63. Palestine Council of Health, Nursing Policy Unit. The Nursing Human Resource in Palestine. Ramallah: Palestinian Ministry of Health, 1997: 65 pp.

This report presents the process of developing a Nursing Human Resource Database by using a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 3680 nursing personnel and 822 students were surveyed, including staff and practical nurses, nursing aids, midwives and dayas (traditional healers). In general, the male-to-female ratio was 1:1.17, although males represented 55% of the study population in Gaza. About 60% of the nursing personnel were employed in secondary care institutions, while only 30.9% were working in primary health care. Over 50% were employed by the governmental sector, 24% by local NGOs and 10.4% by UNRWA. About two thirds of the surveyed nursing personnel have not participated in any continuing education activities during the past 3 years. The authors recommend developing a system for updating and expanding the database. Other recommendations were focused on issues of human resource development in nursing practice.