In a powerful demonstration of Saudi women's ability to excel in the most challenging and demanding fields, the name of Saudi nurse Lulwa Al-Dossari has emerged as an inspiring role model in the Armed Forces Medical Services. After seven years of dedicated service in hospitals and intensive care units, Al-Dossari decided to expand her humanitarian passion, joining the Ministry of Defense's air medical evacuation fleet and establishing herself as a leading female figure in this vital sector.

From intensive care to the heavens

During her participation in the World Defense Show 2026, which recently concluded in Riyadh, Al-Dossari shared details of her career journey with Akhbar 24. She explained that she specializes in intensive and critical care, a field requiring quick reflexes and high skill, but practicing it in the air adds complex physiological and logistical challenges. She indicated that her decision to pursue this experience stemmed from a desire for renewal and discovery, describing aerial nursing as a school that teaches you to "expect the unexpected.".

Air transport challenges and the impact of pressure

Al-Dossari addressed the technical aspects of her work, noting that patients who appear stable in the hospital may experience sudden changes upon takeoff due to atmospheric pressure fluctuations and the relative lack of oxygen at high altitudes. This reality necessitates that the medical evacuation team maintain a high level of readiness for rapid intervention and handling of any emergency to ensure the patient's safety until reaching their destination, reflecting the high quality of training received by the Ministry of Defense's health services personnel.

A transcontinental humanitarian mission: Jamaica's twins

In discussing the highlights of her career, Lulwa Al-Dossari recalled a long humanitarian journey that lasted 18 continuous hours in July 2025. The mission involved transporting conjoined twins from Jamaica to Saudi Arabia. This mission is an extension of the Kingdom's leading global role in the conjoined twins separation program, which enjoys generous support and direct attention from the wise leadership. Saudi medical evacuation aircraft have traveled the world to assist humanitarian cases, making the Kingdom a leading global destination in this specialized medical field.

An inspiring message for the daughters of the nation

Lulwa Al-Dossari concluded her remarks with a message brimming with pride and admiration for her fellow Saudi nurses, urging them to recognize the immense responsibility they bear and to keep God's fear before their eyes. In her authentic Najdi dialect, she encouraged them to "strengthen their resolve" and not hesitate to embrace new experiences and innovate within the vast healthcare field. She emphasized that the empowerment Saudi women enjoy today under Vision 2030 opens countless doors for them to participate in building the nation and safeguarding its resources.

In a new regulatory step aimed at developing the local labor market, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in Saudi Arabia announced the launch of the "Absence from Work" service through the unified national recruitment platform, "Musaned." This service comes within the framework of the Contractual Relationship Improvement Initiative, through which the Ministry seeks to protect the rights of all parties, whether employers or domestic workers.

Service objectives and its operational mechanism

The ministry explained that the new service primarily aims to facilitate and empower individual employers to terminate the contractual relationship smoothly and systematically in the event of a domestic worker's absence from work. The service, accessible through the "Musaned" platform, offers two main procedures that ensure fairness and transparency: "Termination of Contract Due to Absence from Work" and "Labor Transfer Service.".

Time limits and procedures

The ministry has established precise time limits for dealing with cases of work absence, based on the length of the worker's stay in the Kingdom:

• During the first two years: If the employment contract is terminated due to the employee's absence within the first two years of entering the Kingdom, they must leave permanently within a period not exceeding 60 days. Failure to leave will be considered a violation of the residency and labor laws.
• After two years: If a domestic worker's stay exceeds two years, the worker has the option of either leaving permanently or transferring to a new employer (transfer of services) within 60 days of the date of termination. If their status is not rectified, they will be considered absent from work and in violation of regulations.

Context of the initiative and its importance to the labor market

This step comes as an extension of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's ongoing efforts to regulate the recruitment and domestic worker sector. The "Musaned" platform is one of the key technological pillars the Kingdom relies on to ensure transparency in recruitment and contracting processes. This service is of paramount importance as it addresses one of the most significant challenges employers faced: the ambiguity of procedures when a worker was absent, which could expose them to legal or financial liabilities.

This decision also reflects the Kingdom's commitment to human rights standards and international agreements, as it grants workers the opportunity to rectify their status or transfer to another employer (in specific cases), instead of the previous traditional procedures that completely restricted job mobility upon reporting absence. This contributes to raising the efficiency of the labor market, reducing reliance on undocumented workers, and enhancing the attractiveness of the work environment in the Kingdom, in line with the objectives of Vision 2030, which aims to build a flexible and competitive labor market.

In conclusion, the ministry affirmed that these measures will contribute to improving the quality of services provided, raising the level of compliance with regulations, and ensuring a safe and stable contractual environment for all concerned parties.