Saudi Nurses Research Articles

Leadership style and organisational commitment among nursing staff in Saudi Arabia.

To examine how nurse managers' leadership styles, and nurses' organisational commitment in Saudi Arabia relate. Effective leadership is influential in staff retention; however, recruiting and maintaining nurses is an increasing problem in Saudi Arabia. Using a survey design, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire were distributed to a sample of 219 nurses and nurse managers from two hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Transformational leadership was the most dominant leadership style. After controlling for the influence of manager/staff status, nationality and hospitals, transformational leadership was the strongest contributor to organisational commitment. Perceptions of both transformational and transactional leadership styles, increased with age for nurse managers and nursing staff. Introducing the Full Range of Leadership model to the Saudi nursing workforce could help to prepare Saudi nurses for positions as nurse managers and leaders. The study provides insight into the type of leadership that is best suited to the dynamic and changing health care system in Saudi Arabia. It is possible that transformational leaders could influence and induce positive changes in nursing.

Social Support, Religious Endorsement, and Career Commitment: A Study on Saudi Nurses

The present study investigates the effect of perceived social support (PSS) and perceived religious endorsement (PRE) on career commitment (CC) of Saudi nurses. The investigation also extends to the moderating role of different demographic and organizational factors in the extent of PSS, and career commitment these nurses report. Data required for meeting these study objectives were collected from male and female Saudi nurses through a structured questionnaire. Multiple regressions using Partial Least Squares based Structural Equation Model, Smart-PLS version 3.0, and independent sample t-test using SPSS version 22.0, were used to analyze data. The study findings reveal that both perceived social support and perceived religious endorsement are important antecedents of career commitment of Saudi nurses. However, private-sector nurses are found to exhibit a significantly higher level of career commitment compared to their public-sector counterparts. Nurses with greater educational attainment perceive higher level of social support and express greater career commitment than their less educated peers. These findings suggest that nursing as a profession should be more openly discussed in both secular and religious contexts, to ensure an adequate level of respect and compassion on behalf of the public. In particular, endorsement from the individual nurses’ social networks is vital in maintaining their wellbeing and career commitment. Given the religious influence in all aspects of life in the Saudi society, the current practice of gender-based segregation in Saudi hospitals and clinics seems to be meaningful for sustaining the career commitment of the nurses.

Knowledge and attitudes of nurses toward pain management.

Background:Pain control is a vitally important goal because untreated pain has detrimental impacts on the patients as hopelessness, impede their response to treatment, and negatively affect their quality of life. Limited knowledge and negative attitudes toward pain management were reported as one of the major obstacles to implement an effective pain management among nurses. The main purpose for this study was to explore Saudi nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward pain management.Methods:Cross-sectional survey was used. Three hundred knowledge and attitudes survey regarding pain were submitted to nurses who participated in this study. Data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS; version 17).Results:Two hundred and forty-seven questionnaires were returned response rate 82%. Half of the nurses reported no previous pain education in the last 5 years. The mean of the total correct answers was 18.5 standard deviation (SD 4.7) out of 40 (total score if all items answered correctly) with range of 3–37. A significant difference in the mean was observed in regard to gender (t = 2.55, P = 0.011) females had higher mean score (18.7, SD 5.4) than males (15.8, SD 4.4), but, no significant differences were identified for the exposure to previous pain education (P > 0.05).Conclusions:Saudi nurses showed a lower level of pain knowledge compared with nurses from other regional and worldwide nurses. It is recommended to considered pain management in continuous education and nursing undergraduate curricula.

Competency Based Nursing Curriculum: Establishing the Standards for Nursing Competencies in Higher Education

Competency is the basic standard for all healthcare professionals when providing care to recipients. The practice of good nursing begins primarily in the study of the nursing program and in the preparation of a nurse with high efficiency in nursing skills. This paper presents the concept of nursing competencies for Saudi nursing and its importance in implementing the national transition program 20/30, and the nursing competencies framework related to the graduate of the Bachelor of Nursing and the methods used in response to the needs of the academic and educational environment, and the stages to develop a competency-based approach.

Psychometric assessment of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version for nurses in Saudi Arabia.

