Filipino Nursing Herald

Here's good news from the United Arab Emirates. The government is allowing nurses on visit visas to sit for their nursing exam and take on jobs with private hospitals. Read the story here . You must have at least three years work experience before you can work in UAE, but the government is looking to trim this down to two years.

Some 3,000 male Saudi nursing graduates are still waiting for jobs, reports The Arab News. Dr. Obaid Al-Obaid, vice minister for planning and development at the Ministry of Health, claims there is a surplus of male nurses but a shortage of female nurses in the Kingdom. Female nurses comprise 35 percent of all nurses working at government hospitals in the Kingdom while male nurses make up 32 percent. “The number of jobless Saudi male nurses will unfortunately increase by the end of this year to reach 6,000 to 7,000,” said Al-Obaid.

Saudi's Ministry of Health and Hospital Operations is recruiting up to 5,000 nurses from the Philippines, according to the Philippine Information Agency. It seems that a recruitment drive in Mindanao by the Saudi government through local partner firms failed to attract enough nurses, that's why they're now recruiting from Manila. Unfortunately for male nurses, Saudi is specifically looking for female nurses only.

A global shortage of nurses is also taking its toll in the United Arab Emirates, reports the Dubai-based online tabloid Xpress. This rich Arab state has had difficulties retaining its nurses, of whom 91% were recruited either from the Philippines or India, because many nursing professionals use their experience in the UAE as leverage to get more lucrative jobs in the UK, US or Australia. Training UAE nationals to become nurses does not look very promising because nursing requires direct patient contact and working in shifts, which clash with local culture and traditions, according to a hospital recruiter in the country. The average monthly salary of nurses in Dubai ranges from Dh2,000 and Dh9,000. In neighboring Saudi Arabia, nurses' salaries are between 12,000 and 18,000 Saudi riyals (Dh11,750-Dh17,600). Check US nursing salaries here .

The Economic Times of India reports that the deployment to Kuwait of hundreds of nurses from the Philippines and India is being delayed by red tape. Both Philippine and Indian embassies in the Arabian state have so far failed to certify the professional credentials submitted by the nurses recruited to work in Kuwaiti government hospitals, the report said.

In April, the Philippines and Bahrain signed a memorandum of agreement opening up opportunities for Filipino doctors and nurses in the fastest growing economy in the Arab region. In return, Arab medical workers will come to the Philippines to train and gain experience. The Philippine Ambassador to Bahrain says Filipinos have started to flood the Bahraini work place. In 2006, there were 11,736 Filipino workers being hired and re-hired in the state known as the Pearl of the Persian Gulf. That's 17.7% more than in 2005 when only 9,968 Pinoys were recruited in the state that's claimed to be the site of the Gardem of Eden in the Bible. With the door now wide open to Pinoy medical workers, we can be sure that the number of Filipino contract workers in Bahrain will only shoot up, just like oil rising from this mineral-rich nation. There's an estimated 40,000 Filipinos now living in Bahrain, 5,000 of which are dependents, while another 5,000 are undocumented workers.