Why is Nursing different at 57357?

Why is Nursing different at 57357?

At 57357, Nurses are acknowledged for their vital role in the delivery of quality care

They are motivated to explore new paths for career improvement and professional enhancement

Is nursing different at 57357 because you cannot but be compassionate when dealing with the most helpless who are fighting a deadly disease? Or is it because Nurses at 57357 are fairly well remunerated in comparison with their peers in most Egyptian Hospitals? I had to get the answer from the nurses themselves, and interestingly enough it was very different than what I had expected. At Hospital 57357, a nurse will finally receive what she has been denied for so many years: respect, appreciation and recognition for the noble mission she is entrusted to carry out. From day one of working at 57357 she will also receive continuous training thatwill not only enable her to excel in her job but will also motivate her to explore new paths for career improvement and professional enhancement.

Neama Fouad, Chief Nursing officer (CNO) is proud of also carrying the title of VP of the Hospital for Nursing Affairs.  “I challenge you to find a nurse with a similar title in any other Egyptian Hospital”, she tells me.  She adds that since the start of operations at 57357, there was an earnest desire to produce real change in how society perceived the nursing career for decades, looking down upon this segment of healthcare professionals. 57357’s Administration acknowledged the nurses’ vital role in the delivery of quality healthcare within the framework of a multi-disciplinary medical treatment team nurses; engaging them in combined clinics and treatment strategy teams.

But 57357 had to prepare its nurses for that, as we all know that one of the reasons for this bad perception is that the majority of the nursing work force in Egypt lacked adequate training and education. Early on, a Nursing Education unit and an in-house training program were set-up to oversee that nurses at all career levels would receive adequate training and education. Out of them, some were promoted to being supervisors, preceptors, and clinical instructors. Others were eligible to receive the TOT (Training of Trainers) certification. The crowning of all these efforts was the 2year accreditation Hospital 57357 received in July 2012 as a Continuing nursing Education Provider from the American Nurses Credentialing Center(ACNN), a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association.

Furthermore, some nurses were given the opportunity to explore and excel in new career paths, the first of their kinds for the nursing profession in Egypt.  Since the Hospital became almost entirely digitalized, the training of nurses on the utilization of the new informatics system was carried out by a group of them who later became specialized in that area.  This was no easy task as almost 75% of nurses lack the very basic English language and computer skills.  It is noteworthy that nurses were the first category of staff to successfully utilize the new system which was instrumental in reducing errors and improving patient care.

Also, what a sense of achievement for nurses Nesreen Fathy, RN, MSN, Fadia Bekhet, RN, BSN, Ragaa Elsayed, RN, BSN, Neama Foad, RN, BSN to present their first poster abstract at the 2012 International conference on Cancer Nursing in Prague on how a special nursing team was set-up to develop an intensive educational training course on Central venous Catheter (CVC) insertion, maintenance, and infection prevention.

It is no coincidence then that the turnover rate of Nurses (the ratio of the number of nurses that had to be replaced
in a given time period to the average number of working nurses) is declining over the period from 2011 till mid- 2013, as demonstrated by the following table produced by 57357’s HR department.

Turnover rate report :

” While the majority of nurses will leave because of lack of proximity, personnel family reasons, or job offers in the Arab countries, there is a noticeable drop in the turnover rate of nurses in the past two years ” reveals HR Director, Mr Ahmed Al Semary, “. One thing is certain, at 57357, nurses are always expressing how proud they are to be members of the nursing team.