The Ministry of Health revealed to “Okaz” that the total number of Saudi women and men working in the nursing sector is 85,834, with the recruitment rate equal to 79% of the total number of nurses in all sectors. On the other hand, some nursing specialists, teachers and nurses in the sector have called for broadening the localization of the nursing profession, raising the admission ceiling to universities and reconsidering the salary scale with respect to the number of working hours.
According to gynecologist, professor of obstetrics and infertility Hassan Salih Jamal, the nursing profession is one of the noblest human professions of all times and all eras, and all scientific studies have shown that the health of members of any society is linked to the quality of the nursing workforce, which greatly contributes to improving medical care and awareness for all members of society. The state has undertaken several initiatives to promote and attract Saudi cadres to the nursing profession, the presence of national expertise, the raising of the quality of life in Saudi society and the provision of distinct health care, both in prosperity and in adversity , therefore a national strategy needs to be developed to localize the nursing profession in the Kingdom with the support of decision makers and to address the challenges faced by Nursing and Health officials. Jamal called for an integrated plan to accelerate the localization of nursing and prioritize deepening government-private sector partnership in nursing services, as well as the adoption of nursing into school curricula.
For his part, the Dean of the College of Nursing of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Dr. Ahlam Al-Zahrani, confirmed that the universities have made great and tangible efforts to increase the number of admissions in the nursing specialty with the aim of bridging the nursing cadre shortage gap in the Kingdom, noting the growing efforts since the Corona pandemic in 2020, which confirmed the need The importance of nursing graduates in the job market. Several procedures have been adopted by the nursing schools of the Kingdom to ensure an increase in numbers while ensuring the quality of the educational process, such as dividing students into groups and divisions to be accepted for training in hospitals and working to increase the needs such as the augmenting faculty members and the like, as well as motivating students to enter the specialty, and developing and opening academic programs in nursing, such as bridging nursing graduates of health care institutions and rehabilitation for science graduates.
Al-Zahrani adds that all these efforts are being made by the nursing schools in the Kingdom, in a sense of their pioneering role and the directives of the Ministry of Education, which aim to increase the acceptance and attractiveness of the nursing specialty in line with the country’s aspirations to achieve transformation and quality of health in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
As for the head of the Nursing Training Department at King Abdulaziz Medical City at the National Guard, Dr. Ilham Bukhari, said that the quality of healthcare institutions is measured by the quality level of the nursing care provided and to ensure the provision of high quality nursing service, there must be strategic plans which focus on localizing the nursing profession with cadres qualified nationals. To ensure this happens, Dr. Elham Bukhari proposes to spread community awareness of the importance of nursing by holding introductory nursing workshops and meetings in schools for high school students, how to apply for it, presenting a list of available nursing colleges in the Kingdom, job opportunities after graduation and increased undergraduate study places in colleges ensuring that more applicants are accepted. Ensure a suitable environment for practical training, as well as provide qualified academic staff to supervise theoretical studies and apply the training process in order to guarantee the supply of highly qualified and specialized graduates who respond to the needs of the labor market.
Dr. Elham Bukhari also believes in providing the appropriate environment for high quality nursing practice in healthcare institutions through the implementation of plans and programs aimed at attracting graduates, providing them with appropriate training and qualifications so that they can carry out their their role safely and with high efficiency, and by providing annually professional skills assessment tools and continuous development programs that ensure the continued efficiency of the nursing workforce and the raising of its level of performance to deliver advanced services that meet the needs of patients, and providing talent management programs in the Nursing Department in coordination with the Human Resources Department, which aim to motivate the employee and put him in the right place for his abilities and nurture in him a love of creativity and accomplishment the job replacement strategy, and provide administrative and psychological support to nursing staff.
According to Al-Zahrani, nurses need to participate at the decision-making table and give them the necessary authority to establish legislation and laws related to nursing practices, to provide appropriate and codified plans for internal and external scholarships and to encourage research scientific knowledge in the field of nursing, as well as updating the nursing salary scale to keep pace with the classification of nursing specialties and develop financial incentives for parallel efforts. The work performed by nurses in the various departments and the payment of special allowances for nurses, such as infection benefit, housing benefit and hazard benefit, analogous to the rest of the health professions, and by providing flexibility in working hours and controlling it by developing appropriate strategic plans that control the distribution of working hours work in an appropriate manner that ensures availability ability to service with high-capacity and efficient domestic hands.
Why retire nurses and nurses?
The nursing consultant, Dr. Ahmed Abu Shaiga, attributed the abandonment of nurses to work in the nursing sector to many reasons, the most important of which is the pressure of the job and the daunting work environment, in addition to the increasing number of patients on a daily basis compared to the numbers of male and female nurses, and long and stressful working hours contribute to the outflow of skills from the public and private sectors. Abu Shaiga referred to the most important element, which is the low financial return for male and female nurses compared to the tasks assigned to them, and believes that it is necessary to add them to the same extent as pharmacists and doctors in the salary scale for their response to cases of difficult patients and the high number of deaths and patients in intensive care. nursing departments, and the educational attainment of many nursing professionals need to be raised, as many nurses have only a diploma, and he believes there is a need to help them raise their educational attainment and obtain a degree.
Nurses criticize escorts and short-sightedness
Some nurses, who have preferred not to reveal their names, have complained of the many challenges facing their work in the nursing sector, starting with the increase in working hours, which reaches 12 hours compared to the salaries received, the lack of organization of work shifts and weekly rest periods. They pointed out to Okaz their suffering due to a misconception of their hospital duties as nurses and the duties of patient care teams. Some nurses have complained of social pressures after their marriage, such as her husband’s request to transfer to work as a nurse in the obstetrics and gynecology department to limit their direct interaction with men. One of the nurses, who preferred not to be named, said that the lack of shift organization affects their social and family life, as well as the treatment of carers with nurses in short, as many feel that one of the nurse’s duties is to take care of the patient’s hygiene, while these tasks are the responsibility of the care department of each hospital.
«Health»: Localization of the profession .. Pioneer in all sectors
The Ministry of Health informed Okaz that the ministry had approved the nationalization project of nursing, and it was the pioneer among all sectors, as the nationalization rate reached 63% of all nurses. According to the statistical report released for the year 2021, the national rate has reached 2.2 nurses per 1,000 population and is projected to reach 4.25 nurses per 1,000 population in 2030 across all health sectors, and the number of Saudi nurses is currently of 85,834 men and nurses in all sectors, with a rate of 42.6%. Saudis in the Ministry of Health make up 79% of the total Saudi nursing workforce across all sectors. The Ministry is also continuing to localize the nursing profession, developing future plans, and supporting this sector at a high level from all government sectors with a specialization for the nursing profession, as well as including many initiatives and projects that contribute to increasing the attractiveness of the profession nursing the Saudi nursing profession.
The Ministry of Health provides a package of incentives and support related to supporting the nursing sector in the Kingdom and prioritizing the employment of Saudis in the nursing field, providing an attractive working environment and continuous development of the nursing workforce, as well as numerous initiatives and programs to motivate citizens to enter the nursing profession, as well as providing incentives to favor the localization of the nursing profession, starting with the enrollment of male and female students in nursing schools, and then with employment.
