43RN20

sad to say, the world is full of envy, greed, & pride, among many other evils. as members of the human family, we could all use an extra dose of generosity & humility.

just the reading of all of the comments that have been posted is an education in itself. glad to hear from you!

now i see what you mean about your experience with american nursing. doing a full head to toe assessment on a person with a sore finger does seem greatly excessive. in the u.s. each state has its own nurse practice acts, but they are all quite similar. all american nurses are expected to use a carefully spelled out nursing process & are required to show competency by delivering the same quality nursing care as any other nurse would usually & ordinarily provide in similar settings. failer to do so, can result in a nurse becoming unemployable, losing her license, & even being sued for negligence or malpractice. there is an underlying current of stress that may make some nurses overzealous, but hopefully, that is not all bad. your suggested reading materials are excellent. i agree that anyone leaving the safety of their own homeland, needs to make a study of the area & the people where they intent to go. the u.s. government issues travel advisories intended to keep its citizens as safe as possible when they travel abroad.

of special interest to me is the remark about "american style nursing". since i know of no other, maybe you could id some of the differences between australian vs american nursing. i wonder if both styles undergo a significant change as nurses try to minister to the saudi population with all of its wondrous differences.

too bad that well trained professionals have not all been treated well in s.a. i recently read an article that could have some bearing on the ill treatment that sometimes happens. in the past, nursing was viewed much the same as prostitution. if that kind of thinking still exists, in the middle east, i can understand why aus4471 described the job as "the worst job ever". it has been observed that treatment often depends on gender, & country of origin, which may have added to the bullying & dumping . for some, the great travel opportunities outweigh the poor nursing experiences during the assignment. hopefully, aus4471 was able to take advantage of this.

saudi arabia-good idea or not is an article that has drawn responses from many nurses who have or are now serving in saudi. did you check it out ? some of the responses came from nurses who are from the philippines. good luck!

hopefully, the good nurses will continue to do what they do best: *use their nursing skills to relieve suffering; *show compassion to all that they have contact with; * & seek after things that are good, moral & right. no matter their religious backgrounds, those influences will be felt around the world.

massed: since the women in sa may not co-mingle with men, it makes sense that a male rn would not be found in the women's wing of a hospital. that shouldn't mean that the rn couldn't work in units where there are men. as far as some of your thoughts about the restrictions on the activities of nurses. it is not as dismal as you think. you just need to become "street smart" the same way you would if you went from a small rural hospital in the usa to a crowded inner city hospital in the usa. while on an sa assignment , you can avail yourself of great opportunities for travel to the seashore or to spain etc. you will find that partying goes on; sometimes too much; & you may not want to "go there" & get over your head. for myself, i am used to the freedom & the safety that we all take for granted in the usa. leaving its borders produces some trepidation no matter what the destination.

Well said. Thanks.

your comments offer a reality check for those who are contemplating taking an assignment in this exotic place.

I never thought of it that way! Of coorifice this patient's behavior in one of our American hospitals would not be understood. Neither would she ever understand how puzzling her actions would appear to our hospital nurses. I'm glad you passed on your observations.

if everyone in the world felt the way you do in the filipines, there would be an end to war, poverty, & famine. please continue to speak & minister. people will know you by your actions. you can't change the world by yourself, but keep planting seeds of love through your care-giving. i wish you long life & many blessings.

thank you so much for taking the time to send the note. we need to hear from other muslims if we are to ever to loose our suspicions about their motives & their culture. are they friend or foe ? all of us should be talking to each other much more.

there have been a lot of questions r/t s.a. assignments. you will find excellent info by just doing a couple of searches. just type nursing jobs in saudi arabia into your favorite search engine. from there you can refine your search. good luck !

it would be great if you would come back to the allnurses.com website while on your s.a. assignment and give the rest of us some more answers. many of us identify with your usa experiences. good luck.

I don't have 1st hand knowledge about what it takes to directly apply for a nursing position after entering S.A. But, you can access job openings at various S.A. locations that are posted on the Internet. Just do a regular Search ie nursing jobs in Saudi Arabia. Nurses do have the option of either directly contracting with the facility or contracting with an agency. It seems that the agency rate of pay is higher. If a nurse is in S.A. & wants to apply for a position, the nurse should be prepared to have lots of credentials & copies of work evaluations, & references in order to establish credibility. Some facilities will decline the services of a male nurse. An agency is most helpful in taking care of the details & teaching the nurse how to deal with the culture & the customs. Best of luck to you as you go forward in your own career.

the rate of pay is dependent on many variables: 1)nationality, 2)agency you work for, 3)specialty area, 4)shift, 5)facility. 6)length of the assignment. the pay is often less if you contract directly with the facility.

the comment is much appreciated. as you may have noticed the article received a little flac. have you been to or are you thinking about going to s.a.?

welcome fil murse07. i am glad you found this website. sorry to hear about your struggles to make a living in your homeland. loneliness can be the worst part of any foreign assignment! if your wife is already on assignment in sa, i would hope that you would be able to see each other when you get there even if you are not working in the same facility. it is a fascinating land that the two of you could explore together. knowing the customs as well as you do, you will hopefully be able to avoid pitfalls. don't give up on coming to the usa. maybe you can start by coming as a visitor. my husband was a marine & based in your country during part of the korean war. he remembered well the soft hearts of the people, but how poor they were then & how unsettled some of the country still was. he often talked about a young boy, named rudy, who became a friend. stay in touch.

It's all in the eye of the beholder. As nurses, we try to apply critical thinking skills. But, not everyone interprets, what they see & experience, the same way. We can find many of the same problems in our own country without half trying. Our challenge is to advocate for our patients no matter who they are or where they are from in a non-judgmental manner while using sound rational judgment.

Sometimes, fathers know best!

Glad to see that you'll be re-joining the civilian nursing ranks. My grandson finished a tour in Iraq last year. No matter where they serve, not enough can be done in this country to repay our military men & women for their sacrifices on behalf of our national security. You have my personal thanks.

Thanks. I was beginning to second guess the article after 2 comments about bad-mouthing. Hope no one else is reading that kind of prejudice into it.

Culture & Religion - two different things. Not necessarily so. Think about it. Just for my information, what bad mouthing words are you referring to?

If you do not draw any attention in S.A., you may retain freedom of thought, but not expression. You wouldn't find a congregation of Jewish or Christian believers or a place to worship, at least in the open, without leaving the country.