DUBAI // The Dubai Health Authority has recruited 531 nurses from countries including India, the Philippines and Jordan to cope with urgent demand in new hospitals.
Many of the nurses are highly specialised in areas such as intensive care, obstetrics and gynaecology, and as surgery assistants.
“The move is in line with growth of the health sector in Dubai,” said Abdulla Balhouma, head of planning and recruitment at the DHA.
“A few of DHA’s projects will be completed shortly, and thus we began the recruitment drive.
“The recruitment has been based on a detailed workforce plan that takes into consideration various factors such as speciality of manpower needed, number of nurses for each hospital bed, and so on.”
Expansions of the Trauma Care Centre at Rashid Hospital and the neo-natal unit at Latifa Hospital are nearly completed.
Mr Balhouma said more people were opting for careers in nursing.
In addition to the recruitment drive overseas, the DHA has been working with medical colleges in the UAE to recruit more Emirati nurses.
Mr Balhouma said the DHA also provided training opportunities for its nursing staff to pursue while they continued to work.
The University of Sharjah, Higher Colleges of Technology, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Fatma College of Health Sciences and the University of Bradford are among those offering nursing courses.
In 2012, the DHA signed an agreement with the University of Bradford in the UK to provide nurses who have a diploma with the chance to obtain a bachelor’s degree within one year, without having to leave their jobs.
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 the occupation, said Mr Balhouma.
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