Any Muslim Nurses/Student Nurses in Allnurses?

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Hi,

I'm muslim pre-nursing student and I wear the hijaab. I would love to know any Muslim nurses/student nurses that I can ask some questions regarding the hijaab, uniform, dealing with patients, and going through nursing school as a muslim.

There are a few specific questions I would love to ask.

So come out! :)

Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

I am not Muslim, so anyone who is, please feel free to come along and correct me if anything is here is not right. I don't know as much as I ought to (or would like to) about Islam, but I'm taking a leap of faith in answering this.

Most (if not all) faiths have a set of guidelines, laws, rules, proscriptions, or whatever you'd like to call them, that must be followed. However, most (again, if not all) also allow for extraordinary circumstances and do not hold their followers responsible if all the laws cannot be followed under said extraordinary circumstances.

If I remember correctly, pregnant women are not required to fast during the month of Ramadan, for health reasons, though Ramadan fasting is a required part of Islam. I recently had a Muslim female patient (from Afghanistan) tell me that her religious beliefs require that a female doctor or nurse care for her, but that if she is critically ill or there is no female around, that she can allow a man to care for her. It seems that in most every faith that I've been exposed to, there are humanitarian exceptions to the rules people have to follow, and an emergency or disaster as you allude to would almost certainly qualify as a humanitarian exception.

Again - someone who knows more than I, please feel free to come along and add information or correct any errors. I just don't think that a person's belief system alone, even if it forbids certain types of contact between nonrelated members of the opposite sex, is reason for them to not be allowed to be nurses in this country.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Muslim nurses and doctors CAN care for male patients. I happen to live in an area of Michigan where there is a predominantly large population of Middle Eastern citizens and have worked alongside many Muslim docs/nurses and THEY DO/CAN care for male patients.

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In my opinion if the Muslim nurses cannot take care of the male patients, they shouldnt be practicing nursing in America,what about if the emergency or disaster hits?

Love,

Perhaps you may have missed this in the previous posts:

"In the Islamic faith, the administering of medical care is a condition under which the prohibition of male/female interaction is lifted".

Where do you suggest the American-born Muslim practice nursing? Should he or she move to another country? Not all Muslims are Middle Eastern, nor are all of them foreigners.

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I am considering taking off my niquab to start studying to become a nurse.

I am beginning to become really scared and have not made up my mind.

Would be nice to get some advise from sisters that have stopped wearing the niquab.

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Alhamduallah you are going to nursing school, inshaallah!

I have never been a niqabi, except for those times I just wanted to be left alone, but I can understand your concerns. I have a friend who works in the NICU and never took off her niqab. I have another friend who is a Dominican sister in Nashville who did all her training, including clinicals, in a full length habit...and white, if you can believe it. Another nurse I worked with in Lancaster, Pennsylvania is a member of the Old Order River Brethren and had the hospital provide her with material that matched every elses scrubs so that she could sew her own in her own prescribed style. That's something to consider if all the students at your school have to wear certain color scrubs. Sew a shalwar-type top to wear on top of scrub pants.

So employer and educational institutions make accommodations to allow religious freedom all over the country.

My advice is that if you want to wear niqab, go to the admissions people and explain why you wear it and provide them with a solution that they can live with. One idea is to sit at the front of the class and lift your niqab (if it is a female instructor.) You will not be exempt from taking care of men, and it is a necessary part of your training that you do so. But you have the right to wear niqab.

Be prepared with the "ninja" comments, but your decision to wear or take off the niqab should be according to your deen.

Let us know what you decide.

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taking off your Niqaab should really be based upon what you feel is right regarding your religion and not compromising for the sake of work or study if you don't have too. this is the west and if true to word we should be judged upon performance and not our beliefs and dress

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Hello my Muslim friends,

I will be attending an Islamic funeral and I'm not sure what to wear...Should I wear a prayer dress or an Abaya?

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hi

you didn't state if you yourself were Muslim or not. but regardless, are you referring by Islamic funeral to the the funeral prayer? or the burial?. usually the deceased is washed,(you will probably only see them once this is done and they are placed within the coffin) then prayed upon at the mosque(by the Muslims, Muslim women are allowed to pray the funeral prayer too), then transported to the cemetery for burial. the imam may say a few words or may not. its a tradition to throw and couple of hand full of dirt on the grave after they have been place in the grave and it is sealed. though you don't need too. in offering condolences. its tradition to say to the family:

"To Allaah(God) belongs that which He has taken and that which He gives, and with Him everything has an appointed end, so be patient and seek reward."

you can also say anything of words of comfort. it is also tradition to bring a plate of food (anything nice)to the family IF you are going to visit them later. a modest long dress is respectable. if your OK with abaya (a cover that goes over ones clothes) and have access to one is good too. but modest long dress no short sleeves with a head covering is acceptable.

note in some customs and i say customs as they don't always comply with Islamic teachings. the women aren't permitted to attend the burial. if your going with a friend or family it shouldn't be a problem just stand back and let them do what they do.

any other questions just ask.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Thanks for the info. Nope, I'm not Muslim, Roman Catholic actually. I think I was referring to the funeral prayer. I didn't know the part about the buriel itself, that women weren't allowed.

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

I work in the OR, we have several Muslim nurses who wear the headscarfe. They are quite happy to remove it and wear the OR balaclava.

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Thanks for the info. Nope, I'm not Muslim, Roman Catholic actually. I think I was referring to the funeral prayer. I didn't know the part about the buriel itself, that women weren't allowed.

sorry if i wasnt clear. women are allowed to attend based upon the most correct opinion but some muslim cultures dont allow it.

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

may the peace, mercy, and blessings of allah be upon the muslimeen,

muslimah here!

since i don't know any other muslimah nurses, i was wondering how some of you wear your uniforms/scrubs...

my preference is to wear a loose dress scrub thingy (lol) or baggy scrubs with a skirt and arm sleeves

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