جامعة النجاح الوطنية
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 Under the patronage of his Excellency Prime Minister Professor Rami Hamdallah and the sponsorship of the British Council, the Department of Nursing and Midwifery at An-Najah National University held its annual conference titled “Bridging the gap between theory and practice: focusing on Clinical Teaching & Learning in Nursing” on Tuesday 15 April. The event was held in celebration of the International Day for Nursing and Midwifery at the Zaffer Masri auditorium on the old campus. This occasion was held with the goal of introducing creative strategies to develop and assess clinical training experiences in the local community and to reinforce communication between parties involved in the fields of nursing and midwifery.

On behalf of the Nursing Department, Dr. Aida Qaissi made a speech welcoming the guests representing various institutions and associations, and greeted all nurses and midwives for the International Day for Nursing and Midwifery. She also thanked the University, the British Council, the Nurses Association, the guest speakers and all the attendees for participating in the day's events. Dr. Qaissi also discussed the sacredness of the profession and the importance of nurses' sense of responsibility and morality.

In his speech, Professor Maher Natsheh, Acting President of An-Najah, welcomed the attendees and affirmed the importance of recognising the International Day for Nursing and Midwifery to An-Najah's goal of serving the local community.

He added that "given the importance of nursing in the treatment process and medical research we are constantly providing the department with the needed competencies and equipment. The most important of these provisions was the foundation of An-Najah’s training hospital which is the first of its kind in Palestine aiming at raising the scientific, research, and training efficiency of the students and workers in the medical field to match up to the international standards. In the same context, a study plan is being developed in nursing and midwifery that focuses on practical skills to also increase the learner's efficiency and bridge the gap between theory and practice".

Professor Natsheh elaborated that nurses play a unique and essential role as the direct providers of day-to-day care, and that the conference hoped to strengthen the educational clinical foundations of these care providers.

Dr. Imad Dweikat, Dean of Medicine and Health Science welcomed the attendees on behalf of his faculty and emphasised that this conference is held in celebration of science and development. He added that practical training is indispensible in order to make sure that the theories are communicated effectively to students, and that a theory’s success is measured by its applicability. The success of the application, in turn, is measured by its usefulness to people’s lives. He indicated that Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, in cooperation with the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, has set up a plan for students’ clinical training and cooperated with the faculty staff, the clinical trainers, in the hospitals and practices to reinforce and monitor clinical training.

Mr. Alan Smart, Director of the British Council Palestine, discussed the British Council’s vision and role in supporting activities that serve the different sectors of the Palestinian society, emphasising the importance of developing health sectors both globally and in Palestine, and encouraging continued exchange of expertise.

Mr. Jibreel Ishtayeh, Head of the Nurses' Association in Nablus, thanked An-Najah for holding this conference and discussed the Nurses' Association’s achievements on a national level.

Then Prof. Maher Natsheh awarded the Naseebah Al-Mazinya Award to Mrs. Najat Dweikat, Head of the Nursing Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, for her distinct performance and unlimited giving.

During the main body of the conference, participants discussed a wide variety of topics. For example, Dr. Euan Darroch, Ward Manager at Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Glasgow, made a presentation on methods of improving patient safety in a clinical context.  Other topics included training and orientation in clinical learning and teaching, bridging the gap between theory and practice, and the strategies of teaching and learning in clinical nursing, as well as objective-based clinical examination.

The conference came out with a number of recommendations. One essential aspect discussed was improving competency of nurses, clinical trainers, students, and instructors. Speakers also brought up the necessity of cooperation between nursing staff, students and trainers to achieve educational objectives, using these objectives to link theory and practice to treatment services, and increasing the number of clinical nurses and trainers who are qualified and competent. Finally, the conference attendees urged the importance of improving nurses' work environment in order to improve patient safety and service quality, and for clinical decision makers to give more attention to the working nurse force, as they are the key to public health.

 

 Notes:

1)    The conference was also attended by Vice President for External Development and International Affairs, Dr. Kherieh Rassas, Vice President for Administrative Affairs Dr. Mohammad Hannoun, and keynote speakers from Nazareth hospital.

2)    The conference also included speeches and poster presentations which covered the theories, practices, and policies of clinical nursing, in addition to experiments and project policies in the field. 

 

 

 

 

 


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