Mariam Al Mutawa
Doha: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the largest employer of nurses in Qatar, joins the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in celebrating International Nurses Day (IND) which is celebrated annually on May 12, the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, a pioneer nurse.
Mariam Al Mutawa, Acting Chief Nursing Officer at HMC, said, “Today is an opportunity for us to celebrate nurses and the nursing profession here at HMC, in solidarity with our peers across Qatar and globally. International Nurses Day is designed to celebrate the important contribution that nurses make to societies around the world, not only in a clinical setting, both in primary and secondary care, but also in the community and in patients’ homes.”
The ICN recently stated that the theme for IND2022, Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in nursing and respect rights to secure global health, focuses on the need to protect, support and invest in the nursing profession to strengthen health systems around the world.
The need to promote awareness and recognition of nursing in the Arab world was the impetus for the decision of the Arab Board of Ministers for Health in 2021 to celebrate Arab Nurses and Midwives Day on November 3 each year.
“One of the key outcomes of this important meeting was to recognise the essential role that nurses and midwives played in the shared battle against the Coronavirus pandemic. And from this emerged a declaration to celebrate nursing and midwifery roles each year from an Arab perspective. This is a huge step forward in the public recognition at the highest level of the value of nurses, not only in regard to patient care but also of the significance of nurse leaders in helping to develop healthcare sectors and policies for the populations they serve,” said Al Mutawa.
“Today we also celebrate the Qatari Nursing Association, which has been accepted as a member of the International Council of Nurses in November 2021. This is an exciting opportunity for all nurses, Qatari and non-Qatari, to join this Association and make a difference in nursing care in this country,” added Al Mutawa.
Dr. Wasmiya Dalhem, Chairperson of the Board at Qatari Nursing Association (QNA) and Executive Director of Nursing Informatics at HMC, as been leading the efforts to expand the Association. The QNA seeks to support the development of a professional cadre of nurses and to improve the level of the nursing profession in Qatar.
ICN states that nurses continue to be challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic around the world; however, they refuse to be defeated in the face of these challenges. Nurses have confronted the challenges with incredible strength and dedication despite difficult and sometimes life-threatening working conditions.
The pandemic has certainly led to a higher recognition of the profession, and nurses are increasingly receiving more acknowledgement and praises from the public for their role in providing much of the daily patient care in any healthcare setting. ICN however has voiced the notion that the level of investment from most governments and health systems in nursing is not proportionate to the value of the profession.