To assess the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version for Saudi nurses. Evidence showed that a high level of spiritual climate in the workplace is associated with increased productivity and performance, enhanced emotional intelligence, organisational commitment and job satisfaction among nurses. A convenient sample of 165 Saudi nurses was surveyed in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. Cronbach's α and intraclass correlation coefficient of the 2week test-retest scores were computed to establish reliability. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to support the validity of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version. The Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version manifested excellent content validity. Exploratory factor analysis supported a single factor with an explained variance of 73.2%. The Cronbach's α values of the scale ranged from .79 to .88, while the intraclass correlation coefficient value was .90. The perceived spiritual climate was associated with the respondents' hospital, gender, age and years of experience. Findings of this study support the sound psychometric properties of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version. The Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version can be used by nurse managers to assess the nurses' perception of the spiritual climate in any clinical area. This process can lead to spiritually centred interventions, thereby ensuring a clinical climate that accepts and respects different spiritual beliefs and practices.

The effect of gender on transformational leadership and job satisfaction among Saudi nurses

To compare nurses' job satisfaction and perceptions of transformational leadership style of their manager among four different nurse/manager gender dyads in Saudi Arabia. Women and men differ on many behavioural characteristics and are influenced by the cultural environment. Understanding these differences may have an impact on leadership behaviours and job satisfaction. A descriptive analysis of one-time survey data collected in 2011 from Saudi nurses employed in six general public hospitals located in three cities. Three hundred and eight (51.3%) of 600 Saudi nurses solicited to participate completed anonymous questionnaires that measured their job satisfaction and perceptions of transformational leadership style of their manager. Factorial ANOVA tested the main effects of gender of the nurse, gender of the manager and the interaction term on the nurse's job satisfaction, and perceived transformational leadership style of their manager. These analyses indicated a main effect of gender of the manager on both job satisfaction and perceived transformational leadership style of the manager (p<.05) with no significant effect of the gender of the nurse or the interaction term on these variables. Post hoc analysis indicated that nurses regardless of their gender reported higher job satisfaction and perceived transformational leadership style of their manager when their manager was male. These findings contrast with what other researchers have reported that nurse job satisfaction and perceived leadership characteristics of their manager are independent of the gender of the manager. These perceptions of Saudi nurses may be a result of "sex-role spillover" in a male-dominated, gender-segregated society.

Perceived Level of Stress, &amp; Coping Strategies among Saudi Nursing Student

Perceived Level of Stress, &amp; Coping Strategies among Saudi Nursing Student

Cultural competence among nursing students in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

This study assessed the cultural competence of nursing students in a Saudi University. With the current situation of immigration in Saudi Arabia, the cultural diversity in healthcare facilities is anticipated to grow. This presents a great challenge to the members of the healthcare team. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 272 nursing students in a Saudi university using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of two parts, namely the respondents' demographics and cultural background information sheet and the Cultural Capacity Scale Arabic version. The respondents showed the highest competence in their ability to demonstrate communication skills with culturally diverse patients and lowest in the familiarity with health- or illness-related cultural knowledge or theory. Gender, academic level, clinical exposure, prior diversity training, the experience of taking care of culturally diverse patients and patients belonging to special population groups were significant factors that could likely to influence cultural competence. The findings suggest that the Saudi nursing students possess the ability to provide culturally appropriate nursing care to patients with a diverse cultural background. Despite the good cultural competence reflected in this study, some aspects in ensuring a culturally competent care rendered by Saudi nursing students need to be improved. With the country's Saudization policy in health care (replacing foreign nurses with Saudi nurses), the findings can be used in designing training and interventions to meet the needs of Saudi nursing students regarding cultural competence development, which is integral in their preparation to assume their future roles as nurses. Policy guidelines, such as including cultural competency training and foreign languages training as mandatory continuing education for nurses, as well as integrating cultural competency and foreign languages in the prelicensure curriculum, should be developed and implemented in Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Overview of Cancer Care and Oncology Nursing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Cancer prevalence is increasing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While the exact etiology of this trend is unknown, it can perhaps be partially attributed to an increased life expectancy and changes in lifestyle habits. One of the main challenges to the provision of appropriate cancer and palliative care is the critical shortage of oncology healthcare professionals, including nurses. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is characterized by its Islamic faith, culture, and unique traditions that may contribute to uniquely stressful situations for oncology nurses working in Saudi oncology care settings. This article provides an overview of cancer care and oncology nursing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia based on literature reporting challenges experienced by nurses delivering this care within the Saudi Arabian healthcare system and its cancer care services. Published literature written in English on cancer care and oncology nurses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were identified through a search of publicly available databases such as Medline, CINAHL, and Google Scholar as well as government sources. Reference lists were hand searched. Search terms used were Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian healthcare system, nursing education, nursing, Saudi nurses, oncology nursing, cancer, and cancer care. Common challenges facing oncology nursing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are related to high job demands, staff shortages, communication and language barriers, and cultural differences that may lead to stressful work environments and reduce the quality of care provided to their patients. While many steps have been undertaken by the Saudi Ministry of Health to reform the healthcare system, a number of challenges remain. The need for greater availability of cancer care and palliative care settings in all Saudi regions is strongly indicated. Nursing administrators/managers should take these factors into consideration to enhance the Saudi oncology care nursing work environment and to improve the quality of nursing care for patients with cancer and their families.

