How to work as a nurse in Qatar?

Qatar has one of the largest natural gas and oil reserves, the Arab emirate of Qatar is considered in one of the wealthiest economies of the world. It is also known to have one of the highest per capita healthcare spending in the entire GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council). And have the highest life spans in the world. Apart from that Qatar is known for having some world-class hospitals and the Government has done a great job establishing a healthcare system that is envied by many countries. Plus, the Nursing community of Qatar is paid well and considered as one of the Nobel professions. In Addition to those, there are tons of other good reasons especially for Pakistanis to peruse their career in nursing in Qatar. In this article, you will be guided about the procedure of applying to work as a registered nurse in Qatar.

“Nursing is the noblest of all professions as it is based on motherly care and sisterly affection.”

Steps to work as a nurse in Qatar

1 Medical Clearance

The first and most important step you need to go through before getting a nursing job in Qatar is getting medical clearance. But you don’t have to worry too much about this step because usually, the agency will help you acquire it. In some cases, the agency will facilitate the process of getting a medical clearance by giving you a referral. This medical clearance is to make sure that you are healthy and don’t have any contagious disease.

Just make sure you pass all the medical exams. This means that you must be a generally healthy person. Live a healthy lifestyle, eat fruits and vegetables, sleep well, exercise regularly, and more.

2.Exams

There is a written exam that you must pass to work as a registered nurse in Qatar called the Prometric exam. This written exam will test your nursing knowledge and skills. A good thing about this exam is that it is very flexible, with the feeling that you can save it at a time or date that is most convenient for you. Prometrics is the examining body for Prometric candidates from Qatar. One of the biggest challenges in passing this exam, and other exams for this subject, is preparation. you need to spend time studying for the exam, even though you probably have a job, and balance the time between work, home, and study.

1. Prepare All Required Documents

You must attest to your documents ASAP because you will be scanning and uploading them while applying for the test. All the scanned documents must be clear and the attested stamp must be visible. You can click here to apply when the registration process is open.

Following is the documents that you will be needing for the test:

• Transcript of Records – the transcripts you used for your local board exams like the mark sheet and roll no. slip. If you don’t have these, you can easily get them by getting in contact with your school. As these documents are only sent to the schools by the board. In case the school also doesn’t have the documents, you can ask them to contact the board on your behalf and get another set of documents. This process may take a week or so.
• Work Experience – Two (2) years of work experience are required. Clinical nurses. Nurses from the hospital, School health nurses, company nurses, private nurses, clinical nurses all are eligible to apply if they have two years of working experience. If you are a fresh graduate, you may be exempted from submitting any work experience certificate, but it doesn’t work in all cases. It’s better to get some experience before applying.
• Photo – One (1) passport-sized photo (Must be Colored).
• Passport – Passport copy is also required.
• Authorization Letter – You will be able to download a file at the end of the registration process, you are required to sign it, scan, and upload the file.
• Proof of Registration – Proof of professional registration is required.
• PRC License – it should not be expired
• Board Certificate
• Certificate of Good Standing

In Pakistan – this includes:

• Domicile – it should not be expired
• Intermediate Certificate from the Education Board (Must be same as Domicile)
• Character Certificate – you can get this from your institute

You must make sure that all the documents are scanned properly. In case you made a blunder you don’t have to worry they will email you about the documentation which is missing from the application form you submitted and will ask you to upload them again.

1. Eligibility ID

After the document verification, you have to wait for the eligibility ID. This process usually takes about six (6) weeks. With this, you can easily monitor the evaluation process like what they are doing with the documents that you scanned.

Along with this step, you must arrange a MasterCard for the payment in the next step while applying for the PSV. You will be needing this card only one time while paying for the exam fee. You can get this card from the bank that you have an account in.

1. Apply for PSV

After Qatar Prometric verifies your documents, they will send you an email with the link to have primary source verification and a guide on how to apply for the Prometric exam.

then, you have to pay the fee with MasterCard which has online payments enabled.

In last, you have to wait for the PSV that will also take approximately six (6) weeks.

1. Schedule Your Prometric Exam

Once you have the Qatar Prometric reference number that you will get in the mail, they will send you.  Now you can schedule your exam. It’s time to prepare for the test because it’s not easy and takes time.

The test isn’t that difficult, but you have to take it seriously as if you failed you will have to through the above steps again. It will waste your time and you don’t want to do that.

• Test Center

After selecting the date and time of your test you have to appear in one of the centers of Prometrics. You can view the registered centers for the test in your country by clicking here or by a simple Google search. In Pakistan, they have three centers one in Islamabad and the other in Karachi and Lahore. You can select any of them which is feasible for you. Addresses of the centers are given below:

• Karachi – H#F-47/1 Park Lane, Block#5, K.D.A Scheme#5 Kehkashan, Clifton
• Islamabad – HOUSE #5, STREET #17, F- 6/2
• Lahore – Inside F.C. (Forman Christian) College Near Staff Colony Gulberg

• Result

Now, you have to wait for the result. It usually takes two or three days. Once the result is announced you can view in your account that you have passed or not. If you passed the exam, you will also get an email from Qatar Prometrics.

