Going to the Middle-east

hi,

i'd like to know how is it working in SAUDI? When new nurses arrive there how long usually does the orientation lasts? are the preceptors friendly? I just wonder if is it hard to work in saudi since that country has a very different culture... how is it to take care of Arab patients?

thanks for the replies...........

Hello Marge.

Working in Saudi is quite challenging. Nursing practice is all that same, just that we have to be open with doing some works the we don't usually do if we are to practice nursing in our homeland. Also, techno wise, we are somewhat of privilege since we are having the chance to work and get skilled in using high-tech medical equiptments. 

Of course just like working in any other countries, working in SAUDI entails one to get accustomed with the people's way of life.  Language is always the big barrier to a therapuetic nurse-patient relationship for first timer nurses.  But anyway, not much of a big deal since everything is LEARNED in time.

The orientation usually lenghts from 2 to 3 weeks. Depending on the hospital you will work with. In our facility, The new comer nurse must first attend a one week nursing education that covers lectures on hospital's policy, procedures and Guidelines, A course on I.V therapy and medicine administration, fire and disaster mgt course, BCLS etc etc....the Nursing education will end up with an exam that covers topics that have discussed throughout the nursing education week.  After the education, the nurse will then be exposed to his/her area. For one to two weeks he/she will be an orientee.  The new nurse  wont be allowed to handle a patient unless he/she will show a level of competence acceptable for safe nursing practice. 

PRECEPTORS/MENTORS....depends, some are friendly, some are strict in a right way, and some are strict in a wrong way.  Seniority rules. So it is good if you'll humble yourself during your first few months.  The thing is, you have to prove everyone that you are new to the hospital, but not a new nurse and so is also equipped with the nursing knowledge, skills and attitudes.

If I may ask, you are heading to which part of KSA? And in what hospital facility you will be working with?

God Bless and Good Luck

thank you so much for the information... i really appreciate it...

I'm not still going to KSA, I'm just asking questions regarding this matter because I will be having an interview this friday at skills international, they are hiring nurses for royal commission... I'm not sure if that's in Yanbu or Jubail....

I actually took the Ielts exam last week and looking forward for the results this friday - same day as my interview for ksa- ........... if I'll hit my target score, I'll probably be heading to Australia..if not then Saudi...

You know,,, it's getting hard for us nurses here in the Philippines...really hard... haha!!! I just turned 25 and I'm really determined to go abroad this year WHEREVER!!! it took me this long coz of all the international exams like Nclex and Toefl...unfortunately because of retro still can't go to US..

and that's the reason why I'm asking many many questions bout KSA coz I have chances of working there... I'm actually a bit scared of Arabs... hehe

thank again!!!! more power..

thank you so much for the information... i really appreciate it...
I'm not still going to KSA, I'm just asking questions regarding this matter because I will be having an interview this friday at skills international, they are hiring nurses for royal commission... I'm not sure if that's in Yanbu or Jubail....
I actually took the Ielts exam last week and looking forward for the results this friday - same day as my interview for ksa- ........... if I'll hit my target score, I'll probably be heading to Australia..if not then Saudi...
You know,,, it's getting hard for us nurses here in the Philippines...really hard... haha!!! I just turned 25 and I'm really determined to go abroad this year WHEREVER!!! it took me this long coz of all the international exams like Nclex and Toefl...unfortunately because of retro still can't go to US..
and that's the reason why I'm asking many many questions bout KSA coz I have chances of working there... I'm actually a bit scared of Arabs... hehe
thank again!!!! more power..

-marge0409

Best of Luck Marge. Break a leg on your interview this coming friday.

I'll also be praying that you'll have an acceptable IELTS bandscore in all of its components.

I always have a good impression on young nurses who are so much eager to explore nursing overseas. Your strong determination to go abroad WHEREVER tells me that you are really a nice SOMEBODY who dare to  challenge life by taking  chances and  opportunities of once in a lifetime.

I bet, you will be fine.

God Bless you always Marge.

Keep us updated here, Marge.   Good luck

hi, im a newbie in this forum but i find it really helpful and informative.. Kudos to those people with good heart who find ways to help other nurses.

btw, im also leaving for dammam hopefully this month and i would like to know if u have any feedbacks re: ER dept in saudi.. how is it? Im employed at al mouwasat in dammam and as of now i have no idea how the emergency dept is being ran in saudi..

