president of the uae nursing and midwifery counciluaenmc.gov.ae/data/files/annual report...

PRESIDENT OF THE UAE NURSING AND MIDWIFERY 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

[Annual Report 2016] UAE NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL

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BACKGROUND

In March 2009, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime

Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued a Cabinet Resolution (No. 10 of 2009),

establishing the United Arab Emirates Nursing and Midwifery Council under the leadership of

the Council President 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, and with the support of His Excellency, the UAE Minister of Health.

The decision to establish the Council reflects the government’s dedication to further improve

healthcare by advancing nursing and midwifery, essential components of high quality

healthcare for the UAE. The Council, in line with the highest international standards, will

establish unified, national standards for practice, education and professional conduct. The

ultimate aim is to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of the public with safe nursing

practice.

HRH Princess Haya’s role as President has been a key driving force for the establishment of the

Council. Her commitment towards providing access to high quality healthcare across the UAE is

highlighted in Her encouragement and ongoing support in identifying sustainable solutions

towards upgrading nursing care.

Council members represent all relevant healthcare and educational entities in the UAE. This

includes representatives from the Ministry of Health & Prevention, Ministry of Education,

Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Higher Education, Health Authority of Abu Dhabi, SEHA, Dubai

Health Authority, Dubai Healthcare City Authority, Higher Colleges of Technology, Sharjah

University, Fatima College of Health Sciences, the Armed Forces Medical Services, Emirates

Medical Association, Emirates Nursing Association, and the private healthcare sector.


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MISSION

Our mission is to protect and promote the health of the people of the UAE by unifying

standards for nursing and midwifery practice, education, and licensure and to contribute

systematically to improving the health status of the people of the UAE.

VISION

Our vision is for nursing and midwifery to be regulated, and for nurses and midwives of the UAE

to practice in accordance with unified national standards and to provide reliably high quality

nursing and midwifery services in all care settings throughout the UAE.

VALUES Our values ground the work of the Council in our mission of protecting the health of the public.

• We strive for excellence and a high level of professionalism in all we do.

• We are accountable to the public as we act in the best interests of those we serve.

• We are fair and act with integrity in setting and applying standards.

• We are collaborative, engaging all stakeholders in our work.

• We are effective, setting and maintaining high standards for efficiency and service.

• We are innovative, searching for the best solutions to meet the public’s needs.


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BOARD MEMBERS By end of 2016, several changes to the UAE NMC Board membership occurred in response to requests from entities represented in the Council. Current membership includes:

1. First Lieutenant. Amna Al Danhani, Chief Director of Nursing – Zayed Military Hospital,

Military Health Services

2. First Lieutenant. Asma Mohamed Al Mazim, Head of Health Education Office,

Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Interior Framework

3. MS. Aysha Al Siri, Director of Nutrition and School Health Department, Ministry of

Education

4. Dr. Corrien Van Belkum – Head of Department of Nursing - Fatima College, Institute of

Applied Technology

5. Dr. Fatima Abdullah, Senior Vice Provost, New York University-Abu Dhabi, Emirates

Nursing Association

6. Dr. Fatima AL Jasmi, Asst. Prof., Faculty of Medicine - Pediatrics, UAE University

7. Dr. Fatima Al Rifai, Nursing Affairs Advisor, Ministry of Health & Prevention, Secretary

of UAENMC

8. Dr. Khaled Aljaberi, Director, Health Regulation Division, Health Authority of Abu Dhabi

9. Dr. Layla Al Marzouqi, Director of Medical Tourism Council, Dubai Health Authority

10. Prof. Mona Al Rukhaimi, Consultant Physician and Nephrologist. Prof. of Medical, DMC,

Emirates Medical Association

11. Dr. Muhaditha Al Hashimi, Director - HCT Sharjah Colleges/Executive Dean, Health

Science Program, Higher Colleges of Technology

12. Dr. Ramadan Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer- Regulation Sector, Dubai Healthcare City

Authority

13. Prof. Sameer Awadallah, Acting Dean, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah

14. Ms. Zahra Ali Abdi, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Al Corniche Hospital, SEHA


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BOARD MEETINGS The Council Board convened twice during 2016:

1ST MEETING( 28 JANUARY, 2016)

HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, President of the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council, President of Dubai Healthcare City Authority, chaired the first meeting of the UAE Nursing and midwifery Council Board meeting for 2016 and reviewed the Council's directions and plans for 2016 until 2018. HE Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health & Prevention, HE Dr. Abdul Karim Al Ulama, CEO of Al Jalila Foundation, HE Dr. Amer Sharif, Chief Executive Officer – Education Sector, Dubai Healthcare City Authority; HE Nasser Khalifa Al Budoor, Director of Dubai Medical District, Director of the Office of the Minister of Health & Prevention attended the meeting.

