nurse in king abdulaziz medical city in riyadh

Hi km29,

Welcome to Expat.com!

I hope you get replies very soon.

Well I am not a nurse. But I know Its 100 % safe, and the life is good too. As already lots of pinoy nurses working in the Kingdom.

are you talking about National Guard Health Affair-KAMC

im working there and its the finest hospital in Riyadh

And do not think about safety it's the last thing u should be

Worry about

km29 wrote:

Hi, i've been offered a job in King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh. Is there anybody here who has any idea about working and life as a nurse in Riyadh? Is it safe to work there? thank you,

Good place to work! no issues on safety here, generally you will feel "over protected"

Hi
I think the job will be fairly easy. You can appreciate that the patients will be immature n aggressive but i'm sure you are used to that.  Its a nice place to live especially if you want privacy and don't like having a social life.  Let me know if you are in the Kingdom.

Dooley,

Would you mind elaborating on "immature and aggressive"?  I will be moving the KSA soon to work as a nurse and this raises some concerns. 
Thanks

Dooley, I give you credit for broaching an unpleasant topic.

Kara, what he means about "immature and agressive" is this:  many of the male Saudi patients in hospitals aren't used to being around women, in particular 'uncovered' women.  I've had friends tell me that being groped is a common occurence (and you can't do anything other than extricate yourself from the situation, all the while smiling).

It pains me to say this but because there are so many people from the Phillipines working here and so often in menial jobs (store clerks, laborers, houseboys, housemaids, nannies), they generally aren't respected.  I'm sorry. 

But please note my use of words like 'many' and 'generally.'  It's not always like this.  You just have to bear with it and remember why you're here (to make $$).  And, on a good note, the Filipina nurses have an amazing network and support system so you'll make a lot of good friends and almost always have something to do in your free time


Very best of luck to you.

Thanks for the quick and inciteful reply Alliecat. Unfortunately I'm somewhat used to the groping attempts (worked with lots of groggy pts)....it will be hard to curb my sarcastic tongue and dirty looks, but I'll give it a try. 
Do you know if there are many American nurses there?  I'd love to meet people from other cultures, but knowing people from home is always nice.

The part about Filipinas was actually for km29.

As for American nurses, you'll probably find a few but there will be other westerners--mostly Brits, Irish, Australian, NZ, South African.

And I'm always here if you want to get together for dinner or something.  It's always fun to make a joke and not have to explain it lol

KaraRN wrote:

Thanks for the quick and inciteful reply Alliecat. Unfortunately I'm somewhat used to the groping attempts (worked with lots of groggy pts)....it will be hard to curb my sarcastic tongue and dirty looks, but I'll give it a try. 
Do you know if there are many American nurses there?  I'd love to meet people from other cultures, but knowing people from home is always nice.

dont worry about it .. you will do fine .. and you will get used to the people here so fast

tell us if you are in the kingdom good luck ..

Thanks!  I should be in town by Jan 29.

KaraRN wrote:

Thanks!  I should be in town by Jan 29.

nice!
if you needed anything when you come we all happy to help

Hi Km29,
nice to have you in Riyadh.
about your offer you only can decide if it is OK or not.
working and life i am sure you will like it and it's safe to live and work, idea about working only agreement will make it better.

Ackeles wrote:

KaraRN wrote:

Thanks!  I should be in town by Jan 29.

nice!
if you needed anything when you come we all happy to help

Thank you Ackeles!  I keep hearing about how people are so welcoming in KSA. I see that is true.

Hey I am working for a hospital here with many expata, thoroughly enjoy it. I always say have an open mind. The critics here have completely oppposite view to me. All are welocme to their opinion, I have been here for 11 years and have come accross only 1 case of groping. To be frank, in my own country (South Africa) the rate of rape is the highest in the world and out of 65 countries Saudi Arabia is last, its the safest for women. Among the lowest crime rates in the world, lowest cases of homosexuality (among saudi's), least amount of alcoholics and alcohol related crimes and the people themselves are very generous...and I am not sorry to go against all the negativity around here...some people just stress too much

imraan007 wrote:

Hey I am working for a hospital here with many expata, thoroughly enjoy it. I always say have an open mind. The critics here have completely oppposite view to me. All are welocme to their opinion, I have been here for 11 years and have come accross only 1 case of groping. To be frank, in my own country (South Africa) the rate of rape is the highest in the world and out of 65 countries Saudi Arabia is last, its the safest for women. Among the lowest crime rates in the world, lowest cases of homosexuality (among saudi's), least amount of alcoholics and alcohol related crimes and the people themselves are very generous...and I am not sorry to go against all the negativity around here...some people just stress too much

WOW!  And I have some swampland in Florida to sell imraan007!!!

