I cannot imagine that this year bring me a fortune in Saudi Arabia. As a nurse who left this country two years ago, I felt my chances of survival were nothing because the system required for upgrading my professional registration and retaking an exam.
Since 2009, when I first came here, I wondered if this opportunity would have a significant impact on my career and family. I signed a contract with the best government hospital in Medina. It was a long process, but eventually, after one year, I obtained my license without having to take any exam.
The regulations at that time, unlike today, did not require us in working for exam papers or renewal of the license. All those processes were managed by the hospital. Nurses only submitted the yearly contracts for the renewal and submitted the license including a Basic Life Support (BLS) certificate and an evaluation form related to work performance.
Living in the kingdom for almost fourteen years. I have accomplished many things, especially with my job dedication similar to other Indonesian nurses. My work performance evaluated yearly, was always good, the salary increased annually, and which enabled me to bring my family to perform Umrah and Hajj.
When Saudization came in 2018, I was worried. Many employees were terminated because the government hired local staff or Saudi nurses who had recently graduated. I realized that I needed to continue my studies and upgraded my professional registration from a nurse technician, which is similar to a diploma in nursing, to a bachelor nurse or specialist.
I sought information from social media, friends, and colleagues, I found a university offering distance learning in Indonesia. I decided to enroll in the Bachelor of Nursing program, which had a duration of one year and six months, plus nursing clinical for ten months. I thought that my diploma in nursing would no longer provide to renew my contract.
Unfortunately, when I had completed my bachelor's degree, the news about the termination came to my email notification. I read it many times, and make sure about the information. I tried to ask the HR, and the information was correct. I cried and called my family in Indonesia. I told them that I could not continue working in Saudi Arabia because of the regulation to stop hiring foreign workers from Saudization.
I knew that my position as a nurse technician in my ward was replaced by specialists and the new employees were hired from India, Egypt, and the Philippines. I tried my best to accept this matter, but it was difficult to understand that life is hard, my future seemed uncertain. However, I looked at the other side and tried to negotiate with myself, knowing that I still had an opportunity.
Being accepted in that situation is not counted by day and month. I tried to be positive and looked at the chance to come back again. My strengths were obtaining the bachelor's license from my new education as a bachelor, saving more money for two years in Indonesia, and studying for the re-exam. I considered the weaknesses regarding my age, the percentage of passing the exam, and lacking interest to study more.
Two years was a short time. There was an announcement about a nursing career in Saudi Arabia by a famous agency at that time. I submitted the CV and other documents while preparing to go to the center of the agency. The requirements were a bachelor with 2 year experience, holding a dataflow as document verification and the positive aspect was the candidate would be more likely to be hired if they had experience in Saudi Arabia.
