The University Hospital organised a series of forums on nursing, including one on ‘Magnet’ principles, to mark International Nursing Day.

The hospital is a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Academic Medical Centre and part of Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) and is scheduled to begin operations in early 2011.

The 400-bed facility will include a Centre for Nursing Excellence, the first of its kind in the UAE, offering international best practices and education and research for enhancing nursing standards in the region.

Dubai Healthcare City CEO Dr Muhadditha Al Hashimi said: “Demand for high-calibre healthcare professionals, especially nurses, has grown significantly with the rapid expansion of the healthcare sector. Aiming to serve the community by setting up world-class medical institutions, our mission at DHCC is to provide state-of-the-art services and facilitate its growth in the region.

“The hospital will be strongly positioned to play a key role in achieving our mission of offering high-quality services in healthcare, research and education.”

The first of its kind in the Middle East, the nursing centre will be modelled on ‘Magnet’ principles. Magnet status is an award given by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing, and the hospital’s commitment to establish nursing at a professional level.

A Magnet hospital is demonstrated to be one where nursing delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate and appropriate grievance resolution. Magnet status is also said to advance professionalism of nursing and involve nurses in critical decisions that improve patient care delivery.

ANCC board of directors president Debbie Hatmaker said: “The University Hospital has established a winning relationship with the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, which is a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. This unique synergy is designed to ensure that the planning for University Hospital is done in line with Magnet principles.”

While the first forum was a two-day workshop on Magnet principles, the second brought together top nursing leaders from around the globe as part of the Nursing Advisory Group that is currently visiting Dubai to design nursing strategies for clinical care education and research at the hospital.

The final day of the forum deliberated on ‘Nursing Excellence’.

Attended by over 400 nurses and allied health practitioners from across the Middle East and the US, the nursing seminars were held in conjunction with Harvard Medical School Dubai Centre (HMSDC) Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research and University Hospital.

The panelists at the forum included renowned speakers such as Dr. Linda Aiken, the Claire Fagin Leadership professor of nursing, professor of sociology and director, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at University of Pennsylvania; Debbie Hatmaker and Lauren Arnold, chief nursing officer at University Hospital in DHCC.

University Hospital CEO James Kingsbury announced: “Demonstrating our commitment to developing best nursing practices and delivering the finest patient care, Magnet principles will allow nursing leaders to value staff nurses, involve them in shaping research-based nursing practice, and encourage and reward them for advancing in nursing practice. The University Hospital also launched the Nursing Scholar Programme to award scholarships for high potential nursing leaders from the UAE for the purposes of creating skilled nursing leaders for the future.” – TradeArabia News Service