Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz College for Emergency Medical Services, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Paramedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Department of Paramedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Int Emerg Nurs. 2022 Jul;63:101176. doi: 10.1016/j.ienj.2022.101176. Epub 2022 Jun 20.
It is immensely important that Saudi women become involved in the field of paramedicine in larger numbers; however, anecdotally they continue to experience significant challenges that limit their opportunities for recruitment and deployment in the field. This study set out to explore working female paramedics' perceptions of challenges in their workplace in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
This study utilised a descriptive qualitative approach. Fifteen Saudi female paramedics were recruited to attend one of four focus groups in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Data were assessed using thematic analysis.
Three themes emerged from the focus groups that described the perceptions of Saudi female paramedics: personal factors, social factors and employment-related factors. They faced several challenges that could affect their family responsibilities, workplace duties and capacity to work in the field of paramedicine. Saudi society also challenged female paramedics, as the culture and traditions of the KSA limited their participation in the paramedicine workforce. Furthermore, they reported experiencing many employment issues related to recruitment to pre-hospital settings, resulting from organisational policies and procedures.
This study investigated the perceptions held by a cohort of female Saudi paramedics of the personal and professional challenges they faced in the workplace in the KSA. The study findings and their implications for female paramedics suggest further research is required to understand the unique challenges they face and to develop various strategies to manage them.
大量增加沙特女性参与急救医学领域的工作至关重要；然而，据传闻，她们仍然面临着重大挑战，这些挑战限制了她们在该领域的招募和部署机会。本研究旨在探讨沙特阿拉伯王国（KSA）工作的女性急救人员对工作场所挑战的看法。
本研究采用描述性定性方法。在沙特阿拉伯利雅得，招募了 15 名沙特女性急救人员参加四个焦点小组中的一个。使用主题分析评估数据。
焦点小组提出了三个主题，描述了沙特女性急救人员的看法：个人因素、社会因素和与就业相关的因素。他们面临着一些挑战，这些挑战可能会影响他们的家庭责任、工作场所职责以及在急救医学领域工作的能力。沙特社会也对女性急救人员构成挑战，因为 KSA 的文化和传统限制了她们参与急救人员队伍。此外，他们报告说，由于组织政策和程序，在招聘到院前环境时遇到了许多与就业相关的问题。
本研究调查了一组沙特女性急救人员对她们在 KSA 工作场所面临的个人和职业挑战的看法。研究结果及其对女性急救人员的影响表明，需要进一步研究以了解她们面临的独特挑战，并制定各种策略来应对这些挑战。
