Few Qatari Nurses at HMC
Al-Raya Arabic Newspaper published an article titled "The Secrets of Qataris not Working as Nurses."
I will translate parts of the article, as I am interested in the cultural and politics aspects of this, and hence invite your comments. It is quite a long article, with plenty of diplomatic execuses addressing the issue, expressed by few officials at HMC who were interviewed by the writer.
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"Only 8% of nurses are Qataris"
"Dr. Naji El Mannaie, Ass. Exec Director of Hamad General Hospital, said that the appreciation towards the profession of nursing have declined since the seventies in the Qatari society, because the government plan to improve the health service including nursing which is an important part of such service"
He also added,"In general, most Qatari families appreciate the profession of nursing now. Yet, the arab countries and the gulf countries in particular have not changed their old impressions about this profession. The government is providing many education efforts to correct that"
"Dr. Nabla El-Mir, Executive Director of Nursing at HMC explains that the reason for this problem is the fact that many other professions are available and competing with nursing. However, this has changed as better pay and benifits are offered now for nursing"
She also added, " Another reason is the demanding nature of nursing, and the fact that not everybody can succeed in nursing, poiting out that morning shifts have been offered for Qatari nurses to ease thier family needs"
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Original Article in arabic is here http://raya.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=352657&version=1...
I think your comment is a bit of a generalisation. I work for a government organisation and Qatari's recieve the same base salaries as the expatriates in the same positions. The difference, you may argue, is the annual leave tickets, however Qatari's do recieve a Qatari Social allowance which in some grades is quite sizable.
Alexa I don't know any Qatari the govt just gives me to other than the Al-Thani family or a widow or a someone destitute. Most young Qataris have to live at home and if they want to have a house they would have to work two jobs as since its a cash society it takes years to save money to build. Since the pay for Qataris is about 1/4 what it is for a foreignor and no education allowance for private school, no plane tickets etc, etc. Given the wealth of the country all Qataris get is free water and electricity. Even after they marry most Qataris live with their families, its not the reality most people think. Maybe you see a nice car but don't realize they live at home. Most Qatari families I know the husband and wife both have full time jobs to make ends meet and the man has another business to try to keep their head above water. Its easy to assume everyone is wealthy but that is not the case.
It's their country. They have a right to jobs.. As long as they do them properly..
Your earlier comments about nurses and their "social" life could also be a hurdle here.
and being spoon fed is really nirvana... i can do yoga all day long... i'll be grow up driving a land cruiser... and i cn forget about studying hard... ayayayayyyy
mmmm would they do such a lowly job? wiping bums for a living? methinks not.....
"It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid."
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
to even communicate with them.
Whenever I read about nurses in Qatar, I get the impression they are all female. Are there many (any?) men who pursue nursing as a profession in Qatar?
I would say that its good to keep the locals out of this job. for the sake of patients...
Yes britexpat, it is confusing indeed, I had to read it so many time to make sure what I am translating, but it is not a consistant statement, and I cannot tell is it the source or the writer !
very confusing.."Dr. Naji El Mannaie, Ass. Exec Director of Hamad General Hospital, said that the appreciation towards the profession of nursing have declined since the seventies in the Qatari society, because the government plan to improve the health service including nursing which is an important part of such service"
Declined ????
Anyway, 8% is a good number considering the culture.
in Saudi, they are having a hard time recruiting / training local nurses because many families / men don't want their women mixing with males. theer is also the need to work shifts.
Cultural change takes time..
I would not take too much room to comment, but I would invite everyone to let their imagination go real wild, and think what would happen in this scenario:
" A male asian labourer in bed in the hospital for broken hip, he wanted to asks the nurse to bring him a cup of water, and to open the window curtains to see some sun since he have been bed ridden for weeks. He ring the nurse bell few times, ......."
Can you finish the story?
nursing is a very sensitive job, requires a lot of effort and patience, two things that the Qatari women might not have and the attitude too.