Saudi Arabia needs 2,000 nurses from the Philippines

To solve the current shortage of nursing staff, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) aims to hire 10,000 more nurses to meet the urgent requirement. They will do this by hiring foreign nurses and by encouraging Saudi women to take up nursing. In lieu to this, the KSA is set to hire about 2,000 Filipino nurses. A thousand scholarships for Saudi women have also been granted. The MOH director general of nursing, Dr. Munira Al-Osaimi, said"A number of seats for Saudi women have also been reserved in premier health institutions in Jordan, Australia, the US, Britain and Bahrain, to enable them to pursue specialist nursing training." Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry wants more Saudi people in their nursing sector. Their goal is to increase the number of Saudi nurses by 60% in the next five years. Graduates of medical colleges in Saudi are also being offered advance training. According to the director general, the health service of Saudi is critically understaffed in areas including neonatal, intensive care, emergency care, and pediatrics. Al-Osaimi added, “These scholarships are part of a widespread campaign to attract more Saudi nurses to work in this field." According to the regional director for the Manila-based Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Chita Cilindro, the recruitment by the Saudi Ministry of Health is in cooperation with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Cilindro said, "The recruitment process was assisted by POEA, an attached agency of DOLE, and the Saudi Embassy in Manila." The regional director urged the applicants to inquire to the recruiting agencies early to be aware of the vacancies and requirements. Cilindro informed that nursing graduates with or without experience are welcome to apply. There will be no placement fee and the salary of successful applicants will be will be between SR2,250 to SR4,000. - OFW Guide