Since 2011, we have led the effort to build a network of nurses for healthcare diplomacy. By sharing our experiences of caring, we bridge political and social barriers.
Our Mission
Nurses in the Middle East is a Israeli-Palestinian joint organization to promote regional health and connect nurses to each other, regardless of political, ethnic, or religious identity.
We seek to encourage nurses to be ambassadors of caring and through patient care, create communities of compassion & understanding. While our political systems have built borders and checkpoints, we insure that care has no boundaries and carries no identification card.
Through outreach, nursing exchange, education, and research, we build lines of communication throughout our region and the world. This network supports community and individual holistic health.
“It all started when a severely injured Palestinian truck driver—crushed pelvis, abdominal hemorrhage, and left-foot amputation. After three months of caring for this patient, he needed rehabilitation closer to his home in Hebron. We [Israeli nurses] wanted to insure that his still-healing injuries received care, and needed to formally hand over his care to a Palestinian nurse. After reaching out through doctors and non-profit organizations, I found no nurse-on-the-ground to whom I could transmit the patient’s information. Despite being less than 100 kilometers from each other, I didn’t know any nurse to reach out to. This is how we began- from the need to begin speaking to each other. ”
What We've Achieved
- Created West/East Jerusalem collaborative Board of Directors, who meet by-monthly formally, and work constantly on our projects.
- Joint-research project on East/West Jerusalem nurse burn-out.
- East/West Jerusalem nurses exchange.
- East/West Jerusalem think tank to develop standards of practice for Mass Casuality situations.
- Presented at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (2017)
- Co-Founders awarded the Nightingale Award (2017)
- 3 Annual International Conferences, supported by Watson Caring Sciences. Attendance has quadrupled since the first conference.
- Conference abstract publication in the International Journal of Healing and Caring
- Sponsored Palestinian Nurses taking the National Certification course and exam.
- Ongoing joint research on 1) infant injuries 2) hope in West/East Jerusalem
- Consensus papers written by nurses from 12 countries. Publication TBA