Nurse Matt has been contemplating a lot of things lately. It has been his lifelong dream to work as a nurse outside the country, especially United Arab Emirates. Oh UAE, how he longs to see that beautiful country, to stroll around the busy streets and appreciate its wonders. Dubai. Someday, he will go there, someday, he is going to do all those things.

As he filled up his application for nursing school, he was thinking about this and all the opportunities waiting for him there. Now that he is already a Registered Nurse, he is thinking, maybe it’s finally the time to reach for his dreams. Maybe, now’s the perfect moment to make a move and seize all those things he has been dreaming about since he was just a kid. But wait, how is he supposed to do this? He knows everything’s not that easy and he needs to fulfill some requirements, but what are those? And most especially, what is this HAAD exam that he has been hearing a lot lately?

For us nurses, exams are a constant part of our lives. We spent long nights reviewing for quizzes and long exams in college, braved the local nursing board, and then there’s the NCLEX. And oh, the HAAD exam.

HAAD: What about it?

Those nurses planning to work abroad will always encounter some requirements that they need to fulfill. It may include specific years of hospital experience, educational backgrounds and a series of exams and certificates. Take for example countries like Abu Dhabi and United Emirates, those who wish to work there as nurses must have a HAAD certificate since the emirate of Abu Dhabi requires all medical professionals who wish to work in their area of jurisdiction to be registered at Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

HAAD, which aims to provide a solid foundation for licensing health professionals in Abu Dhabi by the use of assessment tools that measure core and specialist competencies required for each professional group, gauges the theoretical capability of aspiring healthcare professionals including doctors, pharmacist and nurses.

The HAAD exam, in many ways, is similar to the NLEX-RN and must not a test to be taken for granted. Like any other, it must be treated seriously and the exam taker must come prepared, or else, he/she will fail. When one passes this exam, he/she will be given the license to practice their profession and can legally be deployed in any private health care facilities in Abu Dhabi.

 

What more should I know about the HAAD exam?

For one to take this exam, he/she must first pass the local board exam and have an updated Passport together with his/her RN license. If possible, one should have a 2-year hospital working experience (1 year in Med-Surg ward & 1 year in a specialty area)or must be currently working.

Like the NCLEX, the HAAD exam can be taken at Pearson Vue testing centers and is composed of 150 multiple choice items, which the nurse must answer within three (3) hours, which may mean 50 questions per hour. But before that, first you need to create an account and schedule your exam date before you can see the nearest exam locations.

 

Common exam topics

The questions included in this exam are usually geared towards measuring the nurse’s fundamental and basic knowledge about the nursing profession, common topics may include:

• Congenital heart defects (cyanotic or acyanotic), heart auscultation sound or murmur
• Vfib, Afib, Vtach, SVT and corresponding drugs like amiodarone, lidocaine, atropine sulfate etc.
• Diabetes Mellitus, insulins & their peak hours, hypoglycemia
• CHF
• Pancreatitis
• Diabetes Insipidus
• Drugs (Inderal, digoxin, asthma drugs, mannitol)
• COPD
• BPUD (gastric and duodenal)
• Fundamentals: charting, erasure of wrong-entry of data, drug preparation and administration, drug computation, IVF computation, NGT feeding
• Pain management
• Dehydration in infant/children
• Maternal nursing: boggy uterus, abortion
• Nsg. intervention for increased ICP
• Wound dressing and healing
• Stages of burns
• Psychia: days before the effectivity of antipsychotic drugs, bipolar mood dso., antisocial personality disorder, defense mechanisms
• CPR, choking (BLS)
• Cellulitis
• Nephrotic syndrome
• CAT scan, x-ray
• Anatomy and Physiology of skeletal system
• Thyroidectomy
• Total hip replacement
• Ventricular fibrillation
• Obsessive Compulsive disorder, Manic disorder
• Evidence- based Nursing
• Computation and conversion mg-mcg then desire dose/stock dose x ml
• IV drip rate computation ml/hr
• Nursing Care Plan/SOAPIE
• Senior Nurse liability if mentoring the junior nurse.
• Cardiac Problems

 

As people who deal with other people’s lives daily, it is important that nurses are knowledgeable and skilled enough to do this work, which is the main reason why board examinations are conducted. Remember, in this critical profession that we have, even a single mistake can cost a person’s life.

 

Sources:

https://www.nursingguide.ph/article_item819/Brief_Info_About_HAAD_Exam_for_Nurses.html#ixzz2sWU4TUwR

https://haadexamination.blogspot.com/p/study-guides.html

https://haadexamination.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-is-haad-rn-haad-rn-stands-for.html