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160 nurses of Al Mafraq Hospital lose jobs

ABU DHABI - The employment contracts of 160 nurses of Al Mafraq Hospital in Abu Dhabi were not renewed after they failed to qualify in the clinical assessment test conducted by the hospital in February, an official of the hospital told Khaleej Times on Sunday.

According to medical director Dr Mohammed Yamen, who spoke on behalf of the hospital CEO Ralph Beaty, "In fact, we did not sack them. We had put all 800 nurses of the hospital on a professional development programme to improve their patient care skills and assessed them on that basis. Eighty per cent of the nurses secured brilliant marks in the evaluation test and 20 per cent failed to qualify."

The Nursing Department of the hospital asked the nurses who failed to get the desired scores to improve their skills before their contracts ended but they had been unsuccessful, said Yamen.

The clinical assessment test was carried out in four categories: attendance, customer service, writing knowledge and clinical work-outs.

"We did not refuse to renew their contracts. We had given them ample opportunity to improve their patent service skills and achieve the objectives but even after that period, they could not meet the requirements," Yamen explained.

All the nurses who failed to score the prescribed marks were given official letters from the Nursing Department informing them of not renewing their contracts, he said.

Asked whether the hospital's services would be affected, Yamen said, "We have already recruited 200 nurses to offset the shortfall."

anwar@khaleejtimes.com

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