Saudi Health Ministry: Prohibits assigning nurses to duties outside their specialization and prevents dual employment
The Saudi Ministry of Health issued a strongly worded and binding circular to all healthcare facilities in the Kingdom, prohibiting the assignment of nursing and midwifery staff to any tasks or duties outside the scope of their approved professional practices, or assigning them administrative work unrelated to their specialization. This step comes as part of the Ministry's efforts to ensure the quality of healthcare practices and guarantee that staff adhere to their precise job descriptions.
This decisive decision aligns with the objectives of the Health Sector Transformation Program, one of the programs under the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which focuses on enhancing operational efficiency and improving the quality of services provided to beneficiaries. Through these measures, the healthcare system seeks to strengthen the principle of specialization and ensure that healthcare practitioners provide the care they have been trained and licensed to practice, thereby reducing medical errors and enhancing patient safety.
Systematic basis and prevention of duplication
The Ministry based its directives on Article Twelve of the Health Professions Practice Law, which explicitly prohibits dual practice or combining one health profession with another that conflicts with the nature of the primary work. The Ministry emphasized the absolute necessity of adhering to the rule that a health practitioner should not practice more than one health profession, to ensure professional focus and the safety of medical procedures. It affirmed that the professional register and license are the sole criteria for determining a practitioner's powers and privileges.
On a professional and legal level, this regulation aims to protect health practitioners from legal liability that may result from performing tasks for which they are not licensed, in addition to reducing unjustified job burdens that contribute to job burnout, allowing nursing staff to focus on patient care directly and effectively.
Permissible scope and powers of nursing and midwifery
The ministry has precisely defined the scope of work permitted for nursing staff, which includes inpatient wards, outpatient clinics, hospital emergency departments, and specialized centers. Their authority also extends to working in endoscopy clinics, lithotripsy clinics, interventional radiology clinics, and wound care, in addition to leadership roles in nursing, quality, and training departments within health clusters.
Regarding the midwifery profession, the circular limited duties to monitoring pregnant women, providing postpartum care, supporting breastfeeding, and participating in forensic medicine, school health, and home health clinics. The ministry considered any assignment outside these lists a violation of regulations requiring immediate correction.
Sanctions and expected impact
The ministry emphasized that practicing any health activity without a license or exceeding one's jurisdiction except in cases of extreme necessity is a clear violation warranting legal penalties. It also mandated that departments rectify the status of their staff immediately to ensure compliance with regulations.
This decision is expected to have a tangible positive impact on the level of health services in the Kingdom, as freeing up nursing staff for their primary duties will improve the speed of response to patients’ needs, raise performance indicators in hospitals and health centers, as well as enhance confidence in the health system through the application of the highest standards of governance and professional transparency.
