Nursing, one of the most hallowed of professions, still does not get its due today. It is a profession, which is ideally suited for women, that focuses on assisting individuals, families and communities. However, there are misgivings in the Kingdom about the women who take up nursing as a career.
Nurses are said to be angels in disguise. But in Saudi Arabia, nurses have a hard time being recognized as such. It is easy for a Saudi woman to say, “I am a nurse,” and then be overlooked as a potential wife.
Despite this, working in a mixed environment and the necessity of working around the clock in shifts that take a toll on family life, many Saudi girls are slowly but surely choosing nursing as a conscious career choice. This, along with the Ministry of Health’s efforts to Saudize, the sector, has opened up new opportunities for women who wish to make nursing a career.
Although the number of Saudi nurses in the Kingdom is growing, there is still a high demand for Saudi nurses. Around 41.5 percent of male and female nurses in the Kingdom are Saudi, according to Dr. Muneera Al-Osaimi, director general of nursing at the Ministry of Health.
Nursing as a career is becoming more and more appealing to women. Lujain Abdrabuh, 25, who graduated three years ago with a bachelor’s degree in nursing from King Abdulaziz University, is a case in point. “My father was supportive and left me to make a choice of what to study,” she said.
Although people expected Abdrabuh, who gained a high GPA, to go to medical school, she did not. “I was looking for another major in the medical field, but not actually medicine. I did not know that nursing was one of the suggested majors. I did not know that there are Saudi nurses. When you say nurses, most of the times it is Asian nurses (Filipinos and Indians) who come to mind,” she said.
The first girls’ nursing class for Saudis had only six girls; by the time Abdrabuh studied nursing, her class had 60 students. The next batch had 100. People are slowly changing their view on Saudi nurses and the profession in general.
“People only see what is on the surface. They think nurses are servants. They think they are there to provide care at a press of a button or to hand out medicine. Nursing is more than that. They are the second line of defense in any hospital. They are there for families as well as patients,” she said.
Abdrabuh said nursing is a tough profession and that people intending to take on this line of work need to have a heart and endurance. She added that such people end up missing a lot of family gatherings due to long working hours. “I sometimes stay at home even on my days off just to have some rest,” she said.
Working in a mixed environment is another thing that Saudi nurses are criticized for, said Amal Ja’afari, adding that people often tell her she would remain a spinster due to her work hours.
“Who would marry me? I’m not bothered when I hear that. Many of my coworkers are married and happy with both their jobs and social lives. It is about managing and balancing those two,” said Ja’afari, who secured a bachelor degree from King Abdulaziz University in 2004.
“Being able to help people and hear them praying for me surpasses all other feeling. At the beginning it was hard to see patients on their deathbeds. But I am used to it now and happy to help them,” she said.
Ja’afari and her colleagues believe that people in Saudi Arabia need to change their attitude on nursing.
“When people ask me why I chose nursing as a profession, I reply that women during the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) time use to help injured men during wars. And we are the granddaughters of these great women,” said Omamah Ghulam, 24-year-old nurse at the International Medical Center. Ghulam said that being a nurse leaves the door open for harassment. “Sometimes we are harassed by visitors. They call us to the room in the middle of the night just to chat with us. It is about how you set the limits.
Also, some male patients call just for the sake of calling and it is embarrassing to see them uncovered,” she said, adding that on account of this she moved to a pediatric clinic, although she has to work two shifts. “But I still prefer it to a surgical ward for adults,” she said.
Nurses are also at risk of other types of hazards. Abdrabuh, who provides training to the relatives of patients on how to care for them once they are discharged, said that a mentally ill patient once tried to strangle her with her scarf. She was only saved when people heard her screaming.
She related another incident when a visitor, whose mother had passed away, began shouting at her while she spoke to a colleague on the phone at her desk on a work-related subject. The visitor filed a complaint that she was flirting. Abdrabuh clarified what had happened with hospital authorities and the visitor was told to apologize.
Salima Abdrabuh, 23, who has been working for seven years at the King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, agrees that people think that the nursing profession is unsuitable for Saudi women. “They do not see how much we have given to become nurses… Patients are very cooperative with us. They prefer us to foreigners because we understand them more and know their language. Not all patients speak English,” she said.Dr. Al-Osaimi said that families are growing accustomed to Saudi women taking up nursing. She added that with a growth in health facilities, opportunities for jobs are increasing and more nurses are needed. She also said that more avenues for training are also being created. The King Saud University in Riyadh now offers a master’s degree in nursing and a midwifery program has been opened in Jeddah.
