Call for more Emiratis to take up nursing jobs

Abu Dhabi: Members of the Federal National Council have sounded alarm over the limited number of Emiratis in nursing profession.

The House members said the Ministry of Health must work to raise the low status of nursing in the UAE and develop nursing programmes in the country.

More Emiratis, they said, need to join the nursing profession along with other Arab and foreign nurses, to help overcome cultural obstacles to providing medical care.

Rashid Musabbah Al Kindi, a member from Abu Dhabi, said there was a misconception that nursing was an unskilled profession, entailed long and odd working hours and did not pay well.

Dr Hanif Hassan, the Minister of Health, admitted there was a problem.

"The Ministry of Health has been trying to give a boost to the profession and its institutes since 2007. There is growing demand for Emirati nurses as they account for only eight per cent in the ministry and four per cent across the country."

He said the ministry was trying hard to change perceptions to encourage more Emiratis to participate.

"Nursing is a profession that supports the larger society and is crucial in providing quality health care to all."

The UAE, he added, is seeking to increase the number of speciality nurses with diploma courses in cooperation with the Higher Colleges of Technology and international universities such as Johns Hopkins.

Many families in the Gulf object to their daughters and wives working as nurses because the work requires physical contact with men, which is a taboo in the conservative Muslim society. However, male nurses face little problem in that area.

Dr Hassan said the ministry plans to establish a college for health sciences offering a bachelor's degree in nursing.

"The Cabinet has decided to set up the UAE's Nursing and Midwifery Council under the chairpersonship of Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai," he said.

The minister added that the council would oversee professional education, development and on-going regulation of the nursing and midwifery professions across the country.