Working in Saudi Arabia

[Tearmaiden]

A note on going to KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) to work in the nursing field. First, do your homework. Thankfully the application process is lengthy. It's not somewhere you can wake up one morning and decide to "just do it". Study the culture? Study it study it study it. When you arrive, everything you think you know about the world will change, so head off that culture shock with a little knowledge.

If you are a religiously devout 'anything'.. christian, catholic, menonite, etc.. take off your rose colored glasses while you are in KSA. If you allow yourself to be judgemental, or offended, you WILL be miserable. You are NOT the victim. You are not in Kansas anymore. Don't come back and write a self righteous novel about how wrong everything is in KSA.

You need to want to do this for MORE than the tax-free advantage.

Learn some Arabic. Class-3 language difficulty for English speakers to learn. Up there with Mandarin Chinese for difficulty rating. If you can't learn it (which is likely) at least nail the basics. Oh my god...learn to count to ten. Helps with the pain scale, nurses, eh?

If you go... "When in Rome" applies. You are not likely to win any arguments with a Saudi.

Get used to Saudi's being indecisive. They will qualify many answers or decisions with "Inshallah" or.. "God Willing" which can also (and unofficially) equate to "maybe". Saudi's dont like to lose face, so making a wrong decision is avoided by making as few decisions as possible and leaving it up to Allah... Inshallah.

Don't tell any of your co-workers what you are making $$$. You might be making x2 or x3 what the nurse next to you is making. You want to make friends.

Don't fall in love with a Saudi. You dont get to stay beyond your contract. Avoid taking private contracts and losing the advocacy of whatever agency brought you to KSA. Temptation monitarily will be great. Caution, "Selling yourself" takes on new meaning there...

DO go for the life experience.

DO go for the work experience.

DO go for the tax free advantage.

DO go for the GOLD SHOPPING!

DO go for the friendships.

DO go for the opportunity to learn the language.

DO go to say you did it.

Don't go if you love baby back ribs.. (haha, just kidding, just eat them when you get home)

[munkypants]

Thanks tearmaiden :)

Im heading out there in Aug to work in Riyadh. Anything else i should know?!

Your post was very informative :)

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

What does this mean?

"Caution, "Selling yourself" takes on new meaning there... "

Thank you for your post! :)

[Tearmaiden]

To Faeriewand, who asked me to qualify the following:

"Caution, "Selling yourself" takes on new meaning there... "

Caution just means caution. If you do not have your original agency's backing, as in, you quit, and took up a private contract... just make sure that those individuals who have hired you.... say.. to take care of a sick cousin/grandparent/child ... have a good understanding of your 'contract'.

It is RUMORED that there have been nurses who have taken these private contracts with open ended dates and ended up staying... not until they felt like it was time to go home... but until the EMPLOYER felt like it was time to go home. OR ... said sick cousin dies in 1 month. Whoops, you quit your day job. Now its time to go home? Possibly, if you dont have a backup plan.... Cover your bases, dont get left with a short stick... insert a few more cliche's here.

"Oh I can just go to my embassy... " Mm... yep, you can, ... but maybe your employer has decided ''cousin'' needs some time in their remote villa up in desert-X. Embassy is no longer a taxi-ride down the block.

I'm not trying to do any "hazing'' of the newbs... I am just encouraging whomever is reading this and planning on taking the plunge, to think things through. Please avoid a bizarre situation by using your head, your instinct, respect for the ''the way things are''.

On a lighter note.. There is just no incredibly cooler adventure for a nurse than landing in KSA...

I am SO excited for Munkypants! Enjoy Riyadh :)