DHA holds 2nd Community Health Nursing Conference.

United Arab Emirates, Dubai, September 23, 2013: The Dubai Health Authority(DHA) held today the 2nd Community Health Nursing Conference.

The conference was inaugurated by Dr Ahmad Kalban, CEO of Primary Healthcare, in presence of senior officials including Dr Khalil Qayed, Head of Medical Education at the DHA.

Speakers from all over the UAE and the region were present to discuss the various aspects of community nursing and its pivotal role in preventative care and early detection.

Dr Kalban said, “Nurses are key in the health service delivery system and they make a significant contribution in the provision of  integrated care by coordinating services related to diagnosis, treatment, care, rehabilitation and health promotion. Within the scope of primary healthcare, which is frontline healthcare, the role of nurses is extended to preventative services as well. Through this conference we aim to discuss ways to further enhance the contribution of primary healthcare nurses particularly in the areas of preventative care and early detection.”

He added the DHA has 14 primary healthcare centres spread across the emirate of Dubai and that by 2025 the emirate will have a total of 40 primary healthcare centres. “ In line with the Dubai Health Strategy 2013-2025, the role of primary healthcare in early detection and prevention will continue to be  crucial. Keeping this in mind, we aim to further empower our primary healthcare nurses so that they can provide all aspects of community nursing to their patients.”

Prof Kim Critcheley, Dean and Chief Executive Officer(CEO), University of Calgary, Qatar, discussed during her keynote address the various areas of community nursing and its importance in the health delivery system. She said: “Community nursing is not only limited to primary healthcare centres but also extends to home care and school nurses. In order to further develop this profession and ensure we at par with the latest in the field, nursing education and encouraging nurses to be part of  research projects is important.”

Dr Asraf  Suwaidan,  staff development officer, primary healthcare sector at the DHA seconded this opinion and said: “ Community nurses can be part of several  prevention and awareness programs for chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases etc, which can be conducted across the primary healthcare centres.”

The conference discussed several topics and papers presented by nurses including the role of community nurses in healthy ageing of geriatric patients, the role and scope of school nurses, home care nursing, the role of nurses to prevent as well as educate parents about child sexual abuse and breastfeeding support that community nurses can provide for new mothers.