Members of the Council representing the Ministry of Health & Prevention, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior Defence, Dubai Health Authority, Health Authority Abu Dhabi, Dubai Healthcare City Authority, University of Sharjah, Higher Colleges of Technology, Emirates Nursing Association, and Emirates Medical Association were in


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attendance. Chairpersons and coordinators of the scientific committees of the council attended the meeting and presented their progress report and future plans.

During the meeting, HRH, HE the Minister of Health and Board members listened to the recommendations and outputs of the "Annual Forum of the UAE NMC Scientific Committees: Future Directions" which was held on 11 January 2016 in Dubai. These recommendations included a review of the Council's strategic directions for 2016- 2018, and the most important achievements of the Scientific Committees during the past five years, the challenges facing its work, and future plans over the next three years. HRH confirmed her continued support for the work of the committees.

HRH also announced the allocation of a new office for the council at Dubai Healthcare City Authority, to be available in February 2016. It was agreed that the Ministry of Health & Prevention would support the Council by providing a budget for the recruitment of staff and coordinators to serve in this new office.

The President of the Emirates Nursing Association (ENA) presented a report on hosting the ICN

"2015 Credentialing and Regulation Forum”, in Collaboration with UAE NMC, which was held on 2-4 November 2015 in Dubai. The forum was attended by 62 participants from 24 countries representing national nursing associations and nursing regulatory bodies, and by a number of leaders of nursing from different facilities from the UAE. The participants exchanged experiences and expertise on regulation and credentialing and benefited from the application and dissemination of global standards that focus on the development of nursing and midwifery practice within the health institutions globally and in the UAE.

Representatives from ENA and UAE NMC attended a meeting with the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the American Nursing Association (ANA) and National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSN) after the ICN Regulatory and Credentialing forum. The visiting team gave an overview on


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ANCC programs including Magnet, Pathway to Excellence (PTE), Certification and other initiatives.

At the end of the meeting, the Board members reviewed the reports of the Council’s Scientific Committees. They acknowledged the achievements and approved the future steps for each committee.

2ND MEETING (22 SEPTEMBER, 2016)

The second Board meeting was held in Al Bustan Rotana – Dubai. Chairpersons and coordinators of the scientific committees of the Council, nursing directors and nurse leaders from the Ministry of Health & Prevention, Abu Dhabi Health Authority, Dubai Health Authority and SEHA participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, the president of the Emirates Nursing Association (ENA) 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 these conferences 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) and in the region supported these initiatives. The UAE NMC is a main partner with ENA in hosting and organizing these international conferences.

The UAE NMC Scientific Committees presented their progress reports:

1. 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 committees’ members and the Council Board for review.


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2. The Practice Committee finalized the Positive Practice Environment Guidelines; the document was approved and signed by the Council Board Members and it is ready to be published. The committee is planning to hold educational events for nurse leaders in the UAE to familiarize them with the documents that have been released in order to facilitate their implementation in the fields of nursing and midwifery.

3. 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 Centre. The committee’s scope of practice and future direction were presented during the meeting.

4. 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 achieving this goal.

5. 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.

Recognizing two Emirati nurses achievements:

During the meeting, two Emirati nurses were recognized for their clinical and academic achievements. Majid Salem Al Hammadi, an Emirati nurse who hold a bachelor degree in nursing 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 to receive a certificate on Prevention of Disease and Wellness of Community from Belgium.


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

THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEES

The following is a brief on the Councils’ Scientific Committees activities during 2016:

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOR PRACTICE

1. The Positive Practice Environment (PPE) Guidelines has gone through the review process established by Council. The document is submitted for final approval by Board members.

2. Participated in the education session conducted for Nurses during the Abu Dhabi Nursing Conference (2nd

November,2015 at ADEC) and the committee shared: • Scope of Practices • Code of Conduct • User guide for Scope interpretation • Positive Practice Environment (PPE) guidelines

3. Awaiting appeal to have Board support unifying and implementation of all documents developed by Practice Committee in order to shape practices in the UAE.

4. Maintain council webpage to display Practice Documents for public view. 5. The committee is planning to conduct awareness and information session on

committees’ documents during 2017.

SPECIALIZATION COMMITTEE

• The committee has finalized and completed: 1. Specialty RN

All four Specialty Scopes (Pediatrics, Psychiatric Mental Health, Community and Critical Care) completed.

