Professionalism and Professional Standards for Nurses and Midwives in Saudi Arabia

At a glance

The concerns this course addresses

How to respond to a complaint about this kind of concern

A concern about your conduct can feel personal, especially when you were short-staffed or tired. It helps to treat it as a request for a clear account of one event and of what has changed since. These steps keep your response factual and complete.

1. Take advice and note the deadlines

   Speak to your nursing director, your employer's legal or human resources office, or a lawyer before you write anything. Note every date in the letter and ask early if you need more time. Check what malpractice cover your employer provides for nursing staff.

   In the course: Section 1 explains who notices conduct and how a concern travels, so you know what your adviser is preparing you for.

2. Find the exact standard that applied

   Identify the article of the Law, the regulation, the Code chapter, the part of the 2023 scope document or the facility policy that covers the event, and read it in full rather than in summary.

   In the course: Sections 2 to 9 set out each standard with its source, from category and registration to dignity, boundaries and social media.

3. Name the professional question underneath

   Was it workload against a duty to tell someone, a family's request against your licence, or loyalty to a colleague against patient safety? Saying so plainly shows you understand why the standard exists.

   In the course: Section 7 helps you separate disagreement from conflict and decide when to raise a concern.

4. Write a factual account and own your part

   Say what happened, when, your role and what you did. Keep patient details to the minimum needed, avoid blaming others, and acknowledge the effect on the patient, family or team without long justification.

   In the course: Section 11 gives a reflective structure and shows what makes a reflection credible.

5. Show what has changed, with evidence

   List specific changes, when they began and how they are checked: a handover format used every shift, a corrected profile, a revised roster arrangement, observation notes from your charge nurse.

   In the course: Section 11 helps you write goals with actions, evidence and review dates.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Before you answer your facility, MOH, the Violations Committee or the Sharia Health Panel, speak to your employer's legal office, your nursing director or a lawyer.

How this course helps with a complaint or investigation

• It ties each behaviour to its source

  Many responses say a nurse will now be more professional. Few say which duty applied, what it requires and why it protects patients. The course teaches that link, so your reflection reads as understanding rather than promise.

• It gives you structures you can show

  ISBAR handover, a delegation script, a pre-shift competence checklist and a questioning method are concrete tools. Using them on later shifts, and noting how they went, can help you show a change in practice.

• It structures your reflection

  The final section takes you through what happened, what you thought, which standard applied, what you learned and what you now do. That order suits an appraisal, a statement to your employer or a review.

• It matches learning to the cause

  A knowledge gap needs learning, a pressure problem needs a changed roster or escalation habit, and a boundary drift needs supervision. The course helps you choose and evidence the right response.

Remediation evidence that carries weight

A remediation plan, phase by phase

1. Weeks 1-2

   Advice, facts and the right standard

   • Speak to your employer's legal office, your nursing director or a lawyer and note every deadline.
   • Write a private chronology from rosters, charts and incident records rather than memory alone.
   • Identify the article, Code chapter or scope domain that applied and read it in full.

2. Weeks 2-6

   Understand the standard and your part

   • Complete this course and note which sections the event engages.
   • Write the reflective account using the course structure and test it against the knowledge checks.
   • Review your draft with your adviser before it goes to anyone.

3. Weeks 6-12

   Change practice and show it

   • Introduce the specific change, such as ISBAR for every patient or telling the charge nurse before every break.
   • Ask a senior colleague to observe two handovers or review your documentation and give written feedback.
   • Keep anonymised examples of the change in use.

4. Months 3-12

   Sustain and review

   • Add a professional-conduct goal to your CPD plan with a measure you can check.
   • Check your registration and licence dates every six months.
   • At the six-month point, revise your reflection to record what has worked and what has not.

Writing your reflective statement

1. Describe the event

   Describe the events, the timing, what you did and how it ended, taking care that nobody can be identified.

   Example only: As the night nurse specialist on an orthopaedic ward in Tabuk, I told the incoming nurse at 07:00 that bed 9 was stable and did not mention that he had become confused at 05:30.

