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 a localization rate of 79% of the total number of nursing workers in all sectors. On the other hand, a number of specialists in the nursing sector, faculty members and nurses in the field called for expanding the localization of the nursing profession, raising the ceiling for admission to universities, and reconsidering the salary scale compared to the number of working hours.
According to the gynecologist, obstetrics and infertility Professor Hassan Salih Jamal, the nursing profession is one of the noblest human professions of all times and eras, and all scientific studies have shown that the health of the members of any society is linked to the quality of the workforce in the field of nursing, which helps strongly in enhancing 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 competencies, raising the quality of life in Saudi society, and the provision of distinguished health care, whether in prosperity or adversity, so it is necessary to develop a national strategy to localize the nursing profession in the Kingdom with the support of decision makers and to stand up to the challenges facing it. Officials in the health and nursing sector. Jamal called for an integrated plan to accelerate the localization of the nursing profession and give priority to deepening the partnership between the government and private sectors in nursing services, in addition to adopting the nursing subject in the school curricula.
For her part, the Dean of the College of Nursing at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Dr. Ahlam Al-Zahrani, confirmed that the universities have made great and tangible efforts to raise the number of admissions in the nursing specialty with the aim of bridging the shortage gap in nursing cadres in the Kingdom, noting the increasing efforts since the Corona pandemic in 2020, which confirmed the need. The importance of nursing graduates in the labor market. Several procedures have been taken by the nursing colleges in the Kingdom to ensure an increase in numbers while ensuring quality in the educational process, such as dividing students into groups and divisions to be accepted for training in hospitals and working to raise needs such as increasing faculty members and the like, in addition to motivating students to enter the specialty, and developing and opening academic programs In nursing, such as bridging for nursing graduates from health institutes and rehabilitation for graduates of science faculties.
Al-Zahrani adds that all these efforts are being made by the nursing colleges in the Kingdom, out of 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 health quality in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
As for the head of the nursing education department at King Abdulaziz Medical City at the National Guard, Dr. Ilham Bukhari, she said that the quality of health institutions is measured by the level of quality of nursing care provided, and to ensure the provision of a high-quality nursing service, there must be strategic plans that focus on localizing the nursing profession with qualified national cadres. High. To ensure that this is achieved, Dr. Elham Bukhari proposes spreading community awareness of the importance of the nursing profession by holding workshops and introductory meetings for the nursing profession in schools for high school students, how to apply for it, presenting a list of nursing colleges available in the Kingdom, job opportunities after graduation, and increasing university study seats in colleges that ensure the acceptance of a larger number of applicants. Ensuring a suitable environment for practical training, in addition to providing qualified academic staff to supervise the theoretical and applied educational process in a way that guarantees the provision of highly qualified and specialized graduates that meet the needs of the labor market.
Dr. Elham Bukhari also believes in providing the appropriate environment for the practice of the nursing profession with high quality in health institutions through the implementation of plans and programs aimed at attracting graduates, providing training and appropriate qualification for them so that they can perform their role safely and with high efficiency, and providing annual professional assessment tools for competencies and continuous development programs that It ensures maintaining the continuity of the efficiency of the nursing staff and raising its level of performance to provide 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 capabilities and cultivate in him the love of creativity and achieve the strategy of job replacement, and provide Administrative and psychological support for nursing staff.
According to Al-Zahrani, it is necessary for nursing to participate in the decision-making table and to give them the necessary authority to set legislation and laws related to nursing practices, to provide appropriate and codified plans for internal and external scholarships and to encourage scientific research in the field of nursing, in addition to updating the nursing salary scale to keep pace with the classification of nursing specialties and to develop financial incentives to parallel efforts. The work done by nursing in various departments and the payment of special allowances for nursing, such as the infection allowance, the housing allowance, and the danger allowance, similar to the rest of the health professions, and providing flexibility in working hours and controlling them by developing appropriate strategic plans that control the distribution of working hours in an appropriate manner that guarantees the availability of service with national hands with high capacity and efficiency.
Why retire nurses and nurses?
Nursing consultant, Dr. Ahmed Abu Shaiga, attributed the nurses’ leaving to work in the nursing sector for many reasons, the most important of which is the work pressure and the discouraging work environment, in addition to the increasing number of patients on a daily basis compared to the number of male and female nurses, and the long and stressful working hours contribute to the leakage of competencies from the public and private sectors. Abu Shaiga referred to the most important element, which is the meager financial return for male and female nurses compared to the tasks assigned to them, and he believes that it is necessary to add them to the same degree as pharmacists and doctors in the salary scale for their response to difficult patients’ cases and large numbers of deaths and patients in intensive care .. Ahmed Abu Shaiga calls on the higher authorities to reconsider In the salary scale, reconsider supporting the education of the nursing sector and absorbing more numbers in universities in the nursing departments, and the educational level of many practitioners in the nursing sector must be raised, as many nurses hold only a diploma, and he believes that it is necessary to help them to raise the level education and obtaining a Bachelor’s degree.
Nurses criticize the escorts and the short-sighted
A number of nurses, who preferred not to reveal their names, complained about the many challenges facing their work in the nursing sector, starting with the increase in working hours, which reach 12 hours compared to the salaries they receive, in addition to the lack of organization of work shifts and weekly days off. They indicated to Okaz their suffering from misunderstanding their duties in the hospital as nurses and the tasks of patient care teams. Some nurses complained of social pressures after their marriage, such as the husband’s request that she move 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 organization of shift schedules affects their social and family life, in addition to the treatment of those accompanying nurses with a short view, as many think 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 in each hospital.
«Health»: Localization of the profession .. the pioneer in all sectors
The Ministry of Health informed Okaz that the ministry had approved the project to nationalize the nursing profession, and it was the pioneer among all sectors, as the nationalization rate reached 63% of all nursing. According to the statistical report issued for the year 2021, the national rate reached 2.2 nurses per 1,000 population, and it is expected to reach 4.25 nurses per 1,000 population in 2030 in all health sectors, and the number of Saudi nurses is currently 85,834 male and female nurses in all sectors, with a rate of 42.6%. Saudis in the Ministry of Health constitute 79% of the total Saudi nursing staff in all sectors. The Ministry is also continuing to localize the nursing profession, by developing future plans, and supporting this sector at a high level from all government sectors with specialization for the nursing profession, in addition to including many initiatives and plans that contribute to increasing the attractiveness of 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 field of nursing, by providing an attractive work environment and continuous development of the nursing staff, in addition to many initiatives and programs to motivate male and female citizens to join the nursing profession, in addition to providing Incentives to promote the localization of the nursing profession, starting with the enrollment of male and female students in nursing colleges, and then employment.