Expatriate nurses working in the Kingdom's private hospitals and other health institutions want their compensation upgraded to the level of the wages of nurses employed in the government health sector, according to the results of a survey conducted recently by the newly organized Philippine Nurses Association-Eastern Province Saudi Arabia chapter. Those who responded to the survey felt that there was a need to standardize the salaries and compensation of all expatriate nurses working in Saudi Arabia, irrespective of their nationality. At present, the compensation of expatriate nurses working in private hospitals is about half of the salary of their counterparts employed in government health institutions. The average monthly salary of foreign nurses working in government hospitals is SR4,500. The survey indicated that the experience and training of foreign nurses employed in the private health area and government sector are the same and therefore survey respondents felt that the rate and level of their salaries should be uniform and equal. While government health institutions are funded by public funds, unlike private hospitals and dispensaries which are financed by private investment, this should not create disparity in the wages of foreign nurses, whether employed in private or public health institutions, the survey indicated. In addition to the issue of the compensation of foreign nurses, the survey also assessed four factors affecting the competitiveness of foreign nurses working in Saudi Arabia. These are their working and living conditions, their skill training programs, the expertise they gain while working in the Kingdom, and their preparedness for reintegration upon their return to their respective countries. The working conditions and accommodation provided to foreign nurses in the Kingdom are satisfactory, the study found. In the course of their employment in the Kingdom, foreign nurses also develop their skills by attending seminars and medical conferences organized by the Saudi Ministry of Health and other regional health organizations. While employed in the Kingdom, foreign nurses also benefit from new medical technology being introduced in the workplace. The survey noted, for example, that Filipino nurses who worked in Saudi Arabia are preferred for employment by hospitals and medical institutions in the United States and Europe due to the knowledge and expertise they gained while working in Kingdom. Regarding foreign nurses preparedness for socio-economic reintegration upon their return to their respective countries, the survey found that many will not be ready to engage in business ventures when they finally return home because they will not have been able to save enough money to use as seed capital in a business venture. According to official statistics of the Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH), there were 110,858 nurses working in 125 private hospitals across the country as of 2009, while the 283 MoH hospitals and other government-managed hospitals had under their employ 87,550 nurses. __