2. Name what pulled against the duty

   Say what pressures or beliefs shaped your choice at the time.

   Example only: I was tired after a busy night, the day team was waiting, and I assumed the confusion would be obvious on the morning round.

3. Identify the standard

   Name the part of the Law, Code, scope document or policy that applied and explain why it exists.

   Example only: The 2023 scope document lists proper handover within communication, because information is most easily lost when responsibility passes between nurses.

4. Acknowledge the impact

   Describe the effect on the patient, the family, colleagues and trust in the unit.

   Example only: The patient tried to get out of bed alone and fell. His family lost confidence in the ward, and the day nurse felt she had not been given a fair picture.

5. Explain what you learned

   Say what you did not know or had stopped doing, and how your understanding changed.

   Example only: I had treated handover as a courtesy. I now see it as the moment accountability passes, so what I leave out becomes the next nurse's blind spot.

6. Describe the changes and how you keep them

   List specific changes, when they began and how they are checked.

   Example only: Since January I use ISBAR for every patient, including stable ones, and my charge nurse has observed two handovers and given me written feedback.

The example sentences are fictional and show structure only. Your account has to be your own honest description of your own event.

A weak and a strong response, side by side

Illustrative case. A nurse technician in a government hospital in Abha films a short clip of herself in a treatment room and posts it to her story. An elderly patient's wristband and part of his face are visible. His son sees it and reports it through 937, and her head nurse asks for a written account.

Why the second one works: The strong response states what was done, names the rules, accepts the effect on the patient and describes checked changes. The weak response minimises, points to other nurses and offers only a promise, which suggests the same post could happen again.

Mistakes practitioners make when responding

The rules this course works through

References are to the Law of Practicing Healthcare Professions and its Executive Regulations, the SCFHS Code of Ethics and the SCFHS 2023 scope document, as covered in the course.

• Art. 5 and Reg. 3-5

  Dignity and patient images

  Work in the interest of the individual and society, respecting life, safety and dignity. Before procedures are photographed or published, you need the patient's written consent and the facility's permission, or else a genuine scientific purpose.

  In the course: Section 5 covers dignity in care and Section 9 covers filming and posts.

• Art. 9

  Working within your specialty

  Act in the patient's interest and do not work outside your specialty except in emergencies. The exception covers the immediate need, not routine staffing gaps.

  In the course: Section 2 applies this to floating, home care and unfamiliar units.

• Art. 2

  Licence and registration

  Practice needs an MOH licence, and the licence depends on valid SCFHS registration. Renewal of the licence must be applied for at least one month before expiry.

  In the course: Section 2 sets out the Mumaris Plus and Seha timelines.

• Art. 10

  Self-promotion and titles

  No self-advertising except as the Regulations allow, and no academic titles or specialties you have not earned on signs, cards, prescriptions or adverts.

  In the course: Section 9 covers titles, introductions and product promotion.

• Arts. 12-14

  Commissions, premises and false reports

  No commissions or benefits from companies, no treating patients in places not licensed for it, and no improper handling of medicines or false sick leave and reports. Fines of up to SAR 50,000 apply under Article 29 to listed breaches.

  In the course: Sections 6 and 7 apply these to gifts, private work and attendance.

• Arts. 26-27

  Liability for poor care and supervision

  A practitioner who harms a patient through malpractice must compensate them. Examples include failing to follow up properly, lacking expected skill and poor supervision, and any clause limiting liability is void.

  In the course: Section 3 links liability to delegation and omissions.

Also relevant: Art. 7 on keeping knowledge up to date; Art. 8 on emergency care; Art. 41 on malpractice insurance, compulsory for physicians and dentists, with the scope document saying nurses and midwives should hold appropriate cover; SCFHS Code Ch. 4 (colleagues), Ch. 5 (yourself) and Ch. 10 (financial affairs).