Thanks in advance for any feedbacks.

 tinks

hi, im a newbie in this forum but i find it really helpful and informative.. Kudos to those people with good heart who find ways to help other nurses.
btw, im also leaving for dammam hopefully this month and i would like to know if u have any feedbacks re: ER dept in saudi.. how is it? Im employed at al mouwasat in dammam and as of now i have no idea how the emergency dept is being ran in saudi..
Thanks in advance for any feedbacks.
 tinks

-tinks

Dammam is a wonderful place on the Eastern part of the Kingdom.  Alot of workers from Dammam does travel to Bahrain for escapades, being the nearest neighboring country of the KSA's eastern border.

Emergency Room has always been the busiest place of any hospital. So much more in Saudi Arabia.  Expect that you will have to cater more cases related to Road and Traffic Accidents as plenty of the Arab drivers are reckless.  They have too much confidence that they have wide/broad highways, thus they are always on overspeeding, as a result, Much of the mortality/morbidity rate in KSA is correlated with RTAs.

In Government Hospitals, the Emergency rooms are very much crowded as they cannot easily accomodate admissions since wards/units are always on full house. Patients will tend to stay in ER longer, till the time that a bed in the ward becomes available.  It is the number one problem that we are facing, even with military hospitals.

As an ER nurse, it is expected that you are gifted with the ability to think and move quick. I mean, you should be able to work other time pressure.  And also, prepare your vigor as it is the most stressful area of the hospital. I am pretty sure you know about it since you've already been an ER nurse in the Philippines, you just have to condition yourself to be more prepared when the actual battle sets in.

Wishing you all the best on your nursing adventure in KSA. Let us know once you are here.

God Bless you more.

hi,

it's me marge.. by the way i just wanna share something.. i'll be having an interview this friday.. the hospital is in QATAR- hamad gen hos. I've searched it in the net and it is a big hospital, i'd like to know if QATAR is also tax free just like KSA??

I believe Qatar is an open country so might as well if the offer is great then I'm gonna grab it..I wish they would also offer us a yearly vacation on top of the benefits..hmmpp...

haysss... wish me luck!!!

marge

hi,
it's me marge.. by the way i just wanna share something.. i'll be having an interview this friday.. the hospital is in QATAR- hamad gen hos. I've searched it in the net and it is a big hospital, i'd like to know if QATAR is also tax free just like KSA??
I believe Qatar is an open country so might as well if the offer is great then I'm gonna grab it..I wish they would also offer us a yearly vacation on top of the benefits..hmmpp...
haysss... wish me luck!!!

marge

-marge0409

Good luck, Marge.  Keep us updated here. 

hi,
it's me marge.. by the way i just wanna share something.. i'll be having an interview this friday.. the hospital is in QATAR- hamad gen hos. I've searched it in the net and it is a big hospital, i'd like to know if QATAR is also tax free just like KSA??
I believe Qatar is an open country so might as well if the offer is great then I'm gonna grab it..I wish they would also offer us a yearly vacation on top of the benefits..hmmpp...
haysss... wish me luck!!!
marge

-marge0409

Hi Marge.

Yes working in Qatar will give you the privilege of having a TAX-FREE salary.

Good Luck and God Bless

hi,

i'm new at this.. i just applied at the POEA because my friends told me that the SRO is not accepting walk-in applicants anymore.. I just want to ask for any opinion regarding this.. how sure is it that the POEA will forward the said application requirements to the SRO? and what reassurance can 1 have that papers are not being misplaced? because a friend of mine applied Sept of last year at the POEA and was not texted by the SRO while another friend of mine who just applied this january at the same office was texted by the SRO just this march.. so this friend of mine who was not texted, had to go to manila POEA just to pass her papers and hoped to be texted..

Do things like this really happen?

jc

Hello JC.

Due to the heavy applicants, and considering the number of applications SRO is receiving direct from the POEA each day, it is never impossible that files may get lost along the way.

No doubt that the POEA is doing their part. The problem lies with the Saudi Recruitment Office. I visited the SRO middle of last year during my annual vacation, I myself have seen the thousands of applications filed at their desks. It seems to me that they are so disorganized, and the way I look at it, there is this great chance of applications getting rambled and may result to earlier applicants getting bypassed by the new applicants , just like the story of your two friends.

It is a good idea though that they no longer entertain walk-in applicants. So as to make things less complicated.

I have heard plenty of SRO misfortune stories and I feel bad about this since SRO is never like that 5 years ago.  For now, I suggest that you submit another application with POEA.

Please keep us posted.

God Bless you JC.

hi, tnong ko lang kung mabilis ba ang deployment sa saudi, just got an offer letter from king abdulaziz medical city.. any feedbacks about this hosptl, esp. the accomodation? tnx...

hi, tnong ko lang kung mabilis ba ang deployment sa saudi, just got an offer letter from king abdulaziz medical city.. any feedbacks about this hosptl, esp. the accomodation? tnx...

