Twelve percent of around 200 people responded to the online survey said they did not care about the nationality of the nurse, while only 8 percent said they preferred a Saudi to treat them.

“Saudi nurses don’t have people skills and don’t care about your pain and feelings. If I had to describe them using one word, I would say 'unkind',” said Mouneera Dawood, a 38-year-old schoolteacher.

“I have been dealing with them for a while and every time I go for a checkup I ask my doctor for a new nurse, until I gave up on Saudis and decided to have a Filipino nurse who was more gentle when dealing with my pregnancy,” she added.

Saudi nurses are in a dilemma between meeting their patients’ needs and conforming with local culture and tradition, according to nursing consultant Dr. Sabah Abuzinadah.

“Saudi nurses are under the spotlight. They are always closely watched and criticized. I believe it’s because people expect nurses to be compassionate and caring while traditions push them to be conservative,” she said. “Most Saudi female nurses cover their faces and this is one of the reasons why people are not comfortable around them, because no one knows if they are smiling, frowning or even joking as you don’t see their facial expressions,” she added.

Abuzinadah said the same people who ask for women nurses to be friendly are the same people who will later claim they are not decent or have no morals.

“Non-Saudi nurses on the other hand get away with almost any attitude,” said Abuzinadah. “If a Saudi nurse was serious, people would say that she is humorless and not gentle, which makes her unfit for the job,” she added.

Interacting with people is one of the main and important topics that nurses study in college.

“One of the basic courses that nurses receive is how to deal with people from different backgrounds, but this does not reflect on the background of the nurse herself,” said Abuzinadah. “Saudi women always put their traditions at the back of their head when dealing with anyone. They always think of what actions might affect their reputation and avoid them. So taking people skill classes will not change anything,” she added.

Nursing in Saudi Arabia is very weak and needs a lot of developing, said Abuzinadah.

“We have been asking for years to have a supreme nursing council like other countries of the world. This nursing council will be in charge of monitoring Saudi and non-Saudi nurses in the Kingdom,” she said. “Saudi nurses face another problem — most of them are graduates of health institutes instead of from a college or university. I believe that nurses cannot finish their studies in two years and go to the nursing field as professionals.”

Saudi Arabia has more than 120 health institutes, even though Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah demanded their closure in 2007 and to upgrade them to colleges or universities.

“The World Health Organization has ordered the closure of all health institutes in the world by 2010. It’s already 2011 and we have more than 120 private health institutes that are operating and its graduates cannot find jobs,” said Abuzinadah. “Hospitals prefer to hire nurses with bachelor’s degrees rather than those with a two-year diploma and this is why graduates from health institutes cannot find a job,” she added.