DHA hosts 3rd Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Conference.

United Arab Emirates, Dubai, May 4, 2015: Dubai Health Authority hosted today the 3^rd DHA Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Conference that was held in the Baniyas Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai.

The conference was held under the patronage of His Excellency Eng. Essa Al Maidoor, Director General of Dubai Health Authority and was held under the theme: Everyone is a leader: Empowering nurses to lead in practice, education/research and management.

Al Maidoor said: “Nursing has long been a noble and meaningful profession through which one can make a real difference to the lives of others. Nurses are the backbone of the health sector and hold a unique place in our society.  The DHA is particularly thankful to all the nurses for their contribution to the health sector and to society. At the DHA, we are keen to provide nurses with opportunities so that they can learn and grow in their careers and such conferences provide a platform to interact with nurses and nursing leaders in the field, from different backgrounds and countries, to share their experiences and examine the evolving role of nursing going forward.”

The event was followed by a welcome note by Dr. Abdulrahman  Al Jassmi, CEO of Dubai hospital as well as Mr. Fouad Chehab, Director of nursing at Dubai hospital.

The conference  highlighted innovations and research in nursing leadership and addressed issues of management in today's challenging healthcare system.

Dr. Judith Shamian, president of the International Council of Nurses, who was the speaker for this event, gave a  speech under theme, “The Nursing Contribution to the Global Agenda”. Shamian emphasized  the vital role of nursing and the concept on leadership in nursing profession and added: “The wealth of our nations depends on the health of our populations, and the health of our populations depends on nursing”.

The event was followed by the 1^st keynote speech delivered by Professor Linda Aiken from the university of Pennsylvania in which she reported results from the UAE National Study of Hospital Quality of Care. The study examined the quality care from both public and private hospitals.

Dr. Fatima Al Rifai, Advisor for Nursing Affairs, Ministry of Health and Secretary and Board member of UAENMC was the 2^nd keynote speaker of the conference who elaborated on Marketing of Nursing in the UAE.

The event sustained the momentum of discussion on latest trends in nursing leadership and the important role of leaders in this field to motivate their staff especially since nursing is a challenging profession and nurses not only play an important role in delivery of health services but also provide emotional support to patients and their families.  

The panel discussion was very interactive and included several speeches by nurse leaders from the DHA and the MOH. The conference brought together many of the nation's eminent nursing executives and prominent individuals in healthcare to analyze the unique and complex challenges facing their organizations and have exposed participants to varying perspectives and strategies that could be adopted to increase their effectiveness in leading the nursing profession's efforts to shape the on-going transformation of the healthcare system.

This event was the first largest congregation of nursing community in the UAE in which over 700 nurses and midwives from all over the UAE and the region gathered together to learn and share knowledge and experiences with their colleagues.