The UAE has joined 30 countries from across the globe in an international nursing research initiative aimed at improving the quality of nursing care in the nation’s hospitals.
The study, conducted by the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Ministry of Health, will seek to identify and understand work environment factors that contribute to nursing recruitment and retention and the quality of nursing care in hospitals. This study is the first major nursing research study in the UAE.
Dr. Fatma Al Rifae, Director of Federal Department of Nursing at the Ministry of Health, said: “With the extreme shortage of nurses globally, there is focused attention on finding ways to attract individuals to nursing and retain nurses in the profession. There is also intense interest in finding ways to make hospitals more efficient, so that nurses can consistently provide high quality and compassionate care”.
She stated that this study, jointly funded by the Ministry of Health and the Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy, is intended to provide important information about nursing in the UAE and will help policy-makers; hospital executives, educators and nurse leaders, make fact-based decisions about the structure of nursing and the hospital work environment.
The study has been reviewed and approved by the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council, which is supported by President of the Council HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Dr. Al Rifae emphasized that Dr. Hanif Hassan, UAE Minister of Health, is a strong supporter of the initiative which emphasizes the importance of the research and the contribution it is expected to make to establishing a scientific basis for nursing leadership and practice within the UAE.
The study is an international collaborative effort with over 30 countries involved. The UAE study team is led by Dr. Fatima Al Rifai, Director Federal Department of Nursing and Secretary of the Council, working with Ghada Sherry, MS, RN, study manager and section head in the Federal Department of Nursing at the Ministry of Health.
The team includes Emirati nurse research coordinators who are organizing data collection in hospitals. Through this study they will be mentored in research methods. The UAE research study engages nursing leaders from across the UAE and collaborates with an international team of nursing researchers, led by Dr. Linda Aiken, Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Aiken has met with the UAE Minister of Health and has been a strategic advisor for nursing in the UAE.
She is among the most respected health services researchers in the world, having won many distinguished honors for her seminal research. She is a nurse and sociologist and holds an endowed professorship at the University of Pennsylvania in nursing and sociology.
The research will include input from nurses and patients from approximately 30 medium and large sized government and private hospitals from across the UAE. Surveys will be used to evaluate specific characteristics that are known to contribute to quality. Results will be collected, protecting confidentiality, and compiled and analyzed at the University of Pennsylvania.
Trends will be identified to determine how best to structure nursing education, registration and licensure, practice and hospital standards. Findings are scheduled for release in 2011.
WAM