Ministry of Health to close three nursing schools

People wishing to take up nursing as a career will now have to apply to private institutes and universities after the Ministry of Health decided to close down the nursing education programme at its three schools in Sharjah, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. A source from the ministry told Gulf News Thursday the three nursing schools were closed apparently after it was found that they offered a "low level" of education in nursing. "The responsibility of training and educating nurses shall be taken up by accredited universities and institutes in the country or abroad. "Those who are interested in becoming nurses are required now to join colleges and universities accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research," said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Colleges, universities "Recently, a number of colleges and universities set up nursing schools in the UAE. The ministry believes there is no reason to keep its nursing schools open any more," the source added. He said nurses in the UAE used to be employed after obtaining their licences without proper testing methods. Standard 'not adequate' Applying a comprehensive method of assessment, the ministry realised the standard of its nursing schools was not adequate and was lagging behind those in advanced countries. The decision of closing down the schools of nursing run by the ministry will help in improving the standards of the staff, added the source. "The 105 nurses graduating this year will be the last from ministry of health's institutes," he said. The source added that there will be 28 Emirati nurses among the 105 graduates from the three schools this year. The total number of students in the past three years at the three nursing schools has reached 214. The number of Emaratis among them was 47. The Ministry of Health also decided this year to stop accepting new requests from those wishing to join its nursery staff. The nursing school graduates previously used to work in any of the facilities of the Ministry of Health for a period equal to the duration of their study, said the source. The first nursing school was established in 1972. Their number expanded later with other branches, added the source.