About me:  I tell the truth from my experience, the good and the bad.  I won't 'sugar-coat' anything but that doesn't mean I am negative--it just means I am honest and realistic.

Now, let's look at these statements imraan007 has made: 

**low rate of rape.  Could it be because women can't report it?  Google 'honor killings.' 

**Homosexuality: surely you're JOKING!  They just have to stay 'in the closet' here since homosexuality is punishable by death. 

**Least amount of alcoholics: First off, the government forbids the sale of alcohol here, which could account for this BUT ...80% of the drunks in Bahrain and Dubai are  Saudi!!!  Why is there a 3 hour wait on weekends to get over the bridge into Bahrain?!?

Okay, that said.. not-sugar coated... Saudi Arabia is safe and the people are, for the most part, lovely.  If you read any of my past posts, you'll see that I frequently say that.  But is this the utopia imraan paints it to be?  Maybe compared to South Africa.  But to the rest of the world?  Reach your own conclusion.

Alliecat wrote:

imraan007 wrote:

Hey I am working for a hospital here with many expata, thoroughly enjoy it. I always say have an open mind. The critics here have completely oppposite view to me. All are welocme to their opinion, I have been here for 11 years and have come accross only 1 case of groping. To be frank, in my own country (South Africa) the rate of rape is the highest in the world and out of 65 countries Saudi Arabia is last, its the safest for women. Among the lowest crime rates in the world, lowest cases of homosexuality (among saudi's), least amount of alcoholics and alcohol related crimes and the people themselves are very generous...and I am not sorry to go against all the negativity around here...some people just stress too much

WOW!  And I have some swampland in Florida to sell imraan007!!!

About me:  I tell the truth from my experience, the good and the bad.  I won't 'sugar-coat' anything but that doesn't mean I am negative--it just means I am honest and realistic.

Now, let's look at these statements imraan007 has made: 

**low rate of rape.  Could it be because women can't report it?  Google 'honor killings.' 

**Homosexuality: surely you're JOKING!  They just have to stay 'in the closet' here since homosexuality is punishable by death. 

**Least amount of alcoholics: First off, the government forbids the sale of alcohol here, which could account for this BUT ...80% of the drunks in Bahrain and Dubai are  Saudi!!!  Why is there a 3 hour wait on weekends to get over the bridge into Bahrain?!?

Okay, that said.. not-sugar coated... Saudi Arabia is safe and the people are, for the most part, lovely.  If you read any of my past posts, you'll see that I frequently say that.  But is this the utopia imraan paints it to be?  Maybe compared to South Africa.  But to the rest of the world?  Reach your own conclusion.

well said .. i agree with you ..
and as you said the country is safe ..

about the honor killing this is in many arab countries not only in saudi arabia .. you can find it alot in jordon , lebanon and also syria .. and others

Ackeles wrote:

about the honor killing this is in many arab countries not only in saudi arabia .. you can find it alot in jordon , lebanon and also syria .. and others

Very true.. it's actually even becoming something of a problem in the western world due to Arab emmigrants bringing this mode of thinking with them.

Alliecat wrote:

Ackeles wrote:

about the honor killing this is in many arab countries not only in saudi arabia .. you can find it alot in jordon , lebanon and also syria .. and others

Very true.. it's actually even becoming something of a problem in the western world due to Arab emmigrants bringing this mode of thinking with them.

hmm .. never heard about such crimes in the western world , but i guess you are right .

even here such crimes its hardly you hear about, maybe in some places out of the main cities. like in villages or something like it..

and such crimes always happen inside families, so you guys are in the safe side hehehe :p

Ackeles wrote:

hmm .. never heard about such crimes in the western world , but i guess you are right

Take a look at this recent USA Today article.

"Muslim immigrant men have been accused of six "honor killings" in the United States in the past two years, prompting concerns that the Muslim community and police need to do more to stop such crimes.
"There is broad support and acceptance of this idea in Islam, and we're going to see it more and more in the United States," says Robert Spencer, who has trained FBI and military authorities on Islam and founded Jihad Watch, which monitors radical Islam."

