Financial Incentive Systems for Nurses in Saudi Arabia

Inadequate staffing and distribution of nurses, lack of supervision, ineffective regularity mechanisms, limited resources in the public sector, lack of standards of care and the absence of procedure manuals are many of the factors affecting the work environment of nurses in Saudi Arabia. Recruiting and training nurses for Saudi Arabia is not an easy job. It is estimated that 170,000 nurses are needed and currently Saudi’s government if focusing on a financial incentive strategy to motivate and enhance Saudi and non-Saudi nurses to work in the Arabian government hospital.

The Saudi Ministry of Health adopted two types of incentives to entice nurses into their employ. The first incentive is the internal financial, which involves monetary bonuses that will affect salaries, pensions, allowances and loans. The amount of the incentive offered will be based on the nurses’ education level and years of experience. The second incentive is the non-financial incentive and will involve work autonomy, flexible hours and scheduling, recognition of work, and support for career development.

The second incentive is particularly vital for countries and organizations where funding limits their capacity to provide monetary financial rewards. The Saudi took a utilitarianism approach as their criterion for allowing those willing to leave their country to work overseas. This action allows them to earn the salary a citizen of the United States would make, including all the incentive pay and bonuses that companies are offering nurses or people in general.

Rights and Duties: the Saudis’ need to over-haul their recruitment practices and pay closer attention to retaining their nurses by creating a positive work environment to enhance job satisfaction and commitment and promoting avenues that offer ways for the nurses to obtain continuous education through seminars and classes to strengthen their work skills and improve their quality of patient care.

Fairness and Justice of rewards affects the manner in which individuals view their jobs and the organization, and it can affect the amount of effort they expend in accomplishing tasks (Kingman, 2003). On the other hand, unfairness may foster poor job performance, psychological tension and lower job satisfaction (Sullivan and Decker, 2005)