2. Advance Practice Nursing • A Proposed model is ready for review and development by Committee members • The overall structure is submitted to be reviewed by Board members before

continuing the work.


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• The committee is planning to review UAE NMC standards for Specialty RNs , promote more Post Graduates programs for SRNs, introduce APRN Prescribing privileges , and facilitate mentoring support for APRNs.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOR EDUCATION

• The Committee concluded its focused work to finalize the Clinical Learning standards to be used as guidelines for schools and practice settings to establish supportive learning environments for students.

• The standards were released for peer review and public commentary. Having received minor edits, the document was presented to the Board who approved and signed it.

• Most recent issues considered included requirements for licensure for clinical faculty. • The Committee concluded its focused work to finalize the review on admission

requirements to basic nursing programs offered in the UAE academic institutions. • The Committee is planning to finalize and review the unified framework for the standards

of university nursing education in the UAE.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOR REGISTRATION AND LICENSURE

• The committee finalized the review and updates of the national registration and licensure standards.

• The standards were approved by the committee members • Feedback from other committees was sought and incorporated. • Committee members’ list was updated to ensure the willingness of the existing members

to continue and to ensure the availability of members representing the different regulatory entities in UAE.

• The Committee is planning to finalize their report and convene a task force to establish a framework for nursing registration and licensing examination.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOR RESEARCH

The Research Committee was formed recently and held its first meeting on September 9, 2016. Terms of reference for the committee were developed.


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The purpose of the committee is to:

• Develop a culture of nursing and midwifery research in the UAE.

• Provide opportunities to educate nurses and midwives in how to undertake research

• To guide the research agenda for the UAE • To develop a framework for research for the

UAE • To identify inclusion criteria for members of

the committee

Key Accomplishments in 2016

• 2 day research conference held in October 2016

• Identification of potential sources of research funding

• Secured support from Elsevier to conduct 3 workshops on publishing to be held in February 2017

UAE NMC SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEES CHAIRS AND COORDINATORS

MEETINGS

The UAE NMC Scientific Committees Chairs and Coordinators convened two meetings during

2016 to discuss committees’ plans and activities and to recommend future projects and

strategies for each committee. The following were the main accomplishments:

Support the Council’s Goals and Plans Established the research committee Published all policies and documents of the committees on the website


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UAE NMC ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEES FORUM

Under the patronage of the President of the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council (UAE NMC) HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the UAE NMC organized the “UAE NMC Annual Scientific Committees Forum” on 11 January 2016 at Grand Hyatt, Dubai. The Forum was fully supported by Ministry of Health & Prevention through the provision of the venue and the printing materials.

Intent and objectives

The Forum was organized to celebrate and recognize the excellent work of the members of the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Scientific Committees. It aimed also at bringing members of these committees, the Council Board members, partners and stakeholders together to acknowledge their contributions and to share achievements, identify challenges and to envision the future. The


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following were the objectives of the Forum:

1. Highlight the history and development of each scientific committee 2. Share experiences and achievements 3. Identify challenges and agree on priorities 4. Engage in envisioning session to imagine the future 5. Agree on main strategic directions for 2016- 2018

Outcomes of the Forum

The groups were engaged in dynamic and focused discussions. They outlined their plans and suggested an overall strategic vision. There was a consensus about the need for full funding to enable the Council to achieve autonomy and authority to issue and monitor the implementation of licensing, practice, education and other regulatory standards to ensure that the public receive the best and the highest quality of nursing and midwifery care. In addition, the groups recommended introducing the necessary changes on the Decree establishing the Council, to move the Council from an advisory to a regulatory body.

Next Steps

As a result of the group work and the deliberations of the participants, a draft of the road ahead for the Council’s strategic directions and plans for 2016-2018 is produced. These strategic directions were presented to Board meeting for approval.

http://www.uaenmc.gov.ae/Data/Files/2016June/UAE%20NMC%20Annual%20Scientific%20Committee%20Forum%20Report%202016.pdf

UAE NMC OTHER ACTIVITIES

The Council was represented in the following activities:

1. Visit to the Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC) and conducting a workshop on “patient safety: medical liability of nurses” in the 3rd international conference, 4-5 November, 2016. Islamabad- Pakistan




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2. Attending meetings of the Magnet Commission of the American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) on April 19-22, 2016, Maryland (USA) and October 2-3, 2016, Orlando, Florida, USA

3. Attending the Magnet conference “Empowering Nurses to Transform Health Care” on October 5-7, 2016 in Orlando, Florida, USA