Nursing Conference Held in Bethlehem University

On 18 and 19 January 2005, Bethlehem University hosted the “First Emergency Care Conference in Palestine: Access for All.” The Conference was held in cooperation with CARE International, a U.S. based organization with offices around the world, and John Hopkins University’s Center for International Emergency Disaster and Refugee Studies.

Approximately 100 doctors, nurses, and paramedics attended from Palestinian hospitals and health-care NGOs in the West Bank. Last year, Bethlehem University graduated 10 students with a Higher Diploma in Emergency Nursing, and they also attended the Conference and presented three papers.

Participants in the Conference addressed pre-hospital care, hospital emergency care management, and ethical and legal issues in emergency medicine, with emphasis on ways to maximize the benefit from the human and material resources available in Palestine.

Following the Conference, Itaf Maqboul, Lecturer in Nursing and Health Sciences, and Coordinator of the Higher Diploma Emergency Program, stated that “the Conference was helpful in updating the nursing knowledge and skills in the Palestinian community. Also it was a great opportunity for networking among professionals in the field.”

(Click here for presentations and papers from the conference)

John Viste, Deputy Director of CARE International.

Naji Abu Ali, Lecturer in the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences

(From Left to Right): Nashat Jawabreh and Yousef Abu Omair,
alumni of the Emergency Nursing Program.