Any info on Middle-East nursing?

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I was just wondering if anyone out there had any Middle-East experience... I was thinking of going out there for awhile...

There's a travel nurse company called Helen Ziegler that does staffing for lots of facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and a few other countries. I called and spoke with a recruiter several months ago as I was interested in going. The reasons that made me decide against it were:

you have AT LEAST one roommate

you work a month of days, a month of nights, and on and on

you live in a compound and can only go out "with arranged activities in a group"

you can't have family or friends come visit during your 1 year contract

you don't really make that much money once you figure it all out

For some people this would be a good fit, perhaps for you. Not for me.

Hope this helps.

Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.

I have no information to offer you, but I am just curious (and as with anyone who is just being nosey - feel free to tell me it's none of my beezwax ;)) but I wonder what might attract you to work in that area of the world? The idea of overseas travel is fascinating, but I'm sure that wouldn't be my first choice of locations.

As I said above there are too many negatives for me to take one of these jobs. If there were no nights involved, and I could have a bit more freedom i would definitely do it. I"m actually heading to Egypt for a few weeks to see some of the country when my current assignment is done (yup, I'm a travel nurse). I spent April and May of this year in Malaysia working with a conservation group as the medical person on the project, and I did 5 months in the Philippines the previous year. Malaysia was interesting in that it was the first Muslim country I have been to and I found it to be quite amazing.....so very different from anywhere I've been, and certainly from the US. That's one reason I'm very excited about this upcoming trip to Egypt. It's been quite an eye-opener for me to travel to other countries and learn about other cultures. I see lots of things very differently now, and I definitely enjoy my life more. The world is big and round, you know? And there's more to it than our little corner.

If your question is posed because of thoughts of fear about the current conflicts going on in that area of the world, yeah, you would be right to have concerns about heading off into a dangerous situation, and I wouldn't do it without a lot of thought. But I have found that if I'm respectful wherever I go, keep my head down, and just use common sense, I'm fine. And now I'll stop as I'm rambling a bit. :-)

Specializes in Cardiac surgery ICU.

:balloons: Don't know why when you mention Middle East you think of the Emirates. There are other countries in the Middle East too, with good nursing....though the pay isn't as good.

Also, the conflict is worse in the papers than in reality.

And for general knowledge, not all countries here are Muslim.

Yes, of course there are other countries, of course, and I didn't mean to exclude them. UAE is one I had discussed specifically with the recruiter, that's why I mentioned it. And yes, they're not all Muslim.

I"m curious now where you are located? And what work is like for you if you're working in the field now.

Squid, I see fromyour profile that you are 19 years old and a student. Are you a nursing student?

I would be surprised if any of the overseas placement agencies would take an inexperienced nurse. My point being that by the time you are able to seriously consider doing what you are asking about, the answers may be different.

Yes, actually... Im a first year nursing student... just wanted to know what plan I want to follow after I get out of school...

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