Sharjah 24: The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHaP) has launched the “National Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery -Roadmap for 2025” to encourage more citizens to join the profession, promote public and specialist nursing academic programs, and raise the quality of nursing care and midwifery services around the country.

The strategy is built around five key pillars, which are governance, leadership, and effective legislation, a comprehensive labor administration system for the nursing and midwifery profession, high-quality health and nursing services, improving the quality and innovation in education and professional development, and scientific research and evidence-based practice.

The UAE Nursing & Midwifery Strategy is approved by the Education and Human Resources Council with the support of all the strategic partners, while it was developed by local experts and international ones from the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Council of Nurses (ICN) to ensure the adoption of best international practices. The Supreme National Committee for Nursing and Midwifery was formed with the membership of all national bodies and partners under the presidency of the Ministry of Health and Prevention to oversee the implementation of the strategy.

Among the most prominent quick-to-implement strategic solutions included in the time plan are; developing a career progression mechanism in the human resources path; including the nursing profession in the curricula from the first to twelfth grades to create a new image about the profession in society; and introducing a national accreditation program for excellence in nursing care and midwifery in the professional practice track, in addition to the investment in building the leadership capacity of nursing cadres including leadership in times of crises and emergencies.

Strategy objectives
The National Nursing & Midwifery strategy aims to enhance the scope of the profession through professional organizational policies and practices to ensure the profession sustainability and contribution to achieving the sustainable development goals; ensure the proper planning of nursing and midwifery workforce in terms of recruitment and retention in response to the needs and priorities; ensure that that nursing personnel exercises their responsibilities in line with their qualifications and experiences to deliver high-quality nursing care services, and to qualify the nursing and midwives staff to engage in evidence-based research and practices that respond to national health priorities and in the development of professional policies and practices.

Establishing comprehensive healthcare system
Commenting on the launch, H.E Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al-Owais, the Minister of Health, said: “The launch of the UAE National Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery -Roadmap for 2025 under the supervision of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chairman of the Education and Human Resources Council comes as part of the UAE’s strategic orientations towards the leadership and adoption of the best regional and international practices in the sustainability of the health system, in addition to enhancing its contribution to the comprehensive development process adopted by the wise leadership to improve the performance of all sectors and services, under an integrated work system that brings together all the relevant bodies.”

“This would help ensure that goals are fulfilled, provide the main components for qualifying national human resources in this vital sector and establish an integrated healthcare system in accordance with the highest international standards as per the UAE Vision of the next fifty years,” he added.

Commending the dedication, sacrifices, and impactful role of the nursing personnel as part of the front line of defense to combat Covid-19, Al-Owais stressed that this role has significantly impacted the efficiency of the national resilience and response to health emergencies, pointing out that the appreciation and recognition of the wise leadership to the efforts of the nursing cadres clearly reflects the significance of the nursing profession in serving the homeland and helping the UAE lead the world countries in terms of dealing with the pandemic efficiently and effectively.

Forward-looking vision
Dr. Youssif Al Serkal, Director-General of the Emirates Health Services Establishment (EHSE), said: “The UAE National Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery -Roadmap for 2025 represents a forward-looking vision to enhance the status of the nursing profession in health policies, as being one of the most important strategic professions in the health system and plays an indispensable role in supporting the universal health coverage.”

Dr. Al Serkal pointed out that the strategy aims to cement the best innovation standards in the nursing practices and build effective partnerships, as well as to keep pace with the best international health standards and evidence-based practices. This is part of the efforts being made by the UAE to enhance the nursing and midwifery profession following the positive results achieved by the “Enhancing the Attractiveness of the Nursing Profession initiative”, theme “Nursing is pride and creativity”, which aims to encourage more citizens to join the profession.

“This comes in line with to the indicators of the National Agenda for the UAE Vision 2021 and the “Next 50 years” vision, and the ministry’s strategy to provide comprehensive and integrated healthcare service in innovative and sustainable ways and to instill a culture of innovation in the nursing work environment,” Al Serkal concluded.

Relentless efforts
Dr. Sumaya Al Balushi, Director of the Nursing Department and Chairperson of the Supreme National Committee for Nursing and Midwifery, said the  UAE National Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery was the result of the efforts made by multi-disciplinary national teams from health, educational, and concerned authorities, noting that the repercussions of Covid-19 have clearly demonstrated the heroic role of the front line of defense as a source of trust and reassurance, stressing that the nursing cadres have proven their competence and capability to face the crisis with much humanity and professionalism through the provision of best healthcare services, whether about the strategic planning, the filed leadership, or the clinical care.

Dr. Al Balushi highlighted the importance of the nursing staff in developing future healthcare strategies, with particular attention should be given to the role of nursing in preventive health factors and promoting public health, stressing the need to make better use of information technology and research to boost the skills of the nursing cadres, engage them in making strategic changes in health care systems, and cement a culture of innovation as a basic methodology in providing nursing care services, through the provision of a supportive environment and development tools to enhance their competencies and their role in developing health policies. 

“The strategy provides a national framework for the relevant authorities towards developing operational plans that target nursing cadres to enhance the attractiveness of the profession and continue to attract and retain the national competencies who represent the first line of defending the homeland in times of crises,” Al Balushi said in conclusion.