Alumni Award Recipient: Coreen Low
Taking healthcare from the ward to the world
From a childhood spent volunteering on hospital wards to leading international paediatric care initiatives, Coreen Low Kim Kuan has transformed a lifelong commitment to learning into a global force for better patient care.
From her earliest memories, Coreen Low Kim Kuan was deeply driven to help others. “I wanted to be a nurse since I was a child,” she reflects. “I joined the Red Cross when I was nine, where I did basic nursing and first aid drills.”
As a teenager, she spent her weekends volunteering in the general hospital. “I helped take care of geriatric patients,” Coreen recalls. “Looking at the nurses and the way they worked cemented my desire to become a nurse.”
That childhood dream has since grown into a remarkable 46-year career defined by her compassion, community service and unwavering commitment to best-practice care.
Today, Coreen is a Senior Nurse Manager at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Singapore, where she oversees the Cleft and Craniofacial Centre, and Paediatric Burns which is under the Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery. Among her current priorities is the development of the new Paediatric Burn Centre — a project set to transform the treatment experience for children and strengthen the hospital’s capacity to respond to burns patients during mass casualty situations.
“When children come here to do their burns dressing, they are usually very frightened,” she explains. “It will be a place where we can better manage their pain, and relieve their anxiety.”
Yet for Coreen, exceptional patient care must extend beyond the hospital’s walls. “For young nurses, I would tell them to make their presence felt in the community as well as in the hospital.”
Hear from Coreen
Global impact
Coreen’s influence is truly international. She serves on several senior boards and committees, including as Chairperson of SingHealth Nurses Wound Management Council and as a regional council member of SmileAsia, a global alliance of charities providing free surgical care to children with facial deformities.
Whether she is teaching nurses wound management or guiding parents on post-surgical care, Coreen generously shares her extensive knowledge to help improve patient outcomes.
“I enjoy sharing my experience and helping other people… and importantly, teaching them about burn prevention,” she says.
Coreen is a vocal advocate of the power of education to expand people’s capacity to help.
“It is important to be lifelong learners,” she says. “You must keep updating yourself, making sure your skills are up there with best practice.”
Elevating patient care
For nearly three decades, La Trobe University’s School of Nursing and Midwifery has partnered with the Singapore Nurses Association (SNA) to deliver Singapore’s longest-running nursing degree conversion program. As a board member of the SNA Nurses Learning Hub, Coreen has helped strengthen this enduring collaboration, which has enabled thousands of Singaporean registered nurses to upgrade their diploma qualifications to bachelor’s degrees.
“The modules La Trobe provides us are very in sync with our Singaporean practice,” she explains. “And the same lecturers teach the students in Singapore as those on campus, so it doesn't make a difference where you are based.”
As a La Trobe alumna herself, Coreen understands the life-changing impact of ongoing study.
“Studying at La Trobe put me right there on top” she says. “It was like the world opened up.”
Coreen firmly believes that professional development is the gateway to a healthier future. “I believe the quality of our learning solidifies the quality, safety and efficiency of care we give our patients.”
“Please go for it,” she urges those considering further studies. “In fact, don't stop there. There's many avenues for you to continue and to advance yourself in your studies.”
Coreen Low completed a Bachelor of Nursing (2002) and Master of Nursing (2014) at La Trobe University Singapore.