Emirati nurses have come together to celebrate their work and encourage others to join the profession on International Nurses Day.
Dr Fatima Al Refaei, who set up the Emirates Nursing Association in 2003, said May 12 was an important day for the profession to raise awareness of the vital job nurses were doing.
She has been taking care of patients since the 1960s.
Dr Al Refaei and all nurses devoted the past couple of years to supporting Covid-19 patients.
They became the real heroes of the country as they worked long shifts, sometimes seven days a week, at testing centres and field hospitals.
But Sara Al Shamli, unit nurse manager at Seha’s Ambulatory Healthcare Services, said she and her colleagues did not mind the additional burden, nor did they count the hours.
“We would be called in in the middle of the night because a plane had landed with a suspected Covid case or was asked to go to testing centres at the border," she said.
Despite having five children, caring for patients is always important to Ms Al Shamli.
“We did our job,” she said. "Our country needed us and we were happy to serve.
“I think that Covid has shown others and the world how important the role of nurses is.
“They were at the forefront caring for patients and their families and putting themselves in danger. Their role was quite amazing so I salute them and all nurses around the world."
Dr Al Refaei was one of the first Emiratis to complete a bachelor's degree in nursing. She also holds a doctorate in nursing and has received the Abu Dhabi Award given by the Crown Prince Court to honour the "unsung heroes of the pandemic".
She has helped to launch training and teaching programmes for nurses and hopes more Emiratis can join the field.
“I salute the commitment and hard work of Emirati nurses and nurses all over the world," Dr Al Refaei said.
"I ask them to continue caring for people with compassion. This is something only they can provide in the medical field but I also ask them to take care of themselves so they can take care of others.
“I would also like the community to encourage their children to join nursing because we need more nurses in the field. If we all believe in the importance of the role of nurses then it is a national commitment to encourage more Emiratis to join.
"The government and the leadership have shown tremendous support but we also need the support of the community."
Of the 6,311 nurses in Abu Dhabi’s Seha facilities, 170 are Emiratis. Only one is an Emirati man. Many of the rest are Asian.
But the number of Emiratis joining the profession is gradually on the rise.
Zainab Lari, 35, Seha’s corporate nursing governing and performance officer, said perceptions were changing.
She said she faced some strong opposition from her family when she decided to become a nurse.
“My father told me to follow my passion which nursing has always been," Ms Lari said. "But my uncles and extended family opposed it because of the long hours and because it meant having to work with the opposite gender.”
Those negative views changed when her cousin, 3, accidentally dropped boiling tea on herself at a family gathering.
“I rushed to do some basic first aid and this is when they realised how important the role of a nurse is," Ms Lari said. "Being a nurse is not just about giving medication.
“There is a push from the government and Seha to increase the numbers of nurses and now we need the support of the community as well."
International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world each year on May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth, to highlight the contributions that nurses make to society.
Nurses in UAE support the fight against pandemic - in pictures
UAE’s revised Cricket World Cup League Two schedule
August, 2021: Host - United States; Teams - UAE, United States and Scotland
Between September and November, 2021 (dates TBC): Host - Namibia; Teams - Namibia, Oman, UAE
December, 2021: Host - UAE; Teams - UAE, Namibia, Oman
February, 2022: Hosts - Nepal; Teams - UAE, Nepal, PNG
June, 2022: Hosts - Scotland; Teams - UAE, United States, Scotland
September, 2022: Hosts - PNG; Teams - UAE, PNG, Nepal
February, 2023: Hosts - UAE; Teams - UAE, PNG, Nepal
RESULTS
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: Najem Al Rwasi, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
2.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Fandim, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri
3pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Harbh, Pat Cosgrave, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
3.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Wakeel W’Rsan, Richard Mullen, Jaci Wickham
4pm: Crown Prince of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Jawaal, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri
4.30pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup (TB) Dh200,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
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Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
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It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
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- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
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