Dubai Health Authority(DHA) increases nursing manpower ahead of expansion projects.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, August 20, 2014:  The Dubai Health Authority(DHA) recently recruited 531 nurses from various countries such as India, Philippines and Jordan,  in order to increase manpower ahead of the completion of several pertinent healthcare projects.

Abdulla Balhouma, head of planning and recruitment section at the DHA, said:“ The move is in line with the growth of the health sector in Dubai. Few of the DHA’s projects will be completed shortly, therefore we began the recruitment drive.  The recruitment has been based on a detailed work-force plan which takes into consideration various factors such as specialty of manpower needed, number  of nurses per hospital bed etc.”

Presently the expansion of the Trauma Centre is underway, the expansion of the neonatal unit at Latifa Hospital is in its last stages of completion.

Belhouma said many of the nurses are highly specialized such as critical care nurses, Intensive Care Unit(ICU) nurses,  obstetrics and gynecology nurses, surgical nurses etc. 

In addition to this recruitment drive, the DHA provides several training opportunities for its nursing staff to pursue their training while they continue to work at the DHA. In 2012, the DHA has signed a MoU with the University of Bradford, which is one of the top British universities in health studies in the UK and provides nurses who have a diploma with an opportunity to obtain a bachelor’s degree within one year, without having the need to leave their jobs. The DHA also provided maternity nurses with an opportunity to pursue a one-year midwifery course that was organized by the DHA along with the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai
In addition to this, the DHA has been working with various medical colleges in the UAE to recruit Emirati nurses. 

There are in various colleges in the UAE that offer nursing education such as University of Sharjah, Higher Colleges of Technology, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Fatma College of Health Sciences as well as international colleges such as the University of Bradford.

Today, with the tie-ups that the DHA has with various nursing colleges in the UAE and abroad, there has been a steady rise in the number of people opting for this occupation.