Kuwait Bound Ex-Clinical Instructor

I was hired a month ago by the Ministry of Health of Kuwait to work as a staff nurse there. My problem is the only solid bedside nursing experience I had was my 3 1/2 years in a tertiary hospital as a nurse clinical instructor. Previous to that was only a month of training in MS and another month in HD, then I got hired by the school I graduated from my BSN to teach third year nursing students.

I didn't lie on my resume but passed the written and oral exams given by the ministry and on my way to Kuwait 2-3 months from now awaiting for my visa. I have resigned from the college October 2008 and have failed miserably to get hired or even volunteer as staff nurse probably because of my age (35) or lack of openings or job vacancies. So when I passed the Kuwait exams I grabbed it but now wondering if I can survive as a staff nurse in Kuwait because I have been out of nusing for almost a year now and with admittedly less staff nurse experience to begin with.

I'm also wondering why my batch mates in nusing who worked at OR and ER for almost 4 years now were not even considered by the Kuwaiti ministry just for failing the 50 item exam but obviously were really experienced practice-wise.

Thanks for your comments.