Rumor of a six month 200K RN position in Iraq????

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My friend who's a fellow RN told me about open nursing positions in Iraq. Apparently they are so desperate for nurses there they are offering $200K for just 6 months.

Any info on this? I tried googling it but with no luck :(

Specializes in ER.
Ok so i normally wouldnt respond to a thread like this because my husband, little brother, and MIL have gone over there, and my husband is now BACK over there for the second time! My MIL is an RN for the reserves, she worked in one of the hospitals tending to not only OUR soldiers, but also the INNOCCENT Iraqi's as well as insurgents who were hurt and brought to her for medical treatment. Hence the reason that this quote irks me below

WHAT DOES IT MATTER WHO OR WHAT YOUR PATIENT IS IF THEY ARE HURT AND NEED YOUR HELP??? Do you choose to take care of one color over another? one religion over another? Would you walk away from some one that needed medical attention, attention that you are capable of giving if they had a different sexula orientation from you???? What would be the difference of working here, and a family of gunshot victims came in? Perhaps one of the parents shot their kids, thier spose and then shot themselves, do they not deserve the same medical attention and would you not try to save their lives??? And of those "Iraqi's" guess what?? most of the pts my MIL took care of were CHILDREN, innocent children who were shot, in the wrong place at the wrong time that a bomber set off one!!!

Yes she had to care for a small amount of insurgents, but for the most part she had to deal with the soldiers on BOTH sides, as well as forgien soldiers, and civillians. And the base she was at DID have civillian nurses, but only a few.

My MIL said that YES it was hard sometimes to know she was caring for an individul who just got shot, but the reason he got shot was because he was the "bomber" or whatever. but she did it because she is a nurse and although she doesnt agree with what they did, she had a responsibility as a nurse to take care of someone who was hurt/sick ect.

My husband was injured by an IED during his last deployment, he was with a small group of his soldiers and out of 7 of them 4 were injured, and guess what? there were iraqi's there that saw they needed help and helped my husband and the others get back to their base camp. without their help i may have lost him!!! for that reason alone, there are GOOD people there, who have just lived and learned things differently than us, but they all deserve a chance and good medical attention.

i however, WOULD, work there, and it doesnt matter if it was 200K or less or more!

I'l step off my soapbox now! :) It's just my :twocents::twocents: anyway!

good for you - coming from my place as an Army brat first in life, then in the Army, now married to a Coastie - and my sister just left for Iraq two DAYS ago (leaving her husband and three kids behind)... you have your head on straight and good for you for having their backs! And you know, just because some individuals enlisted for whatever reason, they didn't decide when they would go to Iraq (or wherever they might be) - and likely did NOT want to go... you have to do your job. You can't quit.

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No, thanx!!! They can even treble that offer and add the same amount as contract allowance and I still will not nurse the idea of working in Iraq at present. Why? The risks involved r too many and I need not to mention them here. I believe also that one needs to have a clue of the kind of language mainly spoken there as I once encountered a problem in a foreign country working as a nurse! The interview for the job was in English but once I started working , the most annoying question asked by patients was, 'how can u come to work here when u cannot speak our local language?' At one stage I had to use a domestic worker as my interpreter as I wanted to perform a proceedure and she was not amused either as she thought that she was now doing part of my job and at the end of the day I gonna earn loads of cash in the name of 'Expartriate' and she earns peanuts as a local employee!!

One needs to think twice before taking up a job just in the name of a gud offer. Remember, when the deal is too gud, think twice!!:argue:

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Specializes in ER.
No, thanx!!! They can even treble that offer and add the same amount as contract allowance and I still will not nurse the idea of working in Iraq at present. Why? The risks involved r too many and I need not to mention them here. I believe also that one needs to have a clue of the kind of language mainly spoken there as I once encountered a problem in a foreign country working as a nurse! The interview for the job was in English but once I started working , the most annoying question asked by patients was, 'how can u come to work here when u cannot speak our local language?' At one stage I had to use a domestic worker as my interpreter as I wanted to perform a proceedure and she was not amused either as she thought that she was now doing part of my job and at the end of the day I gonna earn loads of cash in the name of 'Expartriate' and she earns peanuts as a local employee!!

One needs to think twice before taking up a job just in the name of a gud offer. Remember, when the deal is too gud, think twice!!:argue:

I'm sure training in the language would occur if you were to work in a local hospital. If it were a U.S. run hospital, that is a different story.... no need to learn any language but the one you're speaking.

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Specializes in ICU-my whole life!!.

