the warmer cannot pass through. So, Sister Bee Bee got maintenance to dismantle the railings, pronto. Another yay for her.

During that five months stay I had in Lam Wah Ee, I did get into many problems related to shortage of nursing staffs. You would think that if I have the money to pay, I would have the service. But nope, it is a national problem of not having enough nurses. So, I often had to make official requests for all sort of things. Too complicated to explain, ok? But basically, the other senior nursing staffs often will just tell me, No. And that’s that. But Sister Bee Bee often go out of her way to make things work. For that, I have very high regards for nurses.

And she attended my son’s funeral.

Nowadays, it is very hard to find nurses who served with their hearts. And Sister Bee Bee is one of those. Her nurses in the paediatric ward too have her special qualities. However, on outer appearance,you would be frighten of her with her ‘misi’ look. Loud voice, big eyes, dark, matronly and all. But she is great with shaving kids bald (to insert IV line or for surgery).

So, if any of you have kids in the paed’s ward and need any special help, just ask for Sister Bee Bee. Tell her Lilian send you.

This is what her daughter said about her:

She is the epitome of compassion and patience. Her laughter and motherliness make her well loved among her staff and she is one of the most popular nursing sisters in our organisation

I believe nurses have an inner strength that allows them to be a rock to others. I see that in my mother. She has also given me an inner strength which I have found necessary in my own life to face obstacles.

Full story on The Star