TAG | Saudi Arabia Nursing Salary
Less than 30 years ago, the idea of working overseas as a nurse is nearly unthinkable. Most of the time, the only type of jobs that enable you to travel were being international businesspeople, commercial flight pilots, flight attendants or engineers. In recent years, however, the demand for healthcare professionals in some countries soared.
In places like North America, Western Europe and the Middle East, the demand for healthcare professionals need to be compensated by recruiting staff from other countries. Saudi Arabia is one of those countries that have manpower shortages in their hospitals.
How does one become a Saudi Arabia nurse? There are many agencies that offer placements into Saudi Arabian hospitals, so it is advisable to go through those. However, there are many illegal recruiters out there, so applicants should be careful and make sure that they are dealing with legitimate people.
Nurses working in Saudi Arabia will be assisting patients who are mostly locals and the hospital’s expatriate staff, including their dependents.
The nurses should have good English speaking skills in order to communicate within the hospital. Translators will be available for patients who cannot speak English. Some hospitals offer Arabic language courses to their staff, to help them go about their work.
Foreign nationals intending to work in Saudi Arabia as a nurse are typically offered only single-status visas. Visas for dependents are normally only given to senior hospital staff and consultants.
With the prospect of working from another country, nurses also need to adjust to the Saudi Arabian culture. As with most Islamic countries, there are various widely perceived restrictions on women. One of these is that foreigners believe that female nurses need to be covered up all the time. There is no need to cover up from head to toe, but the women are expected to wear an abaya over their normal clothes when going out in public. These leave their faces uncovered. Some foreigners also believe that the female nurses will not be allowed to go out of the compound they are living in. This is not true. They are allowed to leave the compound as they wish, without an escort. Female foreign workers also do not need to walk behind the men, as this is Saudi Arabian tradition that foreigners do not need to follow.
Once approved, being a Saudi Arabia nurse has numerous perks. Nurses in Saudi Arabia are believed to be some of the highest paid in the world, with a salary bracket of US$23,000 to US$33,000 per annum. The salary is also usually tax-free, depending on the nurse’s home country. At least one return flight is paid for, and some hospitals may even offer their nurses a return flight mid-year. Aside from all that, nurses also usually get free accommodation and their utility bills are taken care of. Saving money is, therefore, not a problem for nurses.
With all the above mentioned perks, it is no wonder why so many nurses would want to enrich their careers in Saudi Arabia.
Salary is an essential factor that an individual should consider before entering any career. As the demand for nurses increases around the globe, the salary ranges are being adjusted to meet the growing needs. Nurses in the United Kingdom earn generally lower than nurses from the United States But it’s a wholly different scenario for nurses working in developing countries. They earn much much lower than their foreign counterparts. Registered nurses from these countries are now becoming more practical. They want to live securely when it comes to day to day needs such as food, shelter and clothing and to provide stable income for the family. These are some of the reasons why skilled professionals such as nurses leave their own countries where they are greatly needed.
To work or not to work in a different country is a matter of choice. Nurses from the US who earn a decent salary still wish to work in other countries. Right now, hospitals in Saudi Arabia are looking for registered nurses from developing and developed countries including the US, especially those trained in neonatal, pediatrics, intensive care, surgery, and psychiatry. And American nurses are taking advantage of this. Working in Saudi Arabia looks attractive to American nurses because of the paid five-week vacations, numerous paid holidays, and flexible work shifts that come with the attractive tax-free salary package.
Saudi Arabia nursing salary, even that of the United Arab Emirates, ranges from $30,000 to $35,000 a year tax-free. On top of the longer paid vacation and holidays, the package also includes free housing, transportation, and health insurance. Most hospitals have their own compounds, shuttle service and living accommodations.
Saudi Arabia nursing salary generally varies depending on one hospital to another, experience and the nurse’s country of origin. Most hospitals and institutions also base their salary and allowances on salary rates prevailing in the country where you originally came from, i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, UK and the US.
The salary is normally given at the end of each month in Saudi Riyals directly into the nurse’s bank account. The hospital should be able to assist you in opening a bank account. Many hospitals have a bank with ATM machines on the compound. You can easily transact bank transfers to anywhere around the globe.
More and more nurses are becoming interested in working in Saudi Arabia. There are a variety of reasons but the number one reason is to save money. Everything else is secondary. The very fact that no tax is deducted from your salary, no monthly rent to worry about, no problem with transportation, gas and car maintenance, no monthly electricity and water bills allows you to do just that. Whether you send the money you save back home or put away for your future and security, working and living in Saudi Arabia present a lot of opportunities for you. The opportunity to practice your profession, travel and learn a new culture, meet people and get paid for it are enough reasons to work in Saudi Arabia.