Sounds like a bunch of horse manure! I want to hear it from the person hiring for these positions. The salary is possible, but I am curious to know what an RN is to be doing for a contractor. Perhaps case management? On my last tour to the sandbox, I had paramedics working for KBR and all they could do was carry the old fart contractor with c/o CP to the Army hospital. Once the contractor was admitted to us, the paramedic’s job was done. We, the army, did all the paperwork and provided the care and sent these guys back to the States for free via Air Force flights.

As for the posting regarding Pulse International saying that you can work at a DOD hospital in Iraq or Iran (yes, we are already in Iran but that is all I am saying here for OPSEC reasons), that is also a bunch of horse manure. No way in hell a civilian contractor will get the chance to work side by side with Army/AF nurses. Maybe in 25 years after all is calm and things look like if it was Korea or Germany. In the mean time, no way in hell that you will see this.

Yes, there are jobs in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, but you will not be working for the US government. You will be rendering care to those wealthy Saudi folks. I recall there was a post in these forums a while back about a nurse working for the Saudis. I recommend you look for it and read it to see if it fits you. You will have to abide by Saudi rules and if you are a female, it is a bit tougher because you are expected to follow/respect their beliefs.

Going to Iraq for all the tax free money or making >200k/ year is not worth it. Trust me. You think a 3 or 6 months rotation is nothing? Try 12 or 15 months. The crap gets old and very quickly that you have to remind yourself that you are there to render care first and then remain within the boundaries of the Geneva convention. I had to take care of every thing that walked through the doors. Good, innocent, allies, contractors, detainees, prisoners, US soldiers circling the drain while the bastard that shot him/them was on the PACU across from the soldier’s bed and else!

Now, if you still want to go over and make all the money; first I want you to make a stop by Walter Reed or whatever is called now and take a look at those young souls with 1, 2 or 3 extremities missing. For most of them, their life is over. You could be one of them if your luck was to be on the wrong place at the wrong time. You could also stop by the Army Burn center in San Antonio if this is closest to you and see how long you can stand there looking at a 23 year old with 50 to 70% burns. You have a choice.

Keep in mind that all the safety gear and whether you stay inside the building for the time you are to be there, YOU are NOT safe. Stray bullets are very common and sometime you do not need to set your alarm clock because the insurgents will wake you up with mortars any time they feel like it.

Now, before some of you get all worked up and ready to slap the four point restraints on me, I am just venting what frustrates the hell out of me. Money is not everything.

I am out of my box. Later and be safe.:smokin:

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I find it unsettling the mercenary attitude being focused on here. The work in Iraq is extremely serious. The military is in need of nurses and has sign up bonuses and tuition reimbursement. All those things that have disappeared as the projected nursing shortage never came to pass. I pray that the mercenaries who have invaded nursing and need to find other professions will go there in the other higher paying occupations mentioned, so please tell us more and how to get those jobs instead. You will not be up to the ethical and other challenges. I refer you to the article in aarp.com special newsletter on memorial day When Wounded Vets Come Home.

Of course only the non-money hounds will bother to look it up. Let's just put the kabosh on the big money rumor ... No there are no big bucks in Iraq for nurses. Go only if you give a damn.

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Specializes in ER.

Well and good if it's true but be sure to wear helmet and bullet vest all the time... and remind me I'll go with you...

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I worked in construction for several years before going back to school for nursing. I know that Halliburton was paying close to $250K/yr for constrcition workers, tax-free if you completed your contract. It is a very dangerous area though.

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The recently released Senate Intelligence Report does in fact prove that the Bush administration exaggerated the facts and flat out lied to to garner our support for this war. There are news articles all over the internet regarding this.

I believe that is called 20 X 20 hindsight. I guess it all depends on your perspective. What ever happened to the original topic?

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Specializes in Psych.

Would that be dead or alive?

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Specializes in L&D, QI, Public Health.
Would that be dead or alive?

You were probably kidding, but I'm interested in how many private contractors have died and/or been injured. Any stats on that?

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Specializes in ICU-my whole life!!.

There are stats but DOD is more interested on what it going on with its soldiers. There has been a great amount of research done when it comes to Army Medicine & Health Care alone.

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We had an army surgeon who was stationed in Irag speak to my class just before we graduated in May. You couldn't pay me all the money in the world to go there but I know it's a job that needs to be done. I don't support the war, but since we are already there I'd prefer to have the best people we have keeping the troops up to par and alive.

I did hear some stuff about 100K starting salaries for reserves here if you are an RN. Not sure how much truth is in that.

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