CAIRO - For a long time the local media has given a bad image of the Egyptian nurse through soap operas and films, although nursing is pre-eminently one of the occupations that serve humanity. Another viewpoint says that the qualifications of the Egyptian nurse are apparent if she has worked abroad, although she has not presented all her work skills in her country. Thus society, in general, has a bad concept about nursing to the extent that this has led to young people abstaining from working in the field of nursing, which has a negative effect on the entire medical system. In order to balance the image of the Egyptian nurse presented in the media and the reality in the field of nursing, the first national conference on nursing was held on Monday in Cairo. “It is not fair to make a comparison between the nurse that is getting only LE 8 (just over one dollar) for one night shift and her counterpart abroad that is getting $ 80 for the same period”, stated Dr Abdel-Hamid Abaza, Assistant Minister of Health for Political Communications. He maintained that the true nature of the Egyptian nurse is reflected in their outstanding performance and good handling of the patient, despite criticism of the behaviour of some nurses. The media has exaggerated the bad image of some Egyptian nurse, which has angered those who are working in this field. According to Dr Abaza, a new nursing law should be endorsed in the forthcoming session of the People's Assembly (Lower House of the Egyptian Parliament). He stressed that the salaries of nurses and night-shift allowances have already increased. Furthermore, nursing schools are being turned into nursing faculties and the studies, which are both theoretical and practical, will last five years. Abdel-Aziz el-Shazli, a student in the final academic year of a faculty of nursing, criticised society for bestowing a sense of inferiority on those working in the field of nursing, stressing that this badly image affects the standard of the performance and the medical system. He added that the societal view of nursing could be rectified through organising further training programmes and workshops so as to also improve nurses' technical skills. Hanan Ali Moustafa, who is studying in the faculty of nursing, Mansoura University, noted that she chose to join the faculty by choice, of her own accord, especially given that she had transferred from the faculty of veterinary medicine. She believes that a person should start upon himself or herself so as to improve the nurse's image, noting that she agrees with colleagues in getting acquainted with up-to-date theory relating to nursing through the Internet. Moustafa also called for training courses for nurses for continuing education and improving her technical skills, stressing the necessity of developing the curricula.
