Filipino nurses in KSA urge action on hospital pay gaps

Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia’s private hospitals earn about half the salary of their counterparts in public hospitals in that Middle East Kingdom, according to a report from the Saudi Gazette. The Saudi Gazette said the Eastern Province Saudi Arabia chapter of the Philippine Nurses Association discovered the salary disparity through a survey. The survey showed foreign nurses employed in Saudi Arabia’s government hospitals earn 4,500 Saudi Riyals or P51,072 a month. Based on Saudi Ministry of Health data, there are 87,550 nurses working in 283 government medical centers while there are 110,858 nurses employed by 125 private hospitals, according to the Saudi Gazette. Respondents to the survey said they want the pay disparities addressed because the experience and training of foreign nurses in both sectors are the same and their salaries should therefore be uniform and equal. The survey also showed that working conditions and accommodations of foreign nurses in the Kingdom are satisfactory. — ELR/VS, GMA News