Nursing is one among the greatly sophisticated professions which requires special skills and knowledge to practice. Nurses are one of the largest work forces in the world. Many people who used to neglect their existence earlier acknowledge the significance of nurses in the world now; in one of the most tried times in history;the era of covid 19 pandemic. They are in an endless battle with the deadly virus, while the rest of the world has moved indoors. This is a peep in to nursing as a profession in two different continents, Europe and Asia.
To start with, as a citizen and a nurse who graduated from an Asian country and holding two thirds of my professional experience in Asia, initially I would like to shed light in to various aspects of nursing in Asian countries. Nursing in Asian countries is deemed as a low standard job and therefore most of the nurses practicing in Asian countries would have to encounter such an instance in their life at least once when they get yelled at, degraded, hurt by their clients or the members of their health care team. In countries like India and Saudi Arabia, nurses are known to be subordinates to doctors, where people are not aware that it is entirely an independent profession with its own professional hierarchy and expertise. In most of these countries, except in some public sector hospitals, nurses are meant to do the work of domestic workers to doctors, taking meagre incomes and without proper break times. Most of the hospitals in Asian countries do not hold a policy to deal with violence against nurses at work place. In some of the gulf countries, international nurses are paid half the salary which the nurses of those countries get for the same type and amount of work. Some of these countries do their significant documentations like work contracts in Arabic thus causing a stigma to the international nurses who do not know the language and therefore have to sign them blindly with out reading the clauses. Nurses do not have powerful unions or agencies in these countries which may advocate or speak up for their rights and against work disparities. Majority of the nurses in these countries might have done forced overtime work atleast once in their life despite the rigid full time contract of 48 hours a week. Working hours are not at all flexible for a larger population of nurses with a mere three months maternity leave in many countries. Lastly, the scope for professional enhancement is minimal in these countries.
Europe on the other hand, is a haven for international nurses in terms of money, flexible duty schedule and professional dignity. Nursing is viewed as one of the noblest and dignified profession and nurses are revered here other than any other professionals.Nurses have their own professional hierarchy in Europe which is properly followed. The whole healthcare team respects each other and nobody yells at another member of the team. The fatigue of working longer hours at a stretch withers away when you get paid at the end of the month. Verbal and physical abuse against nurses from the part of clients are not permitted. The work schedule in all these countries helps nurses to lead a normal family life, ultimately being able to have some quality time to spend with their family members. These nations have flexible rules which lets the family members of international nurses to migrate with them and stay with them as they work in Europe.Nurses have broader choices to specialize here depending on their area of interest which helps them to enhance in career. The one con of nursing in Europe is that despite being the most developed, the nursing manpower in Europe is still very low, thus leaving the staff nurses in pressure even though they get proper breaks between the work. Hardness of job is moderate to severe, but they get paid for overtime,unsocial hours and bank holidays that we spend working. We get equal pay for equal work with our respective European colleagues. Lastly, we do have strong unions and organizations to stand for us in times of struggles which aids us to win our battle for professional rights.
Europe on the other hand, is a haven for international nurses in terms of money, flexible duty schedule and professional dignity. Nursing is viewed as one of the noblest and dignified profession and nurses are revered here other than any other professionals.Nurses have their own professional hierarchy in Europe which is properly followed. The whole healthcare team respects each other and nobody yells at another member of the team. The fatigue of working longer hours at a stretch withers away when you get paid at the end of the month. Verbal and physical abuse against nurses from the part of clients are not permitted. The work schedule in all these countries helps nurses to lead a normal family life, ultimately being able to have some quality time to spend with their family members. These nations have flexible rules which lets the family members of international nurses to migrate with them and stay with them as they work in Europe.Nurses have broader choices to specialize here depending on their area of interest which helps them to enhance in career. The one con of nursing in Europe is that despite being the most developed, the nursing manpower in Europe is still very low, thus leaving the staff nurses in pressure even though they get proper breaks between the work. Hardness of job is moderate to severe, but they get paid for overtime,unsocial hours and bank holidays that we spend working. We get equal pay for equal work with our respective European colleagues. Lastly, we do have strong unions and organizations to stand for us in times of struggles which aids us to win our battle for professional rights.
In short, if you are a nurse who wish to save money and do not need some leisure time to spend with family members or go on trips for entertainment, it is always better to choose one of the gulf countries where you do not have to pay professional tax or choose one of the central government institutions in India where you get a huge sum as salary. On the contrary, if you are a nurse who value family life than your savings, who prefer to have a dignified professional life and who wish to have some leisure time for entertainment, it is better to choose a European country for this is the right place for you.
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