Saudi Arabia Nursing???

Paid vacation, free airline tickets, free housing and no tax but nursing in Saudi is discriminatory, American/Western Europian nurses get high pay but Filipino/Asian nurses get low pay and that is the truth. And they are doing the same job. You can ask that from any Filipinos nurses who have experienced working in the Middle east.

its true that there's no income tax in saudi arabia.but,if youre an american citizen you still have to file your income tax return and pay uncle sam your dues.theres only 2 things certain in life DEATH AND TAXES

this is due to the fact that US and western european citizens get taxed unlike filipino nurses who dont get taxed back in the motherland (philippines)

i have never been to saudi arabia but some of my friends who practiced nursing there told me that Arabs tend to discriminate caucasians from the US and western europe compared to filipino nurses.....filipino nurses are highly commended in saudi arabia as what my friends told me

My opinion is based on classmates who worked in Saudi for several years. And they have different experiences related to me. A cousin of mine is also working in Saudi now. And I have never worked in Saudi.

They said that when it comes to housing, Filipino and Asian nurses live 2 or 4 in a room while American and European nurses have their own personal rooms. This is where discrimination sets in.

Yes, it is true that they are taxed while Filipinos were not but if you remove the tax from the caucasians nurses there is still a big difference between the salaries of a Filipino and an American. In fact, my friend also mentioned that American nurses have more vacation time than Filipinos.

Filipinos nurses in the past used to received big salaries but with the proliferation of employment agencies the salaries of the nurses were being brought down. These agencies instead of making Filipinos as being most sought for their skills and therefore demand higher salaries were marketing them to employers in Saudi as nurses who are willing to work at minimum wages.

Do you ever wonder why Filipino nurses who were processed and deployed in Saudi/Middle East through the POEA receive higher salaries than those who were processed by local employment agencies. Our own Filipino agencies are selling our nurses CHEAP!

And I agree with you that Filipino nurses are highly commended in Saudi.

By the way, JonRNMD, when are you coming here?

my wife and I are in NY now.....my 3 month hospital orientation would start next month.....

Used to remember last year when we were in the Philippines and busy in this site and now we are here. Time runs fast...

I have heard many stories of Nursing in the Middle East. They are very strict and conservative there. But the people I know say that they enjoy a tax-free salary, housing that is fully furnished, shuttle services to and from the hospital, and their kids get to study in an International/American school there, and they also confirmed that American nurses get a higher pay compared to others.

I spent eight years working in Saudi Arabia. Returned from last job a year ago. To answer your questions and add to the info already given-

The last I heard, a hospital in Riyadh was paying almost $5,000. a month to western nurses. That is far better than most other hospitals.

Yes, it is entirely tax free until you make over $70,000./year. You pay no taxes in Saudi and file your return for Uncle Sam, but no taxes to pay. That is one of the best reason to work there, as your housing etc. is paid for and aside from food and long distance phone calls you make, the money you make is what you bring home.

Yes, western nurses make much more money than Asian nurses or even British, Australian nurses etc. This is because your pay reflects the money you would make at home, and Americans make more than anyone else. The Filipinos make ~$1.000. a month but that is FAR above what they would earn at home or they wouldn't be working there.

Filipino nurses are not well respected by the Saudis. Sorry if this insults or angers some folks - it is not my opinion but simply the truth about how they feel. Western nurses, on the other hand, are well respected.

Regarding the housing situation, Rep, the western nurses usually share a 2 - 3 bedroom apartment with one or two other nurses. It's rare to get private housing nowadays. The Filipino nurses I worked with all had their own apartments, but they were tiny studios. Westerners had washer/dryers in each apartment, Asian nurses had ~ 4 machines to each floor in the apartment blocks. The Filipino nurses I worked with resented that but they all admitted the housing (at that particular hospital anyway) was much better than they'd expected when they arrived.

To the OP. You still have ten months of schooling left. Then you'd need at least two years of experience in the area you would be working in. That means at least three years from now. Not sure American nurses will be in great demand by then. More and more they are relying on South African nurses, as there are very few Americans working there, compared to say ten years ago. But then again it may be that the large westernized hospitals will still desire American nurses as all western nurses are viewed as desireable because of JCAHO requirements.

Hope that answers your questions.

What my friends said is that Filipino/Asian nurses share room with one another like two or three persons in a room while American nurses don't have to share a room.

Regarding salary, it range from $500 to $1,000 dollars.

As I said, I got this facts from my friends/classmates who worked there.

Regarding as not well respected , that is another matter. What if Filipinos nurses just strike for one day and I wonder what will the kingdom will say. We in the Philippines have this joke, remove all the Filipinos from Saudi and the Saudi nation will ground to a halt because we find Filipinos working in every industries, from oil drilling to healthcare, in Saudi Arabia.

Just my thought.