Six crimes in 2 year .. i thought it is worse .. cant compare it to other crimes in the US.

any way .. crime is a crime .. but still islam dont support such ideas , its the stupid Customs and traditions that some arabs have. and lets not forget the rawness that some arabs have because of the lack of education and Religiousness.

I feel sorry for such people .. really ..

Well I realized that's an old article, from 2009.  I'm sure there's more by now, unfortunately.

Also, the way to view these statistics is to figure out the ratio of murders to the number of Arab emmigrants; it could be a surprisingly high number.

In my field of work the evidence you follow is level 6 evidence meaning "some one told me so". You follow newspaper articles rather than interpol statistics. Frankly it does not carry weight in a caught of law and after living in this country I am not convinced by your opinions or the opinions of biased media. BTW I work in a hospital in 8 years we have only 1 documented case of rape against a minor. compared that to USA according to US department of Justice (1991) almost 100 000 cases of rape per year. It is estimated that almost 40% of cases are unreported.
I do not rely on "could it be" or "some1 told me so" statements. come on we r in 2012. i am not saying there are no problems, all i say is that we should not exagerate.

Hello all, i agree with Imraan007 and to be honest i have been to so many place's, yes there is alot of things missing here for enjoying life if you are looking for "Happy Times".
but for business and healthy life Saudi is safe environment "my opinion".

I NEVER said KSA isn't safe--just the opposite.

While imraan accuses me of getting my information from the media, I ask her to learn about the culture here. If a woman is raped here, SHE is the one who is punished, scorned and shames her family and this often results in her becoming an outcast, sometimes being imprisoned and once in a while being the victim of an 'honor killing.'  And you wonder why the offical rape stats are so LOW?  Are you really so naive?

Ok so ur an expert like a social worker or something. Ur name throwing business still does not influence me. Not sure which part of Saudi u stay. Thank God I don't stay there. Learning about culture been here 11 years. Happened to read about the law of rape and the rapists get capital punishment so yeh I am reading something else. I live in a safe environment too. I guess I was little upset when I read ur msg and felt it is unfair to my good Saudi friends as groping here is considered disrespectful. U know the statement too much Tv. Media use the same technique they say person has been "suspected of a crime". The technique is used to insinuate guilt. Your tall stories may be good for tabloids. Can't understand why u still live in such an evil environment. And hey I'm guess what I'm not the only one not the only one who has good things to say. Sorry

Alliecat & imraan007 remain calm .. and dont take things too serious ..

everyone of you have a point of view .. Alliecat sees the dark side of the community here which is less than 5% or maybe less .. and imraan is seeing the bright side of the country ..

im not saying there is no crimes .. but still the crimes here is way way less than what Alliecat is talking about .. we rarely hear about a woman been killed by her family because of Adultery or something similar.. but yah there is families treat their daughter a bad way! few not alot .. if you are talking before 15 years .. yah there was Lots of Ignorance and you could be right .. but now? its way too different ..

Alliecat who you are talking about is less than the 5% of the country .. you are talking about the stone headed people who still have Ignorance way of thinking ..

things have been changed alot .. and im telling you this from way of experience because i lived here since a very long time ..

any way .. there is few people understand religion in wrong way .. and they act with their daughter with Cruelty by not letting her go out of the house for any reason as an example ..
but still .. the honor killing crimes is way less than you imagine .. its very rare .. and if it happened the government here deals with it very serious ..

imraan007 wrote:

Ok so ur an expert like a social worker or something. Ur name throwing business still does not influence me. Not sure which part of Saudi u stay. Thank God I don't stay there. Learning about culture been here 11 years. Happened to read about the law of rape and the rapists get capital punishment so yeh I am reading something else. I live in a safe environment too. I guess I was little upset when I read ur msg and felt it is unfair to my good Saudi friends as groping here is considered disrespectful. U know the statement too much Tv. Media use the same technique they say person has been "suspected of a crime". The technique is used to insinuate guilt. Your tall stories may be good for tabloids. Can't understand why u still live in such an evil environment. And hey I'm guess what I'm not the only one not the only one who has good things to say. Sorry

i dont think Alliecat meant to disrespect anyone .. she just talking about an issue in all the arabs world not only saudi arabia ..

if you go to Jordan .. they have worse crimes of Honor kills than here .. also in Palestine .. and lets not forget syria .. ive been to all those places and saw and heard about stories ..

