New College to Address Shortage of Nursing Staff

New College to Address Shortage of Nursing Staff
Maha Akeel, Arab News


JEDDAH, 1 November 2006 — The wife of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Princess Hessa Al-Shaalan, will open today the Nursing College of King Saud University for Health Sciences at the National Guard Health Affairs in Jeddah.

“The National Guard Health Affairs is concerned with the essential role of nursing in Saudi Arabia and in raising its scientific and practical standards to match the latest developments in the field which is an important aspect of health services,” said Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, CEO of NGHA.

The vision for the college is to be an exceptional center for teaching nursing and its philosophy by emphasizing the most important values of caring in all aspects, especially religious and historical with consideration for social changes in Saudi Arabia. Its programs aim to prepare Saudi women nurses, who have proven themselves responsible and capable of providing complete nursing care over the past 40 years.

The Nursing College in Jeddah has already begun its academic work and enrolled 60 female high school students for the 2006/2007 school year.

A nursing college was established at Riyadh’s King Abdul Aziz Medical City five years ago by a royal decree and shortly afterward, another decree was issued for establishing a college in Jeddah.

Both colleges offer bachelor degrees in nursing. The decision to establish these colleges by the National Guard is an effort to address the huge shortage of nurses in Saudi Arabia.

The Jeddah college has five lecture halls and three labs, a conference hall and other facilities and is fully equipped to provide a healthy academic environment at the highest standards. Two curriculums are offered — a four-year program for high school graduates and a two-year program for BS graduates.