-mj1217

Hello MJ. Welcome to our forum.

The King Abdul Aziz Medical City is a hospital situated in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.  It is one of the facilities operated by the Kingdom's National Guard and Health Affairs, and is formerly known as King Fahad Natioanal Guard Hospital.  

The salary offer is very good and the benefits are really great. To name a few; the contract is yearly and renewable, every 6months vacation with free round trip ticket, good accomodation, daily shopping trips, good working environment etc etc...

The NGHA usually have this so called "READY VISA" whenever they go for recruitment trip, so I believe the deployment is fast.  However, the timeframe also depends on how timely the applicants can meet the recruitment and visa application requirements.

I suggest that you visite their official website for more detailed information. The Website address is:

http://www.ngha.med.sa/English/MedicalCities/AlRiyadh/Pages/default.aspx

I wish you all the best. Please keep us posted.

A FRIENDLY REMINDER:

Since our site is considered as an international forum with loyal readers and members bearing different nationalities, We would strongly encourage everyone to use the english language as our formal communication tool.  Hoping for good compliance.

Hi nurse idol i applied in KSA 2005 i passed the exam and the interview but because of personal reason i was not able to go there.Can i  apply again?  As of now i dont know where to apply i am also considering Canada but my ielts expired already. just like many nurses i am also patiently waiting for the retrogression to end.
Thanks and hope to hear from you.

Hi nurseidol,
               Im new here in the forum and also got thesame concern as everyone. Im an RN here in the Phil's for a year already but got no hospital experience yet due to some problems that arise wayback from the time i graduated. As you know, most of the nursing grads who didn't got hospital jobs joined the BPO world, and sad to say that im one of them. But on the other hand, I learned some skills and earned for a much bigger amount than working in the hospital.. but taking the risk of no having professional growth. Now im back to where i think I should be, good thing I was hired by MOH-HOP last July 6 considering that I have no clinical experience and hopefully to complete my final evaluation tomorrow. I took the offer and was assigned under HOP. I didn't know much about it and thank you for providing some infos. But I got some concerns again - do they have food benefits? and if so, is it given in a monetary form or like actual food already? (sorry, im just eager to know the specific answer). Im just worried because Im not really fond of cooking, if it may be given in a monetary form ill be obliged to cook on my own, LOL!!.. And also, I was assigned to Dibah Hosp. Thats how I heard from the one who assigned me, but there are little infos on the net about it and from what I actualy saw on the net was Duba in Tabuk - its like a small city near  the red sea. Can  you please provide me infos about this and also the weather, culture and norms of people out there. As you may understand, im still anxious because this is my first clinical experience, first travel abroad - everything's first I guess, hehe..

Thanks in advance. More power to everyone. I appreciate for any info shared.

Hello friends,
 
I'm Jen and I'm one of those nurses who have wasted   my valuable time (past 3yrs)waiting for USA,theres no positive news about retrogression as yet,therefore now i've decided to move to middle east preferrably kuwait/dubai.if everything goes well then i'll get a chance to go by this yr end,but i have some doubts regarding this,
Is there any type of contract in kuwait?
If the retrogression in US is lifted up then will i be allowed to resign and allowed to go for visa interviw? cos my ultimate target is US and i've spent lots on that.
Also i've heard that in middle east ,when we are in a contract,our passport remains with the employer,is this true?
please help me with some info on this....
many thanx

hi there.:) I'm new here. I've been reading forums lately regarding nurses wanting to go abroad. I just want to ask (huhu please do answer, thank you so much). I have a 2-year hospital experience but only in a 50-bed capacity hospital. Would that give me a great chance to be employed in one of Riyadh's government hospitals? I'm so pressured right now :( for my in-laws are working in 2 of Riyadh's biggest hospitals, and those hospitals require a 2-year hospital experience in a TERTIARY hospital... *sigh*
God bless us all! take care, dear nurses...

-carla-ysa

Hello Carla. I would like to first and foremost welcome you to our forum. Pleasure having you here with us.

Huge tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia generally requires an applicant to have at least 2 years of working experience in a secondary or tertiary hospital more so if you are a first timer. 

Can I know what are the names of the hospitals your in-laws are working with?

You may want to try submitting your documents to SRO via the POEA. There are plenty of big MOH-operated hospitals in the Kingdom that may accept your experience. However it is not guaranteed that you will be working in Riyadh, nor in the hospital where your in-laws are working.

Good Luck and God Bless you.