During Her Participation in The Third International Virtual Scientific Forum at UoB Dr. Khenji Calls for Investment in Nursing and Education to Meet the Health Needs of The Community Corona Exhausted Nurses, And the Region Suffers from A Shortage Of 1.2 million Nursing Professions

Sakhir – University of Bahrain – Mansoor Al-Wanni
1 June 2022
The Dean of the College of Health and Sports Sciences (CHSS) at the University of Bahrain (UoB), Dr. Lina Mohammed Khenji, stressed the importance of investing in nursing and education, in order to build a qualified nursing workforce to protect patients’ rights and meet the health needs of individuals and society.
During her speech at the opening of the “Third International Virtual Scientific Forum”, Dr. Khenji stated that the world needs nine million nurses and midwives, to achieve the global sustainable development goals related to health by 2030, “taking into account the need of the Kingdom of Bahrain to fill the shortage of nursing cadres, within specific specializations, the important role played by UoB in offering nursing programs, and its continuous quest to keep pace with the development in nursing sciences”.
Also, Dr. Khenji praised the prominent role of nurses in the Kingdom of Bahrain, especially during the Corona pandemic (Covid-19), and them facing unprecedented challenges with great vigor and unparalleled success.
During the Forum organized by the Nursing Department at CHSS, the Dean of CHSS gave a speech under the title “Nursing Teams, a Voice for Leadership: Investing in Nursing and Respecting Rights to Secure Global Health”, in which she addressed the role played by nursing staff globally in various fields related to the professional practice according to evidence and proof, teaching and learning in nursing sciences, scientific research and its role in developing the profession, and providing the best services to the individual and society.
For her part, the Head of the Nursing Department at UoB, Dr. Magda Mohamed Bayoumi, pointed to the need to invest in nursing students, as they are the main factor for advancing the future of nursing in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and she emphasized the adoption of the latest teaching methods, which work on developing the student’s personality, to be creative in all the various nursing specialties.
The forum was hosted by Professor Virginia Plummer from Union University in Australia, who discussed the importance of the role of academic institutions in advancing the future of nursing by offering specialized programs in nursing and midwifery, which provide an opportunity for nurses to provide advanced, evidence-based care.
Also, the forum hosted Dr. Fariba Al-Durazi, the Regional Adviser for Nursing and Midwifery in the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, who shed light on nursing leadership and health security in the Middle East region, and explained that WHO has monitored the worsening of the deficit in the nursing sector to reach approximately 1.2 million, in the Middle East, especially after the Corona pandemic.
In addition, Dr. Buthaina Zakaria Murshid, assistant professor of the Department of Internal and Surgical Nursing at the College of Nursing at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Riyadh, presented a number of recent studies and said: “The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has exhausted the nurses both mentally and physically.” Emphasizing the importance of setting plans and goals for this workforce, and the necessity of inspiring nurses with enthusiasm and motivating them to enhance the health of individuals, protect them from diseases and their complications, and provide preventive health care.
While the Head of the Nursing Department at the College of Health Sciences at Beirut Arab University, Dr. Mirna Fawaz, addressed the necessity of empowering nurses and working towards achieving development goals by providing continuous training programs.
In the forum – whose topics were moderated by Naseem Saeed, the lecturer at the Nursing Department at CHSS – a number of master’s students participated, who spoke about their experiences in postgraduate studies at UoB, and highlighted the impact of using modern educational methods on developing their personalities and in developing decision-making skills, analytical thinking, leadership development, and skill management of the health team.

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