Jordanian nurses union calls for end to foreign nurse recruitment amid unemployment crisis

Jordanian nurses have complained that foreign nurses are being hired by the private sector, while many remain unemployed in the kingdom.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab Staff

24 March, 2021

The Association is calling for more Jordanian nurses to be recruited [file photo-Getty]

Nurses in Jordan have condemned alleged attempts by private hospitals to recruit foreign orderlies, amid high unemployment for local medical workers.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Jordan Nurses and Midwives Association criticised private hospitals for their overseas recruitment drive, which they claim disregards local nurses.

"Private hospitals in the kingdom do not want to invest in the Jordanian nursing workforce by giving them the rights they deserve or by training them," said Khaled Rababa, president of the Jordanian Nurses and Midwives Association.

There are 38,000 nurses and midwives in the association and another thousand student nurses will graduate by the end of the second semester this year, according to Rababa.

"The kingdom has an oversupply of nurses, who are paid less than 350 dinar ($490) in Amman and less than 300 dinar ($420) in other governorates," said Rababa.

Rababa went on to highlight a litany of other poor practices that the private sector imposes on nurses, including unreasonably long working hours, unfair dismissals, unpaid salaries, and taking up tasks that are not part of their job description. Rababa claimed in the Facebook post that it was for these reasons that nurses were unwilling to work in the private sector.

"We suffered in hospitals, and we still suffer from a shortage of staff, a shortage of supplies, and physical and psychological attacks from the clients and their families, and we endured all of that because our firm belief is to fulfill our mission to the fullest and because our people and our beloved country need us in this difficult period," wrote Rababa.

He went on to ask why the private sector is not investing more in Jordanian nurses.

Jordan is currently experiencing a peak in Covid-19 cases, with a seven-day average of 8,335 new cases a day.

Earlier this month, the health minister stepped down following the death of six patients who died due to a shortage in oxygen supplies.

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