Muslim Nurse thinking about working in a Med-Spa (Laser hair removal)

[sanaalam]

I am a practicing Muslim Nurse and I was hoping if any Muslim nurses may have some advice for me about accepting a laser hair removal job offer I have. I'm a new grad nurse and its been difficult for me to find a job so I have been open to all types of nursing jobs and this opportunity came up. I would be performing hair laser removal on on female and male clients for all body parts.

I know in Islam we should cover our "private" body parts from people (adults) of both sexes (men and women). I know some exceptions are unless its necessary for dire medical attention and the person cannot care for themselves.

Since hair removal is a cosmetic procedure is it not allowed in Islam to perform hair laser removal on a person's private parts?

I know I cannot say to the employer I can only do legs/arms, underarms, and face on people but not their private parts. I started observing today for my training and I know people come in for more than one area such as arms/bikini within one appointment. Majority of the clients come for their bikini area. I would not be able to work on most of the clientele.

When it comes to patient care in the hospital setting as a student I helped bathe adult patients and perform urinary catheter insertions. This I see as "dire" medical need for these patients and consider it acceptable in Islam.

I don't want to accept this job if its not permissible in Islam to carry out the full duties the job requires. I feel that its unfair to me and the employer. I would feel uncomfortable doing things I'm not sure is acceptable in Islam and the employer should have someone who can really carry out all the responsibilities in the job description.

So if there are any Muslim nurses out there that can tell me if its permissible in Islam to perform hair laser removal on patient's private parts please let me know.

Thank you

[bebbercorn]

Asalamu Alaikum (peace be upon you!)... So, I've had kind of this conversation with different Imams, and one said "it's better to work with your same gender). Other places I've read that it's ok in medicine. Somewhere I read a hadith about a woman who tended to the sick and it was cleared by the Prophet, peace be upon him... I'm so sorry I don't know who related it. Allah (God) gave us our gut feelings for a reason, maybe you could talk with your Imam or someone in your family that has studied a bit? You would definitely be working with people that are exposed.

Another thing to ponder is whether you want to do this kind of nursing... If you want to be in a hospital or ambulatory center, or are you really interested in dermatology or hair removal. Hope this helps, may Allah (God) make it easy on you!

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

If the job causes you this much worry now, I wonder how you would tolerate working in a cosmetic setting. It seems to me that if you can make a decision that catheter and peri care care indeed "dire" needs, then you should be able to determine for yourself if hair removal fits that category as well.

I work on a Med Surg floor and have many Muslim coworkers. Like you, they have zero problem with any type of peri care in that environment.

The only problem I ever noticed was on Ramadan when I somehow got stuck working with 3 Muslim nurses (all of us friends) who were fighting over who was going on break and when. (Because they hadn't had any food all day). The idea of me taking a break was never considered. I still tease them about this.

Good luck!

[bebbercorn]

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre - Nursing - Nursing Theme - Nursing Careers -

Gives a brief hx of the first Muslim nurse :-) and here is the hadith.

Anas Ibn Maalik said: “Muhammad used to go out to the battles taking Umm Sulaym and some other women of the Ansaar with him; when he fights in the battle, they [i.e. the women] would give water to the soldiers and treat the injured.”

[sanaalam]

Thank you for all your comments and stories. Unfortunately I had to make a quick decision that week and chose not to pursue this position. Right now its hard to be a new grad without 1 year experience. I have been trying to apply to ambulatory care settings and other outpatient settings. Applying to a med-spa was not my first choice but I have to eat and pay my $150,000 student loans. So I tried it out for a day and realized it wasn't for me. Its hard with this economy for nurses in my situation. We don't get many second chances.