3.Documents

After successfully passing the test, you have to gather documents before applying for the visa. So, what papers and documents should you prepare before applying for the visa prepare? According to most of the people who apply, this is the most tedious and tiring part of the whole process. stand in line, travel from place to place, and have a lot of patience. It is also very easy to lose your mind if you are not organized and strategic in your approach. Therefore, it is useful to keep a list of the documents that you need to prepare and scan. You may also want to have a logbook and a clear book where you can safely store your documents.

Here is the list of documents required to apply for a nursing job in Qatar:

• School (CAV, Diploma, TOR, RLE, Bonafede Student Certificate)
  • NBI Clearance
  • Work (Certificate of Employment)
  • PRC (Board Certificate, Good Standing Certificate)
  • POEA (Overseas Employment Certificate)
  • Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar Attendance Certificate

One important thing to note regarding your CAV, TOR, diploma, and other school documents, as well as your NBI authorization: you must submit them to the DFA for the Apostille. The Apostille was called the Red Ribbon. In the meantime, your TOR, diploma, work certificate, and PRC council certificate; need to send them to Dataflow. It takes about two weeks to 1 month.

Data flow is another verification process required by QCHP. QCHP stands for Qatar Council for Health Practitioners. those applying for the PSV (Primary Source Verification) process take place through GBS or Gulf Bridge Services. For the certificate of good reputation, it is necessary to request this document from the People’s Republic of China after resigning. This needs to be sent to QCHP, but if in case they did not receive the reputable certificate. When this happens to you, don’t worry too much. You have to ask a friend or family member to get the certificate from the PRC and send it via DHL, a very quick process. You have to meet this requirement.

4.Apply for VISA

After collecting all the documents now it’s time to apply for the Visa. Usually, it’s a smooth and very easy process. And the agency will help you through the process. You don’t have to do anything difficult to get it. While the agency processes your visa, they will ask you to prepare apostilled documents, in particular CAV, TOR, Diploma, NBI authorization. After gathering all these documents, they will ask you to send them to the Qatari Embassy in your country via DHL. After that, if needed you will have to visit the embassy. Don’t worry about its the embassy will contact you and guide you properly about what you have to do. In some cases, an Interview is also conducted to assure that you are going to the job you applied not for some other reason.

It usually takes a week or two to receive your visa. Then you have to buy a plane ticket to Qatar which you can easily book online on the airline’s website. Or you can get it through some agent.

Becoming a nurse in Qatar requires you to go through a lot of legwork and you will certainly invest a lot of time, money, and energy. But at the end of the day, if you’re successful, it’s worth it.

Work Hours and Salary

Fridays and Saturdays are off in Qatar. So you have to work from Sunday to Thursday 8-10 hours a day. In addition to the weekend, you will get a day or two off in a week due to their rotational shifts.

Now Let’s Talk about the salary:

• Nurses– The average salary in nursing jobs in Qatar is generally between QAR 4,000 (Rs. 78,000) to QAR 10,000 (Rs. 198,000). Nurses with higher work experience have higher salaries.
• Doctors– For doctors salary ranges QAR 10,000 (Rs. 198,000) to QAR 18,000 (Rs. 350,000), while specialists like, Neurologists, Cardiologists have more pay ranging from QAR 12,000 (Rs. 235,000) to QAR 25,000 (Rs. 485,000) per month.
• Technicians– For medical technicians, salary range between QAR 3,000 (Rs. 58,000) to QAR 10,000 (Rs. 198,000) based on their specialty.

Salary includes the basic salary, housing allowance, transport allowance, and other allowances. Also, the salary is tax-free, and some employers get additional benefits such as annual plane tickets, vacation days, etc. In addition, most hospitals offer shared accommodation services to their staff near the facility

Challenges of Working in Qatar

Working as a nurse in Qatar has the benefits like a decent salary, a good lifestyle. On the contrary, you can also face some challenges like:

• Arabic Language Law

Although English is widely spoken in Qatar, a new law has been introduced to protect the Arabic language. By law, government agencies, public bodies, and ministries are required to use only the Arabic language. With communication playing a vital role in the healthcare industry, the law can make things difficult for expatriate healthcare professionals. Fortunately, Arabic is not a very difficult language to learn. You can take a short Arabic course once you are in Qatar to better meet the job requirements.

• Opportunities Only for Deserving

Qatar is a small country. This means that while there are great opportunities available, they are rare. You are here competing for a job in the healthcare industry against professionals from all over the world. So, you had to be one of the best in your field to get a job in one of the best healthcare facilities in Qatar.

• Expensive Country

While necessities like electricity and water are very affordable, Qatar is mostly an expensive country. So, when looking for healthcare and nursing jobs in Qatar, be sure to select an employer who pays a living wage and offers a housing allowance.

• Expensive Driving License

Moreover, while fuel is cheap and used cars are also affordable, getting a driver’s license in Qatar is expensive if you don’t already have a driver’s license in your country. Indeed, you have to take a driving course, which can cost up to 3,000 QAR (60,000 Rs).