Dubai government nurses will get 'significantly' higher pay

Dubai: Dubai Health Authority is introducing higher pay categories for nurses, based on their expertise as well as their qualifications and experience.

Currently, nurses at Rashid Hospital receive the same salary and benefits as their counterparts at the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS). Their salaries range from Dh6,500 to Dh9,500 per month, depending on qualifications and experience.

Associate Professor Jane Griffiths, nursing director at Rashid Hospital, told Gulf News the new pay scale would be higher to attract highly-qualified staff.

"We're trying to introduce different grades that would allow for people to be paid based on their expertise," she said, adding the pay was "significantly higher" than currently.

Two high-tier categories, staff nurse level three and practice development nurse, will be part of the new pay scale system.

Staff nurse level three covers clinical experts in specialised areas, such as surgical and critical care, while practice development nurses would have experience and master's degrees.

Griffiths said practice development nurses would be responsible for providing "clinical leadership, rather than management", train staff and work with doctors on the best practices in nursing.

She said recruitment was underway, although Rashid Hospital did not have a shortage of nurses currently, an achievement considering the global shortage in nursing staff.

"During the last 12 months, we have been very successful with recruitment. We recruited 264 nurses. It's been a very positive thing for us," she said, adding the hospital was looking for another 145 nurses to staff a new 60-bed ward opening at the end of the year.

She said the change in the salary grading scale for nurses was necessary to offset the high cost of living in Dubai, which has been blamed for a strike threat from nurses at the hospital.

The hospital has dismissed the allegation, reported in an English daily, as "completely false".

"They are frightened and it is unfair to print a story that is completely false and put other people at risk. The nursing staff here are fabulous and they genuinely care for their patients," Griffiths said.

Some nurses told Gulf News they were worried they would lose their job or be arrested. "Of course we were afraid. We came here for a good job. It's not good to lose it. Everybody knows strikes are illegal here," said a staff nurse at Rashid Hospital.

RAK appointments

The Ras Al Khaimah Medical District has appointed 60 nurses to address a serious shortage in the emirate's public hospitals and medical centres. The district has already finished all necessary official procedures for their appointment at hospitals and medical centres.

Abdullah Al Shahin, who heads the district, said the appointment of the new nurses served two purposes at the same time. It addresses the need for more nursing staff, and many graduates from the Nursing Institute who were without jobs have now been placed. Graduating nurses have repeatedly complained in the past that they have not been absorbed. Al Shahin said graduates from 2006, 2007 and 2008 have now been appointed at various hospitals and medical centres.

- Nasouh Nazzal, Staff Reporter