Ackeles wrote:

i dont think Alliecat meant to disrespect anyone .. she just talking about an issue in all the arabs world not only saudi arabia ..

if you go to Jordan .. they have worse crimes of Honor kills than here .. also in Palestine .. and lets not forget syria .. ive been to all those places and saw and heard about stories ..

Ackeles, I appreciate your intent but I don't need you to apologize for me.  I'm actually walking the middle line here--I'm not saying this place is horrible and crime ridden. OF COURSE it's not!  Would I be living here if it were? But neither is it totally devoid of any crime.  My point is that a lot of crime isn't reported here and anybody intelligent who is reading this will credit my point.

And, btw, when you say 5%, I think you are WAY high. 

And imraan, you take things WAY too personally.  I never said *your* friends groped anybody; surely none of MY Saudi friends have, either.  But that's not to say that it's not done.  I can't understand your insistence on not seeing the logic here.

Alliecat wrote:

Ackeles, I appreciate your intent but I don't need you to apologize for me.  I'm actually walking the middle line here--I'm not saying this place is horrible and crime ridden. OF COURSE it's not!  Would I be living here if it were? But neither is it totally devoid of any crime.  My point is that a lot of crime isn't reported here and anybody intelligent who is reading this will credit my point.

And, btw, when you say 5%, I think you are WAY high.

ok

Ackeles...thanks and agree...i think she is just exagerating.
so anyway, phew i am so upset, i was just 10 days with a patient of ours tiny baby like 2 days old and we did everything and the child's life just slips out of our hands and back again. i spent like all my hours trying to solve some of the issues. i mean the care shown to this baby was unbelievable. it brought the entire team so close together, people of different backgrounds. although the child is not my own i just thought for a moment, that an international team, not looking at race or color or teh "evil" side of people came together for a common cause. Moreover the saudi's, some of them did not sleep for days just monitoring the baby. finally the baby dies, then i log in and see all of this tales. I dont mean to offend anyone but every nation has good and bad, like u said and the bad is not as bad as she makes it seem. its like listening to CNN all over again. with all due respect to the experience of our colleagues i choose evidence. so you can talk blue in the face but mafe faida, heheheh. ingratitude my dear pure and simple ingratitude.

Of course a medical team will do everything it can to save a baby.  Who is disputing that?

Because some people are bad, it doesn't make everybody bad. I certainly never said this.  But to say that everybody is wonderful??  Must be nice to live in lala-land

Now, I will stop commenting on this topic (yes, that person can have the 'last word,' should give her some joy) because you can't have a logical exchange of ideas with somebody who distorts what's being said.

its too boring to agree with u...and u used the word logical, like wow ur so funny

big city medical  in Saudi Arabia & good place to work
safety all please  in Saudi Arabia safe so don't worry about that
i know many friend work there  if you need more info

Hi there.. I am a nurse working at king abdulaziz medical city... I have been here for 3 years and am having a really positive experience ... At first the culture shock was different but if u are an open mined person and  willing to gain new experiences u will love it! The work is difficult but very rewarding.. We work longer hours a week than in Ireland... The patients are amazing.. Very appreciative of any help and welcoming to people like us to there country.. The opportunity to further in ur career is brilliant and  working with over 50 nationalities is such a wonderful experience xx good luck! Xx

Tracy Irish wrote:

Hi there.. I am a nurse working at king abdulaziz medical city... I have been here for 3 years and am having a really positive experience ... At first the culture shock was different but if u are an open mined person and  willing to gain new experiences u will love it! The work is difficult but very rewarding.. We work longer hours a week than in Ireland... The patients are amazing.. Very appreciative of any help and welcoming to people like us to there country.. The opportunity to further in ur career is brilliant and  working with over 50 nationalities is such a wonderful experience xx good luck! Xx

cheers for that

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ok - I managed ambulatory care services at the National Guard Health Affairs @ central region - its a huge institute nice place to work but management is really poor of overcrowded of clinics and nurses being shouted at by physicians and patients. I had to deal with main clinical nurses crying for physicians not having the respect towards the women. Theres poor communication between departments and a lot of back stabbing happens... much more discrimination and the pinoys act they own the hospital

I love this forum the truth reality of saudia is really coming out !