Call to unify all nurses across the Emirates

Nurses across the United Arab Emirates are being invited to sign up to the Emirates Nursing Association (ENA) in a bid to strengthen the voice of the profession within the country.

The ENA has less than 500 members at present, with most working in the government sector, but wants to see the country's total nursing workforce of 18,000 nurses join its ranks in the coming year.

Fatima Al Rifai, chief nursing officer at the Ministry of Health (MoH) and a lead member of the ENA, told Medical Times that the time was right for the five-year old association to expand it's remit to support all active nurses.

"It is a UAE nurses association, not just for UAE national nurses. It is open for all, and we are encouraging nurses to join and get professional activities going. All nurses around the world have associations and we should have one too," Al Raifai said.

The ENA sent a letter out to all hospitals in the country lat month requesting that  an ENA ‘coordinator' be established in every organisaiton to act as a link between the association and front line nurses.

Samaya Al Mamari, an ENA board member said: "We are the body to support nurses and to improve the image and develop nursing in the UAE.  We need a strong body that nurses can come to if they have issues or problems."

One of the association's main aims is to keep nurses up-to-date with opportunities for continuing professional development, which will become mandatory for all nurses under new regulations being rolled out across the country this year, Al Rifai said.

Another aim is to improve the health of the population through community awareness campaigns, said ENA president Obaid Al Jenaidi.

This month, teams of up to seven ENA volunteers will carry out diabetes and hypertension checks every evening in four shopping malls in Abu Dhabi, and one in Ras Al Khaimah, he added.

They expect to see up to 5,000 people and will publish the results of how many new cases of high blood sugar and blood pressure the teams identify in next month's newsletter.

The ENA is also in the proess of developing a website and a databse of members, due to be rolled out next month.

Full ENA membership costs AED250 for nationals, AED125 for non-nationals and AED65 for students. For more details on membership please contact your ENA coordinator or the ENA office on 02 641 6977.

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