DOH/HAAD UAE Nursing Exam — 2026

The DOH (formerly HAAD) Abu Dhabi Prometric exam reflects Abu Dhabi's position as a leader in healthcare quality in the Middle East. Abu Dhabi hosts world-class institutions like Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, and Burjeel Medical City, all operating under DOH regulation with rigorous clinical standards.

Clinical Nursing Practice (35%) is the largest domain and tests advanced clinical competency across medical-surgical nursing, critical care, emergency nursing, and perioperative care. Questions test your ability to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate nursing care in complex clinical scenarios. Expect multi-step questions involving patients with multiple comorbidities — for example, managing a diabetic patient with concurrent heart failure who develops pneumonia. Pain management using WHO analgesic ladder and Abu Dhabi's pain assessment protocols are also tested.

Professional Practice (20%) covers nursing ethics, legal aspects of nursing in Abu Dhabi, documentation standards, patient advocacy, and interprofessional collaboration. DOH places significant emphasis on the Abu Dhabi Healthcare Quality Standards and JAWDA (Abu Dhabi's healthcare quality program). Questions may test your knowledge of mandatory reporting requirements, informed consent procedures under UAE federal law, and professional boundary management.

Pharmacology (20%) tests medication administration safety, drug calculations, high-alert medication protocols (insulin, anticoagulants, concentrated electrolytes, opioids), adverse drug reaction management, and patient education about medications. DOH follows the ISMP (Institute for Safe Medication Practices) guidelines, so familiarity with these standards is beneficial.

Patient Safety & Quality (15%) covers infection prevention and control based on Abu Dhabi DOH infection control policies, fall prevention programs, patient identification protocols, surgical safety checklists, and healthcare-associated infection surveillance. Abu Dhabi hospitals follow strict quality metrics, and questions reflect this focus on measurable outcomes.

Specialized Care Areas (10%) includes maternal-child health, mental health nursing, geriatric care (increasingly important given Abu Dhabi's aging expatriate population), community health, and palliative care. Abu Dhabi has been expanding palliative care services, so expect questions on end-of-life care principles and advance directive counseling.

DOH/HAAD stands out from other UAE licensing exams (DHA, MOHAP) through its connection to Abu Dhabi's JAWDA quality program, which sets healthcare quality benchmarks unique to the emirate. Abu Dhabi operates under a mandatory health insurance system (Daman for nationals, private insurance for expatriates), and the DOH exam may include questions about healthcare delivery within this insurance framework. The DOH was previously known as HAAD (Health Authority Abu Dhabi) until 2019, when it was reorganized under the Department of Health. Both names are still commonly used, and exam content remained essentially the same through the transition. The DOH license is valid only in Abu Dhabi emirate (including Al Ain and Al Dhafra regions), so nurses wanting to work in Dubai must obtain a separate DHA license. However, DOH and DHA have a streamlined license transfer process. Abu Dhabi hospitals tend to offer slightly lower base salaries than Dubai (AED 7,000-16,000 vs AED 8,000-18,000) but often provide better non-monetary benefits including family accommodation and education allowances.