A multicultural nursing workforce and cultural perspectives in Saudi Arabia: An overview

In Saudi Arabia, nursing is a less desirable career choice for Saudi nationals in comparison to other professions. Several factors including the type of work, the working hours and perceptions of inadequate monetary compensation by nurses are responsible for this trend.1 The poor image of nursing as a profession in the Middle East, the gender norms and the rapid population growth have contributed to the heavy reliance on expatriate nurses in health care organisations. In fact, population growth in Saudi Arabia is considered to be the highest in the world, at a rate of 3.3 %.2 As a result, the majority of nurses working in Saudi hospitals are expatriates with different cultural backgrounds;3 comprising 67.7% of the total number of nurses.4 However, the presence of expatriate nurses in health care facilities is common to all Gulf countries. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for instance, indigenous nurses represent only 3% of the total number of nurses employed in the health industries.5