The Profile of Saudi Nursing Workforce: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction The Royal Monarchy in Saudi Arabia decreed that all sectors of the workforce would be subject to a policy of “Saudisation” to reduce the reliance on the expatriate workforce and to reduce the unemployment rate of Saudi nationals (Al-Mahmoud et al., 2012). Methodology A cross-sectional design was chosen to investigate the research questions. The population of this study comprised Saudi Registered Nurses working in MOH hospitals in Riyadh which is the main health care provider in Saudi Arabia (Aboul-Enein, 2002; MOH, 2009). Results and Findings A total number of 1,198 questionnaires were distributed and 61.2% (n = 741) were returned. The findings of the study showed that the questionnaires were collected from an equal portion of the study locale and that a sample of 741 is enough to create a strong conclusion and answer the problem set in this study and all the questions in the study have been provided with answers with enough data and literatures to supports its findings. Conclusion and Recommendations The results indicate that an increase in the recruitment of Saudi males may simply reflect cultural issues such as gender specific facilities and the Saudisation program's nondiscriminatory approach to employment of both genders into nursing.

Stressors and Coping Strategies of the Saudi Nursing Students in the Clinical Training: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Nursing students often encounter high levels of stress through clinical practice that may cause psychological or emotional problems during their professional life eventually affecting the quality of patient care they provide. The aims of the current study were to identify the level and types of stress perceived by nursing students in their clinical practice and to identify the coping strategies that students used to relieve their stress. A descriptive, cross‐sectional design was used in this study. A total of 200 students who were enrolled in the nursing program were taken as study respondents. Research data were collected using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Coping Behavior Inventory (CBI). Data was analyzed using one‐way ANOVA test, Pearson’s test, and independent sample t‐test on SPSS version 22. Findings indicated that nursing students experienced a high level of stress. The most common coping strategy utilized by the students was problem solving, while avoidance was the least frequently used one. Saudi nursing students experienced stress levels above the mean in clinical training. The most common stressors were related to assignments and workload. The study recommends that clinical curriculum requirements and the workload of nursing students should be reviewed.

Perceived Clinical Stressors among Saudi Nursing Students

Purpose: Nursing profession is considered as a stressful and demanding job. The purpose of this research was to determine stressors types and degrees over two data collection periods in 2015-2016. Methods: This is a quantitative descriptive research study. A purposive sample of 55 female nursing students (complete 4th year cohort) from Princess Nourah University took part in this study. Results: The results highlight that the most influential cause of stress were factors related to taking care of patients, teachers and nursing staff. Moreover, nursing students reported increased level of stress comparing them in two different time periods. Conclusions: To overcome these clinical stressors, it requires students to be equipped with competent knowledge, skills and experience in dealing with the changing needs of patients’ condition. Future research should explore nursing students’ beliefs and causes of stress and how it can be avoided by conducting a qualitative research study.

