There was a time when Dubai was crying out for international nursing staff of all levels and abilities, however the boom days of employment in the emirate are over for the time being. That said – there are still nursing jobs in Dubai that come up regularly, you may just need to be a little more patient until you find the exact right posting for you.
If you want to move to live and work in Dubai and you’re a qualified and experienced nurse, midwife or even paramedic, the pay, conditions of employment and additional bonuses and benefits available at many of the best international hospitals are enviable. This makes it worth giving it your best shot when you apply to fill a vacancy.
In this article we’ll cover how you should prepare yourself for application and interview, where to look for nursing jobs in Dubai, and what sort of employment package you can expect to be able to negotiate.
The first thing you need to know is that Dubai hospitals and those across the UAE favour British and American trained medical personnel, which means that you’re already in a good position to get any job you apply for if you have trained and/or worked in the UK or the US. You will need to actively demonstrate your qualifications when you apply for a given post, therefore in advance of your application you need to have your qualifications authenticated. Most recruitment agencies suggest you submit a copy of your passport, 3 copies of your original certificates, the name of your current supervisor and the address of the issuing body for your qualifications, copies of your employment references and 3 copies of your current practicing medical registration/certificate of registration from your governing medical body to the UAE embassy in your country of origin. We would suggest you contact the embassy first, because requirements do change.
Additionally, you can try contacting the personnel department of one of the larger international hospitals in Dubai to find out what the current practice is, or go online to forums and chat to other expats already working in the nursing and medical profession in the UAE who will be able to advise you of any changes to the authentication process.
Once you have your documents ready you are in the best position to begin actively applying for posts. As mentioned, there are recruitment consultancies that specialise in placing nursing staff in the UAE, these can be a good place to start enquiries about what jobs are available. CCM Recruitment, StaffNurse.com, Nursing Jobs Agent and Jobs in Dubai are all great sites to check out and perhaps register with. Different agencies will want different data from you, with the likes of Jobs in Dubai.com perhaps asking you to pay to register. Whether you feel you need to pay to have someone find you a job is a personal choice.
In terms of the employment package you can expect to negotiate, the basics are always standardised across hospitals in the emirate – but occasionally where a candidate is much in demand or a post has been hard to fill, extra incentives will be offered. So, you can expect to be offered a good basic tax-free salary as a nurse in Dubai, on top of this most will be offered accommodation in single sex blocks as well. Medical insurance is usually included, there is generous holiday time offered which is made all the more attractive as lots of hospitals give a nurse one return airfare home each year as well. At the end of a fixed contract there is usually a final lump sum golden handshake payment for staying the course too.
Some hospitals offer more than others – the American Hospital Dubai for example gives childcare or education benefits to working parents, and utility bills in accommodation are often paid for as well. Different institutions offer different working hours, with none supposed to push staff into working over a fixed number of hours per week. Shifts of course vary – as is par for the course with a job in the medical profession, but expect to have transportation provided to and from your accommodation no matter what shift you’re on. Some hospitals are prepared to offer on the job training to help nurses progress their career and further their skills as well.
Finally, it’s well worth talking to other expatriate nurses already living and working in the UAE via online forums, because then you can find out almost first hand what it’s like before making a firm commitment to yourself to hunt for a nursing job in Dubai.