UAE | Health
Emirati men urged to become nurses
More Emirati men need to join the nursing profession along with Emirati women, to help overcome cultural obstacles to providing medical care, says a nursing organisation on World Nursing Day.
- By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 May 14, 2007
- Image Credit: Hadrian Hernandez/Gulf News
- Department of Health and Medical Services' Emirati nurses entertain job hunters at the 7th Careers UAE 2007. Picture for illustrative purposes only.
Dubai: More Emirati men need to join the nursing profession along with Emirati women, to help overcome cultural obstacles to providing medical care, says a nursing organisation on World Nursing Day.
Many families in the Gulf Arab country object to their daughters and wives working as nurses because their work requires physical contact with men, which is a taboo in the conservative Muslim society. Male nurses will face little problem in that area.
Saeed Fadhel, president of the Emirates Nursing Association (ENA), told Gulf News there were many male nurses in the military hospitals but almost none in the civilian healthcare sector.
Awareness
"The number should be higher. [There should be] at least 30 men to 70 women in nursing," he said, adding that 30 out of 130 Emiratis, who enrolled in the Abu Dhabi Institute for Applied Technology recently, were men.
"There is no stigma to be a male nurse. We encourage men to join nursing as part of the strategy" to become self-sufficient in healthcare, he said.
He said a barrier to men joining the nursing profession was the lack of educational courses for them, with only two educational institutes offering programmes for men.
The number of Emiratis joining the nursing profession was low, which he blame on the misconception that nursing was an unskilled profession, long and odd working hours for relatively low pay.
Dr. Ali Shakar, undersecretary at Ministry of Health, said the ministry was trying hard to change the perception to encourage more Emiratis to participate.
Diploma on diabetology soon
The UAE is seeking to increase the number of speciality nurses with the first diploma course planned for December to train nurses in diabetology.
Leena Ala Al Deen, member of the organising committee at ENA, told Gulf News diabetology, which deals with diabetes, is the first to start due to its need. "The UAE is second in diabetes worldwide, so we will start with it. But we will [cover] all the specialities."
She said specialisations will include maternity, surgery, infection control and critical care.
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