She also provides on-site crisis support. "For example, when an unconscious child arrives at the hospital in an ambulance, my team and I need to be there to provide emotional support for the victim's grief-stricken family. Separately, I have to assess if there is a concern about child abuse," she explains.

"In dealing with other types of cases, for example, young single mothers who are in pregnancy crises, I address their worries by listening to their concerns and linking them to community support services for additional support," she adds.

For this reason, she works closely with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, the police, schools and other voluntary welfare organisations.

Cracking cases
Ms Yasmin has an honours degree in social work from Monash University, which she obtained through the Social Service Training Institute, an academy of the National Council of Social Service. She also holds a diploma in community services management.

The 24-year-old, who has always wanted to help the needy, says: "My job needs me to reach out to patients to provide them with the necessary support.

"I visit them in the hospital wards or at home, and talk to them and their family members to gather more details about their predicament."

For instance, when she meets a new mother at the ward, she will find out how the mother and baby are doing and address the mother's concerns, if any.

"Often, the mothers have financial or childcare arrangement issues on their minds and worry about what lies ahead of them now that the baby is born," she says.

Upon the patient's discharge, she may follow up with home visits to see how the mother is managing at home with her newborn baby and find out if she needs any other help.

At times, she encounters cases that require more extensive investigation, such as suspected child abuse or neglect.

She says: "I may ask the doctor for an assessment of the child's injury and also contact the police to find out more about the case.

"I may also interview the child's parents, grandparents and maid, after which I will consolidate all the accounts and discuss them with the doctors and nurses."

She also visits the family a few weeks later to obtain an update on the situation.

"In sexual assault cases, police reports are a good start to my investigation and assessment of the case," she says.

Putting others first
She also conducts single mother support programmes and gives talks to educate children on child abuse prevention, such as how to differentiate a good touch from a bad touch.

In addition, she is on call round the clock for one week every month, during which she may be called back to the hospital after office hours.

This happens when, for example, a distressed family is in the hospital awaiting the news of a sick child.

"In such situations, we need to address the family's pain and trauma. They tend to start panicking when they see doctors and nurses rushing into the resuscitation room. What I can do for them is to go into the room and return to tell them what is going on.

"Sometimes, because of the intensity of the situation, we may have little time to evaluate our own emotions."

Yet, amid the emotionally draining episodes and occasional long hours, her patients' thank-you cards and photographs of their smiling faces never fail to fill her with a deep sense of gratification.

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