JEDDAH, 24 May 2008 — Dr. Elham Nagshabandi, head of the Saudi Institute for Health Services, a non-profit organization, said there’s a particular quandary regarding the nursing profession in Saudi Arabia.
“Nursing is a hard profession in itself, and it is especially harder in the Kingdom due to many factors, such as the problem related to tradition,” she told Arab News recently.
“The men in the family usually object to their daughters and sisters becoming nurses, but when these same daughters and sisters need medical attention these same men will demand that only female health professionals examine them.”
Saudi women who overcome family objections discover that they have just crossed one hurdle only to face another: namely, the lack of adequate child care facilities for Saudi working women.
“Many nurses are married and have children and it is thoroughly exhausting for them to manage both responsibilities,” explained Nagshabandi.
The Saudi Institute for Health Services recently won recognition as the second best health care institute in the Makkah province. A function was held this past week to celebrate nursing and highlight the hurdles in the profession.
“A nurse has to constantly improve her communications skills, because it’s the way to find out how a patient is doing,” Nagshabandi said. In the case of diabetic, for example, a nurse must know what the patient has eaten, she added.
“Often patients are angry and frightened, and dealing with them requires patience,” said Awatif Al-Shehri, administrative manager at the institute.
“A nurse has to play the role of a friend: She has to comfort the patient and help them calm down and she also has to be the patient-educator,” said Al-Shehri.
In a country where there are Arabic and non-Arabic speaking nurses and patients, the language-barrier is a major concern.
“Communication is a big problem,” said nursing educator Zenaida Romas. “You don’t speak the language, and you’re trying to explain to the patient why you need to do a certain procedure — it’s just so difficult, and some patients can be very rude.”
There have been shocking incidents where patients spit on the nurses or removed and threw shoes at them when they were only trying to help, said Romas. “Of course, if a patient becomes violent security at the hospital are prompt to intervene, but it is still very traumatizing for nurses,” she said.
“It is inevitable to deal with angry and frightened patients. Many patients become edgy because of their illness, and we’re taught at the institute to deal with them with kindness and tolerance,” final-year nursing student Thuraya Al-Muwalid told Arab News.
