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Travel nursing has nothing to do with a nurse being employed by a transportation company nor does it mean a nurse doing her duties while on a mode of transportation. A travel nurse is an RN who works to fill in vacancies in different medical institutions. It allows a registered nurse a career choice of short-term positions across the country, serving different hospitals. This job is in demand and most hospitals are willing to pay a hefty salary for a nurse to fill in a vacancy until a permanent replacement is found.
Travel nursing used to be an exclusive practice in the US. Today, travel nursing in Saudi Arabia is gaining popularity as the demand for highly qualified registered nurses rise. The contract for a travel nurse usually spans a minimum of three months to as long as a year. With this job, a travel nurse gets to have the benefit of: working in different hospital environments, travelling a lot, be at liberty to carve your career at the pace you are comfortable with, have a very competitive salary plus bonuses.
At a glance, the job of a travel nurse seems unstable for after all you are just filling in until the permanent replacement comes. This is not so for travel nurses are practically recruited by the hospital as full time replacements so there is really no need to worry about being in between jobs. When you choose to be a travel nurse, it is best to register with a recruiting agency so that you are assured of a steady string of travel nursing positions. The recruiter might take quite a chunk out of your pay but in the end, it would be all worth it.
It is a fact that Saudi Arabia has a great demand for RNs and other healthcare providers like doctors and dentists. Saudi Arabia is fast becoming one of the top highly industrialized and urbanized countries worldwide and with progress comes growing demands in education and healthcare.
The need for highly trained nurses in different fields of specialization never ceases. For this matter, a travel nurse is best to be trained in many fields of specialization too. A regular staff nurse earns anywhere from $23,000 to $35,000 a month in a Saudi Arabia hospital. A travel nurse can earn from a$23 to $40 per hour. The difference in salary is dependent on the RN’s country’s basic nurse pay. So, in some cases, working in the USA would translate to more money in terms of gross salary. However, there are no taxes deductible from a travel nurse’s pay slip. If your salary is set at $20 an hour, then you get the $20 as is. No deductions.
Travel nurses are also afforded transient lodgings in the hospital compound they work for. If you work as a travel nurse you will be provided with a fully furnished unit in the hospital’s housing facility. In most instances, the utilities are also paid for by the hospital that employed you. With all these benefits and a six to ten week of paid vacation as an added bonus, who would not want to be a travel nurse?
Saudi Arabia is the biggest country of the Arabian Peninsula. Its capital is Riyadh with a population of close to 5 million out of 29 million of the total population of the country. Saudi Arabia has its first oil boom in the 1980s. The sudden surge in terms of job opportunities and therefore population, led the country to quickly build facilities for the housing and medical needs of its new labor force. Currently, 23% of its population is foreigners and migrants working in different capacities and cities in the country.
The rise of humongous hospitals all over the Saudi Arabia brought on wave after wave of foreign health workers and health providers. Registered nurses and doctors were and still are in demand in the many hospitals all over Saudi Arabia.
One of the leading healthcare related jobs that are in demand in Saudi Arabia is that of a travel nurse. A travel nurse is an RN who works as a replacement for a nursing position that has been vacated. A travel nurse fills in until a permanent RN is hired. Travel nursing in Saudi Arabia is becoming a much sought after job. The reasons are largely due to the many personal benefits raked in by a travel nurse. Travel nursing in Saudi Arabia pays as much as $40 an hour.
The work of a travel nurse usually lasts from a short four weeks to even a year. At a glance, the job would seem unstable for it is actually a temporary position. However, such is not the case. Travel nurses are registered in agencies that handle their job schedules. For a fee, a regular RN could get the services of a travel nurse agency to get the ball rolling, so to speak. You can travel nurses you know for reputable travel nurse recruiters to avoid scams.
Why are more nurses gravitating towards travel nursing in Saudi Arabia? Aside from the great salary, a travel nurse could also incorporate personal touring or sightseeing in between jobs. A travel nurse does not have to be tied up in a workplace that she does not like. She can just leave without fear of being blackballed after the contract. There are a lot or perks that goes with the job. Traveling expenses are shouldered by the employer so is the furnished housing usually within the compound of the hospital. More often than not, the utility bills are also paid for by the hospital.
Since foreign workers are except from paying taxes to Saudi Arabia, the gross income of a travel nurse is as is. There is not a cent deducted from the actual pay slip. A six to ten-week paid vacation is all part of the travel nurse’s package too. A career as a travel nurse is certainly very appealing. You will have the opportunity to be assigned in various locations, meet new and interesting people, work in different hospital set-ups and have the option to accept the temp job on a permanent basis.
When asked about nursing and healthcare, many people perceive it to be something like a Florence Nightingale position – complete with nursing cap and clipboard. Many women (and some men) aspire to this vision by way of becoming a Registered Nurse (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN).
The easiest and certainly the best way towards becoming an RN or LPN is to first achieve a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) status. Becoming a CNA enables one to be trained in the basic aspects of patient care. Some RN or LPN training programs actually require students to be CNA’s first, as they possess the basic knowledge and experience necessary for becoming an RN or LPN in the future. These programs typically have less dropouts and higher student success rates because of this requirement.
The basic responsibilities of a CNA is to take over routine tasks for the RN’s or LPN’s, for them to be able to concentrate on specialist tasks like nursing assessments, formulating care plans, administering patient medication and assisting in surgery room preparations. The CNA’s tasks typically involve assisting the patients with personal hygiene and activities of daily living. These include grooming, feeding, ensuring that the patients get adequate exercise, assisting the patients in moving about, bathing, making sure that the rooms and bed linens are clean and repositioning bedridden patients. The CNA’s are also expected to monitor the vitals signs of patients and that the attending physician or nurse learns about any significant changes in these.
There are many CNA training courses available. CNA courses are offered by some high schools, community colleges, vocational schools and some hospitals and nursing homes. Some of these courses can even be taken for free or partly online. Regardless of the kind of training, the courses should offer both classroom and practical training sessions. This ensures that the CNA candidate is trained properly and will be able to apply the lessons in a real hospital setting. The courses typically last for four months.
After finishing a CNA course, aspiring CNA’s should look into getting certified. This would involve passing a theory and practical exam, to demonstrate your ability to apply the patient care skills you have learned during your training sessions. Passing the exam will result in certification and your name being included in the national registry of nursing assistants.
During the clinical or practical exam of the certification process, candidates are expected to effectively demonstrate routine processes of CNA tasks. During this exam, candidates are graded on how they take their patients’ needs, privacy and dignity into consideration, as well as to demonstrate proper hygiene and knowledge of certain tasks.
If you plan on continuing your education to become an RN or LPN, some programs may require you to be a certified nursing assistant first. This ensures that their students already possess the basic knowledge of patient care and automatically weeds out those who are not fit for the role. Programs that require certification prior to enrollment usually have higher student success rates and less dropouts.
Keyword tags: become an RN, CNA training, CNA training courses, CNA certification, CNA duties, CNA responsibilities, CNA basic tasks