How this applies in each nursing and midwifery setting

What happens after a complaint is made

A concern about a nurse's or midwife's conduct usually starts inside the facility, and the route it takes depends on whether harm is alleged and who raises it. The stages below describe the usual path as set out in the Law and its Executive Regulations.

1. Feedback or complaint

   A colleague, manager, patient or family raises a concern with the unit, the facility or MOH's 937 service. MOH also invites the public to report practitioners' social media violations through 937. A person harmed, or their guardian or heirs, may file a private claim with the facility or the regional health affairs director.

2. Facility review

   Many concerns are first reviewed by the head nurse, the quality or patient safety team or a manager, who may ask for a written account and look at records. Facility procedures differ, so ask for the policy that applies to you.

3. Investigation

   Where a formal investigation opens, the investigating body takes your statement and prepares a committee report. The Law expects the investigation to finish within 30 days, extendable once by 30 days. You may be barred from travel for 30 days, extendable by another 30, and you may object.

4. Referral or dismissal

   If the evidence is insufficient, dismissal may be recommended. Compensation claims and cases involving death or loss of an organ or its function go to the Sharia Health Panel. Other breaches, such as working outside your specialty or prohibited advertising, go to the Committee for Violations of the Law.

5. Hearing and decision

   The Sharia Health Panel is chaired by a judge and includes physicians and a legal adviser, with the public prosecutor representing the public right. The Violations Committee includes a legal specialist and a Saudi health professional. Notices are served through your employer, and electronic notices and hearings are allowed.

6. Appeal

   Decisions of the Sharia Health Panel and the Violations Committee can be appealed to the Board of Grievances within 60 days of notification. A temporary suspension by the Minister can be appealed within 30 days.

Possible outcomes and what they mean for you

The penalties below are those set out in the Law. Which, if any, applies depends on the facts, and no course can decide or predict it.

If you have been asked to complete education

Using this course as CPD

Key terms explained

SCFHS

Practitioners are classified and registered by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, which also issues the Code of Ethics and operates Mumaris Plus.

Mumaris Plus

An online platform run by the SCFHS where practitioners are classified, registered and re-registered, and where CPD hours are recognised.

Seha

The MOH platform through which facilities apply for, renew, transfer and cancel practitioners' licences.

Scope of Nursing and Midwifery Practice

The 2023 SCFHS Nursing and Midwifery Council document defining technician and specialist categories, practice domains, accountability, delegation and supervision.

Technician and specialist

The two SCFHS categories for nurses and midwives, linked to diploma and bachelor's level qualifications and to different leadership and care planning expectations.

Accountability

The formal obligation to answer for your actions and omissions to patients, the public, the regulator and the employer.

ISBAR

A handover structure: identify, situation, background, assessment and recommendation.

Privileged activity

A specialised activity a midwife may do only where the facility has granted the relevant privileges.

937

A service centre and digital portal of the MOH through which complaints about health services are logged and followed up.

Committee for Violations of the Law

A body set up through a ministerial decision to hear breaches of the Law, apart from malpractice claims.

How this course is written and kept current

Page updated 2 November 2026

Our editorial standardsAbout usDisclaimer

Primary sources

The laws, codes and pages this page and the course rely on. Always check the current text with the issuing body.

1. Law of Practicing Healthcare Professions (MOH English text)moh.gov.sa
2. Executive Regulations of the Law (MOH, Arabic)moh.gov.sa
3. SCFHS Code of Ethics for Healthcare Practitionersscfhs.org.sa
4. SCFHS Scope of Nursing and Midwifery Practice in Saudi Arabia (2023)scfhs.org.sa
5. SCFHS re-registration requirementsscfhs.org.sa
6. SCFHS Mumaris Plus FAQscfhs.org.sa
7. MOH Healthcare Licensing guide (Seha)static.moh.gov.sa
8. MOH 937 services (my.gov.sa)my.gov.sa
9. MOH release on social media violations (November 2024)moh.gov.sa
10. MOH release on a licence suspension over health product promotion (June 2026)moh.gov.sa