UAE, 27 September, 2016 - Members of the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council (UAE NMC) has recently held its second meeting in Dubai, attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health and Prevention, Dubai Health Authority, Abu Dhabi Health Authority, Dubai Healthcare City, University of Sharjah, Higher Colleges of Technology, Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense and the Emirates Nursing Association and Emirates Medical Association. Chairpersons and coordinators of the scientific committees of the Council, Nursing directors and nurse leaders from the Ministry of Health and Prevention, Abu Dhabi Health Authority, Dubai Health Authority and SEHA participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, the president of the Emirates Nursing Association announced that they have placed a bid to host the International Nursing Council Conference in 2021 and the International Midwifery Council Conference in 2023 in Abu Dhabi. The Association submitted proposals to the organizers of the conference and received positive feedback. Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, various health authorities in the UAE as well as other stakeholders in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) supported these initiatives.

The UAE NMC Specialization Committee presented their achievements, including the scopes of practice for the advanced practice registered nurses and specialized nurses. The committee will distribute the standards to other members and the Council Board for review and The Practice Committee finalized the Positive Practice Environment Guidelines, the document was signed by the Council Board Members. The committee is planning to hold an education event for nurse leaders to familiarize them with the documents that have been released in order to be applied in the fields of nursing and midwifery.

A new Research Committee, which was formed recently, held its first meeting on September 9, 2016 in the new Council headquarters at the Dubai Healthcare City - Mohammed Bin Rashid Academic Medical Center. The committee’s scope of practice and future direction were presented during the meeting.

The Education Committee is currently focusing on the development of a unified framework for the standards of university nursing education in the UAE in line with global trends and standards that focus on the integration of theoretical and practical education, where a taskforce will be formed to work on this achieving this goal. 

The Registration and Licensure Committee is developing a report on the registration and licensing standards and will be released by the end of 2016; a taskforce will be established to develop a framework streamlining the registration and licensing of nursing and midwifery examination standards.

During the meeting, Dr. Fatima Rifai, the council Secretary and Board member awarded Majid Salem Al Hammadi, an Emirati male nurse who hold a bachelor degree in nursing and had finished his internship in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City and Khadija Hassan Al Amasi from Abu Dhabi Health Services (SEHA); the first Emirati Nurse in the Middle East who holds a Certificate on Prevention of Disease and Wellness of Community from Belgium.

The Council meeting was concluded by forwarding recommendations relating to each field according to what was agreed upon.