Nurses association deplores alleged attempts to recruit foreign workforce in private hospitals

AMMAN — The Jordan Nurses and Midwives Association reiterates its disapproval of the recruitment of foreign nurses, so long as there are unemployed nurses in the Kingdom.

The association, in a statement, deplored what they claim is some private hospitals’ utter disregard to the association’s disapproval of the recruitment of foreign workforce in health institutions.

In remarks to The Jordan Times, President of the Jordanian Nurses and Midwives Association Khaled Rababa said: “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.”

The association currently has 38,000 registered nurses and midwives as members, according to Rababa, who added that 1,000 nursing students will graduate from the Jordanian universities by the end of the second semester this year, while 500 nurses will take a nursing licensure exam in April.

“The Kingdom has an oversupply of nurses, who are paid less than JD350 in Amman and less than JD300 in other governorates,” he said.

Furthermore, he noted that the working system of private sector staff nurses is 48 hours per week, while the working hours in the Health Ministry is 35 hours per week, adding that in every other country the working system is 40 hours, at most.

Rababa said in the statement that “100 per cent of the Jordanian nursing workforce worked arduously since the beginning of the pandemic, while other sectors were allowed to operate only with 30 per cent of employees”, noting that the association has continued to provide training sessions for all cadres working in both the private and public sectors.

“There are thousands of nurses waiting to be employed in Jordan,” Rababa said in the statement, alleging that certain health institutions in the private sector terminated the employment of Jordanian nurses who have over five-seven years of experience, with no professional reason.

The statement also alleged that certain private sector hospitals did not pay the salaries of their staff nurses for several months now.