Saudi Nursing Student’s Perception of Effective Clinical Instructor’s Characteristics

Background: The clinical experience has been recognized as a significant and very essential component of nursing education. Clinical instructors have a responsibility not only to their students but also to clients and the nursing profession to identify and exhibit effective clinical teacher characteristics. Moreover, as the clinical experiences and its resources are limited, students must optimize clinical practice opportunities; they must therefore, work with effective clinical instructors.Aim: The aim of this study is to identify Saudi nursing students’ perception of effective clinical instructor’s characteristicsMethods: ADescriptive research design was used in carrying out the current study. Sample and Setting: 391 Saudi female nursing students, enrolled in the 4th to 8th term of their study in different colleges of nursing asked to participate. This sample also includes students from the college of health sciences, who are enrolled in the second term, of the first year, till those in the second term of the third year. Data were collected from the following places: The study took place in selected colleges and universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, such as the College of Nursing, King Saud University, Health Colleges of the Ministry of Health, and the college of nursing, Damam University. The Nursing Clinical Teacher Effective Inventory (NCTEI) developed a 48-item Likert scale checklist describing discrete teachers characteristics clustered into five subscales or categories: teaching ability, nursing competence, personality traits, interpersonal relationships and evaluation. Results: The results revealed that diploma students placed more emphasis on the clinical instructor’s behaviors and that is a statistical significance. A significant difference was also found between different places and student’s perception of perceptive of clinical teacher behaviors, this may be due to the characteristics of students, teachers, clinical setting & teaching-learning environment, they may differ according to each site, and thus, it may not be surprising that students’ perception differs somewhat across sites. On the other hand, those students perceive that the teachers’ effectiveness and personality traits are particularly important. These findings are supported by other researches. This research also indicates that a significant correlation was found between father’s and mother’s education and the student’s perception about teaching effectiveness. Personality traits, nursing competences and evaluation this may indicate that family in general has effect on the student’s perception. On the other hand, various studies indicates that these four qualities are necessary to be a successful clinical teacher. The results also revealed that no significance difference was found between academic and different students’ perception, this come in contrast with another research which mentioned that students near graduation values the teacher’s behaviors .The Mann Whitney test was then used to determine whether statistically significant (p<0.05 & p<0.01) Conclusion: It was concluded that, effective clinical instructor helps students to develop the problem-solving and decision making skills which are essential for them as a professional nurse.  Clinical instructors should be enrolled in continuous in-service training education to develop and strength the positive characteristics of the clinical instructor. Employment committee should utilize the Nursing Clinical Teacher Effective Inventory: as a baseline during recruitment interview.

Saudi Nursing and Medical Student’s Knowledge and Attitude toward Organ Donation : A Comparative Cross - Sectional Study

Proper awareness among health professionals about organ donation is important for increasing organ procurement. Personal commitment and attitude of nurses are imperative as they have key role in identifying potential donors. The aim of this study was to compare prevailing knowledge and attitude of undergraduate female Saudi nursing and medical students' toward organ donation. A cross sectional questionnaire using 29 item were filled by nursing (n=46) and medical (n=63) students' at University of Dammam (KSA) during academic year 2014-15, to check and compare their knowledge and attitude about organ donation. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics; chi square test and bivariate analysis to find out correlation. Level of knowledge of nursing group were significantly lower (p=0.000) than medical group while no significant difference in attitude score (p=0.591) between the two groups were found. Major source of knowledge for nursing was media (65.2%) and college/university for medical (50.8%) group. Both groups chose "anyone in need" as preferred recipients' upon donation (nursing 60.3% and medical 52.2%) and opted "anyone" as donor in case of recipient (nursing 52.2% and medical 49.2%). The results indicate positive correlation between level of knowledge and attitude toward organ donation. Nursing students have low knowledge toward organ donation as compared to medical students although they shows positive attitude toward this issue. This study ascertains the need of an effective educational program for nursing students of Saudi Arabia to improve their knowledge regarding organ donation and to raise organ procurement.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale Arabic Version for Saudi Nursing Students.

