Dr. Meenakshi Sundararaman was so careful about wearing her N95 mask correctly, that the skin on the bridge of her nose became irritated and a boil developed.

But, Dr. Meenakshi, a senior family physician with National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, endured the uneasiness for four days, before asking for help at the National University Hospital.

This was during the H1N1 epidemic in Singapore last June, when the risk created by the virus was not completely acknowledged and healthcare employees had to slip on personal defensive gear like N95 masks.

Dr. Meenakshi, who practices at Toa Payoh Polyclinic, was looking at patients with chronic ailments, but also serving as a back-up for two physicians doing fever monitoring at the time.

When at last she went to see an NUH doctor and had the pus removed, Dr. Meenakshi was given medical leave for another two and a half weeks, an "uncomfortable" phase when she could not wear spectacles, and therefore could not read, surf the Internet, or watch TV.

For her arduous contribution, Dr. Meenakshi is amongst 61 Healthcare Humanity Award winners this year.

Another champ is senior nurse manager of emergency services, Doris Koh Sok Hian of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

Ms. Koh, 36, fronts 30 employees who attend to around 45 patients everyday.

Ms. Koh said, "If patients are aggressive and hostile, we need to calm them down. Their anger is usually directed at the caregiver who came along with them. They won't threaten the nurses but they can get very verbally abusive".