UCQ celebrates contribution of nurses

People came to celebrate International Nurses Day with the faculty and students of UCQ to learn more about nursing education and utilise the knowledge and expertise of the faculty and students to gain an understanding of some of their own health issues.

The event provided an opportunity for people to not only check their blood pressure and blood sugar levels, but also receive information about healthy eating and living.

Many people wanted confirmation that their heart rate and blood pressure were fine, while others suspected they were not as healthy as they hoped and welcomed the advice to start taking action.

“We are extremely proud of the knowledge and dedication of our volunteers,” said Iman Galal, UCQ manager (Marketing and Events) and organiser of the event. “It’s a sign of true leadership that students, their nursing educators and Dr Kim Critchley, our dean and CEO at UCQ, offer their time for such an important community event.”

“Nursing has advanced from the role of a handmaiden to the profession it is today, with nurses working in schools, at the bedside, in the community, as researchers and as leaders in the healthcare community,” said Dr Critchley. “This event is an opportunity to celebrate the great contributions of nurses past and present and to also see first-hand the students at UCQ who will be tomorrow’s leaders as Qatar moves towards the grand vision of healthcare.”

That history was on display at the booth with pictures and information about local, regional and international nursing leaders - from Rufaidah al-Aslamia, the first Muslim woman to be a nurse, to Dr Nabila al-Meer, deputy chief of Continuing Care and Supreme Council of Health Nursing Affairs Organisation and the first Qatari nurse to earn a PhD, and Dr Helen Mussalem, the Canadian nurse who changed the standards of nursing education.