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale Arabic version (SCS-A) in a sample of nursing students in Saudi Arabia. This study had a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 100 nursing students in Saudi Arabia. Using the SCS-A and the Muslim Religiosity Scale for data collection, data were analyzed to establish the reliability and validity of the SCS-A. Good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α > .70) and stability reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient > .80) were observed. Two dominant factors were extracted from the scale items, the nonreligious coping strategies and religious coping strategies, which accounted for 35.5% and 32.7% of the variance, respectively. The religious coping subscale exhibited a strong positive correlation with the religious practices subscale of the Muslim Religious Involvement Scale ( r = .45, p < .001) and total religiosity score ( r = .48, p < .001) as well as a weak positive correlation with the intrinsic religious beliefs subscale ( r = .25, p < .05). No significant relationship was found between nonreligious coping subscale and the Muslim Religious Involvement Scale. The SCS-A exhibited an acceptable validity and reliability, supporting its sound psychometric properties with respect to the responses from Saudi nursing students.

Psychometric Properties of the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale–Arabic Version in Saudi Nursing Students

To evaluate the psychometric properties of an Arabic version of the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale (SCGS) in a sample of Saudi nursing students. A convenience sample of 202 Saudi nursing students was included in this descriptive cross-sectional study. The 35-item Arabic version of the SCGS (SCGS-A) was tested for internal consistency, stability reliability, content validity, and construct validity. The SCGS-A manifested acceptable internal consistency and stability reliability with computed Cronbach's alpha ranges from .84 to .94, and an intraclass correlation coefficient of .97. The item-level content validity index ranged from .83 to 1, and the scale-level content validity index (average) was .98. The principal component analysis revealed five dominant components with eigenvalues greater than 1, and a cumulative contribution rate of 62.0%. The five factors were moderately to strongly correlated ( r = .29-.56; p < .001) with each other and with the overall SCGS-A score ( r = .57-.77; p < .001). The SCGS-A manifested an acceptable reliability and validity in Saudi nursing students, which supports its sound psychometric properties. With the establishment of this valid and reliable tool, timely and accurate assessment of student nurses' perceptions about spirituality and spiritual care can be facilitated.

Understanding the Gap in Saudi Nurses’ Knowledge of Dementia, Depression and Delirium (the 3Ds), and Investigating Their Relevant Experience: An Exploratory Study

Aim: This study aims at testing registered nurses’ knowledge while working at mental health facilities and general care hospitals, through an exploratory non-experimental study using a random sample of nurse population across Saudi health facilities. Materials and Methods: The study participants were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of four sections. Section 1 consisted of 21 questions, requesting participants to provide their background and demographic information, followed by a delirium-knowledge-assessment questionnaire (Section 2) consisting of 15 questions of which eight of them required true/false answers, and the remaining questions were multiple-choice. In Section 3, the research tool was a dementia-knowledge-assessment survey consisted of 27 questions that required true/false answers to a given statement about dementia. In Section 4, the depression-knowledge assessment survey provided multiple-choice answers. A total of 265 registered staff nurses (SNs) were included in the study, and were chosen from three Saudi healthcare centers, with an age range of 24 - 57 years. The participants consisted of 73% females and 27% males. Results: The knowledge of delirium, among the sampled nurses, was not high (M = 6.8906, SD = 2.13363). The employing health center influenced the delirium knowledge significantly, in addition to the job title of the participant, and their highest level of education, in addition to the fact of whether the participant has an immediate family member who has ever been diagnosed with any of the 3Ds. The averages significantly differed across the study sample with immediate family members who have been diagnosed with any of the 3Ds and those without (ANOVA, p = 0.019). Similar to the delirium knowledge, dementia knowledge, among the study participants, was not high (M = 69.2576, SD = 11.29327), and was significantly influenced by the health center, each participant’s gender, nationality, job title, highest level of education, and the country where they had completed their highest level of education. The scores, obtained for dementia knowledge, were positively and significantly correlated to how individual participants rated their current dementia knowledge (ANOVA, p p p p p p p p < 0.001). Conclusion: Saudi registered nurses’ knowledge of dementia and delirium was found to be limited compared to their knowledge of depression.

