Down by the Red Sea
When I lived in Saudi Arabia, excursions to the Red Sea were the favourite weekend entertainment of we Westerners. To behold the coral reef is awe inspiring. The fish: turquoise, orange, canary yellow, magenta or with black stripes, come in all shapes and sizes. As well as snorkeling and diving among the fish, we would catch and eat parrot fish, grouper, and spotted halfbeak. I once even saw a shark give a dolphin a thrashing. Speaking of dolphins, they would swim alongside our Zodiac when we sped along en route to nearby islands (which, by the way, was forbidden).
This reminiscing about the fabled Red Sea leads my thoughts to Jeddah. Like any seaside city, Jeddah has a boulevard along the waterfront, known as the Corniche. Strolling along the Corniche while listening to the sound of the waves splashing with the incoming/outgoing tide, feeling the soft warm breeze in my hair, and hearing the evening call to prayer from the many mosques was, to me, a transcendent experience. Those of you who haven’t felt the Red Sea and the mystery of this ancient land will think I am maudlin. But now, many years later, these remain my most memorable times in Saudi Arabia.
So you can understand why we were happy to learn that one of our client hospitals in Jeddah is expanding and will, therefore, need a lot more staff. The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah site, is a sister hospital of the famous King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh. Currently, the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah has 250 beds and is the only public tertiary-care hospital in the western region of Saudi Arabia. Starting immediately, the hospital is expanding the pediatric ICU, the adult and pediatric cardiac surgery ICU and the medical/surgical ICU services. Within five years the hospital plans to double or even triple its current size. The physical structure of the hospital is modern and even grand in its décor. The hospital is JCI accredited. The current, most urgent needs are for nurses for the expanding ICU units.
I have to mention that the Chief Nursing Officer at the King Faisal in Jeddah is Sandy Lovering, a Canadian. Sandy is an avid promoter of camping in the desert, which is, I think, what she does most weekends. The golfers among you will be happy to hear about the Desert Lakes Golf Course, a proverbial oasis in the desert. And I haven’t even elaborated on the wonder of the old city of Jeddah.
Although we have always had positions at hospitals in Jeddah, we have never had a large number of openings, primarily because Western people tend to settle for longer periods in Jeddah, and consequently there is less staff turnover. The expansion of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Jeddah, has resulted in the opening of new positions, providing a rare opportunity to work in a modern, technologically advanced hospital, located in the heart of an ancient land along the magical Red Sea.
Helen Ziegler
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