How can I find RN employment in Middle East?

letina · Jun 5, 2005

They do a lot of recruiting to the Middle East

Euskadi1946 · Jun 5, 2005

I've been trying to fiind employment in middle east, but no real information. I also applied with helen & zeigler assoc. inc., but no response, any help would be appreciated. :stone

You must be a Muslim nurse to want to work in the Middle East. I would imagine with all the turmoil there these days it would be dangerous for a non-Muslim nurse to work there.

NorthER,RN · Jun 5, 2005

I came back from Saudi Arabia 7 months ago - and actually you don't need to be Muslim to work in the Middle East. Try www.medhunters.com to look for some jobs - I know that King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh is offering improved wages and hire on bonuses as they are quite desperate for western RNs.

There are jobs in Dubai, however the more lucrative work is in Saudi Arabia. Try Helen Ziegler again - send off your resume - they want 2 years of experience in your specialty and they are more impressed by larger urban hospitals than smaller rural centres.

I really enjoyed my time in Saudi, and made some very good friends. The job wasn't a great fit for me, however I do consider returning from time to time -

ruthiebaby88 · Jun 7, 2005

sorry i haven't been there myself but have always been curious about working in the middle east

i have often noticed adverts in the back section of nursing magazines for agencies which can send you there

i have learned that in places like the uk and australia you can negotiate a better deal for yourself if you go to the place and work with local agencies rather than setting it up from home - it takes more time but can make a big difference in wages and benefits - plus you can get a better feel for your agency/hospital when you are at least in the same country - although for some middle eastern countries it might be difficult if you are a lone female to rock up and start wandering around enquiring for jobs by yourself

of course you don't have to be muslim to work in the middle east = however you do have to follow their religious laws - some countries are a lot more restrictive than others - and of course if you are a man you will have a lot less trouble - the people i have talked to who worked in the middle east usually lived in compounds populated entirely by other foreign workers - they had a lot of fun socializing with the other foreigners - my friend went to was it ?dubai? and she had to have an escort if she wanted to leave the compound - other places you might not be allowed to walk around with a man who's not your husband - and some placed you might have to cover up or not be allowed to go at all

my friend had some difficulty with the ethics of practice over there since men make all the healthcare decisions for their wives (at least in the country she was in) - this means if his wife has cancer you tell him and he decides whether or not you will be allowed to break the news to her - he also decides whether or not she will be treated = my friend told me a story of working in obstetrics when a new mother was bleeding postpartum but the husband didn't feel she was a good wife so he wouldn't allow them to give her a blood transfusion and she died - of course i should stress there are huge variances from country to country -

another friend was director of the emergency room = a filipino nurse somehow accidentally ruptured the hymen of a baby girl when she was attempting to take a rectal temperature - the family came into the er with guns demanding that the facility surrender the nurse to them - the hospital had to evacuate the nurse by helicopter from the hospital rather than let her be shot by the family = my friend, who worked there for several years, reckoned that the baby girl would be left to die in the desert since she had been 'spoiled'

my friend who was a pediatric nurse said male familly members of the children who weren't used to taking orders from women or having women in charge would butt in and fiddle with their children's central lines, attempting to be in control - but that when she was firm with them they backed off

these are stories of extreme situations which have stuck in my head over the years when i weighed the options of going over there - i think it's worth doing some research so that you choose a country which is as liberal or restrictive as you like and certainly be prepared for a culture shock! the nurses who told me these stories still insisted they had a great time working over there - she stayed for 1 year he stayed for 3