Nurses’ Attitudes Toward Patient Advocacy in Oncology Department University Hospital

The concept of patient advocacy has received international recognition over the last two decades. Although much researches has been done on nurses’ attitudes in general, little has been done focusing particularly on oncology patient advocacy and almost no research was conducted in Saudi Arabian: The current study aimed to assess nurses’ attitudes toward patient advocacy in oncology department University hospital. The study followed a cross-sectional descriptive design and was carried out in the oncology department at university hospital in Jeddah, kingdom of Saudi Arabian. All nurses (n= 46) who were working in the previously mentioned units and willing to participate in study were included. All of them were responsible for providing direct health care to oncology patients. Data gathering tool used was the Attitude toward patient advocacy instrument which was developed by Wu and BU (2008) and adapted to measure nurses ' attitudes toward advocacy of oncology patients. It consists of three components of nurses attitudes 64 items. This study found that the mean percentage scores of the participants' overall attitudes toward oncology patients advocacy was relatively positive 82.06 (SD 5.61). The highest mean scores percentages of participants' attitudes were found on nurses response to acting on behalf of patients dimension 84.80 (SD 5.92), However, participants' attitude to championing social justice dimension of patient advocacy was the least item 79.59 (SD 6.49). Also, the results explains the relationship between nurses' attitudes and socio demographic characteristics. Nurses who were working in oncology wards had positive attitude toward patient advocacy. This study recommended incorporating patient advocacy in their curricula or designed programs. It is necessary to be included in the Saudi nursing student curriculum, and it should be continued for nurses to improve the quality of this role. In addition, encourage non Saudi nurses specifically, those from different cultural backgrounds to express their feelings toward patient advocacy. The study highlights important issues to be considered in hospital settings that recruit healthcare providers of diverse nationalities and support changes needed in the workplace setting to promote advocacy action for the patients’ sake.

Prevalence of Menstrual Pain among Saudi Nursing Students and Its Effect on Sickness Absenteeism

Background: Primary menstrual pain is a well-known gynecological disorder among adult females including nursing undergraduate students. Nursing students tend not to seek medical treatment. As a result, this affects their quality of academic life and also absenteeism rate is increased. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of menstrual pain and its effect on sickness absenteeism on nursing student. Methods: This is a descriptive survey research design study by means of using a validated and modified questionnaire. Questionnaire information regarding menstrual pain severity, history and absenteeism were included. The research took place in the collage of nursing at the largest University in the world, Princess Nourah Bint Abdelrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 100 single, female, unmarried undergraduate nursing students (Year 1, 2, 3, 4) were recruited by personal invitation during lectures. Result: The prevalence of menstrual pain was 92%. Most of the nursing students 27% had menstrual pain of moderate grade 5 - 6 and 38% of nursing students did not take pain medication for it. Lecture and collage absenteeism due to menstrual pain was present in 9% and 30% respectively. Finally, there was no significant correlation between menstrual pain and age of menarche, age and height. Conclusion: Menstrual pain is widely common prevalent among nursing undergraduates. As a result, it affects the quality of students’ day-to-day life routine. The majority of nursing students’ rarely seeks medical treatment. Providing health and patient education to improve awareness on managing menstrual period might help in avoiding students’ absence from classes.

Undergraduate Saudi Nursing Students Attitudes towards Nursing Profession

Aim of the study: To identify the attitudes of undergraduate Saudi nursing students towards studying nursing profession. Background: Nursing profession is the backbone of the healthcare services and nurses in the workplace should be accountable to deliver high-quality of care. The Saudi Society, cultural forces and values influence nursing profession and its development. Assessment of undergraduate attitudes towards nursing profession is vital as it can help to identify the potential barriers, deficits and challenges to conquer them. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was administered. The survey design was intended to identify the undergraduate Saudi nursing students’ attitudes towards studying nursing profession. Questionnaires were randomly distributed to 250 nursing students. Descriptive statistics were employed to identify the students’ attitudes towards the profession. Results: A total of 141 students completed the survey questionnaires giving a response rate of 56.4%. The participating students 70 (52%) indicated that the most commonly reason to choose studying nursing was their own interest. Most of the students (48.90%) agreed that their English language proficiency is the hardest in the nursing program. The results showed that students favor to work on direct patient care rather than holding managerial or educational tasks. Generally speaking, the students’ families and friends had positive attitudes towards nursing profession. Conclusion: The nursing students and families in Saudi Arabia had strong positive attitudes towards studying nursing profession. Universities in Saudi Arabia are to increase enrolling students to study nursing and should commit to graduate highly competent nurses to compensate the nursing shortage. Lack of students’ awareness of workplace literacy requirements might lead to difficulty in designing appropriate curriculum.