Hillel Yaffe Medical Center presents: the First National General Nurses Conference

This week, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center was host to the first national conference dedicated in its entirety to the role of the general nurse at the hospital, a position that serves as the long arm of hospital administration in the evening, at night, on weekends and holidays. The conference was organized by Elka Amram, General Nurse in Hillel Yaffe’s Nursing Administration, who provides comprehensive support for the hospital’s administration. General nurses from all Israeli hospitals participated in the conference. A steering committee was established to organize the conference, including general nurses from other hospitals. One of the most important outcomes of the day was the decision to establish an official association of general nurses to promote this profession at the national level.

“This is a profession that is virtually unknown to the general public, but it is one of the most sensitive at Israeli hospitals,” said Dr. Shoshi Goldberg, Head of the Nursing Administration and the National Chief Nurse at the Ministry of Health, when opening the conference. It is a diverse, complex position that requires the ability to make decisions in real time, management of several channels concurrently, sensitivity and uncompromising commitment, and understanding of the hospital and the healthcare system as a whole.” In her remarks, she applauded the organization of the conference and stressed the importance of continuing conferences such as these to position the role of the general nurse and help cope with the many difficulties it entails.

From right to left: Dr. Amnon Ben Moshe, HYMC Administrative Director; Alona Krull,
HYMC Deputy Director of Nursing; Dina Fainblat, HYMC Director of Nursing; Elka Amram,
General Nurse and conference organizer; Dr. Ohad Hochman, HYMC Deputy Director;
Dr. Shoshi Goldberg, Head of the Nursing Administration and the National Chief Nurse
at the Ministry of Health; Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz, HYMC Director General

Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz, Director General of the hospital, began by saying that while the title “general nurse” is the official name, the true essence of the job is on-call director or even director general of the hospital, given the commitment the job entails. This statement was received enthusiastically by the audience.

Mrs. Dina Fainblat, Nursing Director at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, praised the work and dedication of the general nurses at Hillel Yaffe and reviewed the essence of the position, the points of emphasis and existing needs, in the present and future, while underscoring the need to provide general nurses with additional tools to enable them to be more efficient and to upgrade their role.

Elka Amram opens the National General Nurses Conference in the hall filled to capacity

Later in the day, carefully selected lectures were given on subjects such as the fields of activity and tasks of the general nurse, ethical and legal issues they face while on shift, IT systems as a tool for general nurses, the role of the general nurse and her contribution in hiring new nurses at the hospital, the need to develop “soft” skills to provide emotional support for critical patients and families, and repositioning of the job of general nurse and exhausting the potential of the position in terms of research, academia and more.

At the end of the day, participants watched a play by playback theater, which simulated complex situations from the routine work of general nurses.

“The feedback we received from the attendees was fabulous,” summed up Elka Amram. “It was important, productive, instructive and indicated trends for future work, and I therefore thank everyone who played a part in the success of the conference.”