A nursing team visits an elderly patient at his house in Jazan on Saturday as part of the Health Ministry's home care program. — SPA Saudi Gazette report ARAR — The director of Al-Owaigeela General Hospital in the Arar region has hit back at claims that asking Saudi nurses to go out in the field to treat patients contravened the Islamic law and the Kingdom's customs. Atallah Dokhi said nurses who resisted the initiative knew that they would have to treat patients regardless of gender in line with religious and professional ethics. He said the hospital's mission was to ensure nurses pursued a “moral and honest profession". A number of nurses at Al-Owaigeela Hospital had objected to a decision that would mean they would have to deal with cases in the field in the company of a medical crew comprising an ambulance driver, doctor and a foreign nurse. The nurses would accompany the crew to treat patients and then transfer them to nearby hospitals as well as handle other cases that would require a nurse. The nurses claimed that the decision contravened Saudi customs and Islamic laws. According to Dokhi, the decision would help train Saudi staff to work as part of an ambulance transport service as they would accompany more experienced non-Saudis. Dokhi added: “Everyone knows our leadership is focusing on Saudizing jobs, including those in the health sector and replacing non-Saudi nurses. “This means we have to closely monitor the level of performance of our Saudi nurses and ensure they are capable of performing all the tasks that would normally be performed by non-Saudi nurses. “With regard to their claims that performing such work would contravene Islamic laws, we do not seek them to behave in such a way. Our work requires us to take care of the patient in accordance with Islamic rules." He said it was impossible that Saudi nurses would be left alone with male patients, a situation that is considered to be in contravention of Islamic norms, as they would be accompanied by other nurses and medical crews. Dokhi suggested anyone who refused to perform new tasks as stated by the hospital would be disciplined. He added: “Our motto is to serve the patient first and we will not neglect them. Refusing to adhere to our decision will result in negligence. “Tasks outside our staff's job descriptions should be carried out based on the hospital's requirements, especially in times of emergency and disasters." Dokhi said he believed only a minority of nurses had objected to the decision and the majority were happy to perform their new duties. He said a patient was successfully transferred to another hospital last week in the company of a medical crew comprising a doctor and two nurses, including a Saudi who performed her duties properly. Dokhi said that they had to make this decision in light of Saudization rules, adding this was not in any way a random decision because Saudi nurses in the region's hospitals were projected to account for more than 95 percent of total nursing positions within a few months. He said: “Our role here is to look to the future and to work on not falling behind Saudization targets. “Training is a main pillar of any sector that is based on strategies and we cannot wait for disasters to happen and then react, as the patient will be the victim." Dokhi said Saudi nurses were working more diligently than any foreign nurse and they were a source of pride for the hospitals they work for. The majority of nurses have a lot of potential but need training and development, he added. Discussing the nurses at Al-Owaigeela Hospital, Dokhi said there were 46 nurses with nursing diplomas, of which 35 were Saudis (76.1 percent). He said the ratio would rise to 85 percent within two weeks as the hospital replaces foreigners with locals. There are also 17 specialist nurses and bachelor's holders. Dokhi said female nurses in most hospitals account for around 90 percent of total nursing jobs, adding male nurses would be distributed among hospital departments or taking up ambulance duties. Male nurses at Al-Owaigeela Hospital didn't exceed eight and four of them were assigned to driving ambulances, he added.
