12 July 2006
Muscat: A top World Health Organisation (WHO) official yesterday called for maximising the huge potential of nurses and midwives in Oman.
It was the first of a series of workshops that are planned to develop the advanced nursing educational programme in the country.
"We need to maximise the potential contribution of nurses and midwives in the development and delivery of relevant, cost-effective health services," she said.
Challenge taken up
"While Oman has taken up the challenge of setting up such a programme, intense efforts including the set up of taskforces will be required to ensure that the advanced practice nursing functions within the national context and within the country's regulatory framework," said Dr Fariba Darazi, regional advisor, Nursing and Allied Health Personnel, WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office.
Shariffa Al Jabry, Director of Nursing services, Ministry of Health, drew attention to the lack of an adequate number of nurses in the country.
To add to this, "nurses are quite often sent in for further training with hardly any replacement available to carry out the nursing duties in their absence," she said.
By Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
