Dubai Health Authority in collaboration with the Canadian Nurses Association begins certification of nurses in Dubai for certain specialties.

• This is the first time that certification exam is being offered by the Canadian Nurses Association outside of North America.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 12, 2016: The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has undertaken the initiative to educate and certify nurses in certain specialties in collaboration with the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA).

The move is in line with the Dubai Health Strategy 2016-2021 to focus on developing medical education in Dubai.

CNA certification is a recognized nursing specialty credential for registered nurses. It is a credential for registered nurses who meet specific nursing practice, continuous learning and testing requirements.

By offering proper education along with the required hours of clinical practice, 250 nurses from Dubai Health Authority who were prepared and eligible to take the certification test attended the first exam in two specialties, 1) Emergency Nursing, 2) Nephrology Nursing which took place today.

This is the first time that certification exam is being offered by the Canadian Nurses Association outside of North America.

Dr. Jamila Sheikh, Director of Medical Education at the DHA elaborated on the value of linking specialty knowledge through education and certification for nurses and added that oobjectives in pursuing Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Certification for nurses and employers, confirms demonstrated competence in an area of nursing practice, by having met predetermined, practice-based standards.

Dr. Ashraf Ahmed, Head of the Academic Affairs Center in the DHA’s Medical Education Department further mentioned that Certification also:
• confirms competency and specialized knowledge
• identifies the person who is certified as working in a recognized specialty area
• represents a commitment to the leading edge in health-care standards
• increases confidence of the nurse, her/his colleagues, and the public
• reflects their organization’s education culture
• gives scope to continuing competence initiatives mandated by quality assurance programs
• helps establish employer as an employer of choice
• reduces the period of orientation
• provides a broader and more current knowledge in their specialty
• sharpens the skills and knowledge in areas not utilized daily

DHA is pleased with the support of Academic Affairs Centre at the Department of Medical Education; this opportunity was made possible for nurses to obtain related knowledge to related areas of their specialty in order to provide the best quality care for the population of the UAE.