Muslim Nurses Administering Haram Medications

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Sep 11, 2009

i don't know of any nurses that have never made a med error , we are only human ... just check your 5 rights and your math before giving anything....

caliotter3 · Sep 11, 2009

Maybe it would be a good idea for you to look for a position that allows you to keep your beliefs without compromising them, or causing difficulty to your patients or co-workers. What exactly are you not allowed to do?

I agree with this. There are many jobs where you could accommodate your beliefs. You should make the effort to find one of these positions if you can't otherwise come to a reasonable resolution. Hesitate to say there is no place in nursing for one with your beliefs. We need all the nurses that we can get. Please find a way to work this out.

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Sep 11, 2009

may the peace, mercy, and blessings of god be upon all the muslims. blessed ramadan!
an issue that is tugging away at my conscious is: medication ingredients
all praise due to god, i recently accepted a position and will be working in a few days, god willing. in seeking the reward in the hereafter, i don't want to trade one good deed (working as a nurse) and use it to (even unintentionally) commit an evil deed (giving medications with forbidden substances, regardless of the patient's religion).
how do you other muslim nurses out there deal with this? haraam is haraam is haraam! is there such a thing as refusing to administer medication? is there a way to obtain the ingredients in all medications? when in doubt, should i just make du'aa'?

i'm sorry i don't know what you mean by forbidden substances ? i guess you could look in the pdr what is in the drugs... like i said before we are all human and take the florence nightengale pledge to do no harm .. and we just do our best to help people... wishing you good luck in your new job

sethmctenn · Sep 11, 2009

The PDR doesn't list inactive ingredients. I don't remember if Drug Facts and Comparisons does or not. I suspect not. Depending on the strictness of interpretation, you might not be able to give any capsule at all (most are gelatin), any hormone that is not plant based, any enzyme, anything with magnesium stearate (that knocks out most tablets), or any medicine extracted with alcohol or that has a vanilla coating (extracted with alcohol). That pretty much means not being able to pass any medication at all. That's a tough issue.

wooh, BSN, RN · Sep 11, 2009

I'm vegetarian. I don't kill animals for myself. But I'll administer heparin, I'll carry a tray with meatloaf into the room. You can't expect your patients to suffer or your coworkers to do more work to accomodate your beliefs. Don't know what the answer is for you, but you need to work it out without expecting the burden to fall on others.

MsAsia322, MSN, APN, NP · Sep 11, 2009

hmmm, i never thought about this..

i just started school and i think when i was looking up a drug i saw it had pork ingredients or something like that, but i didnt think twice about it. maybe i should now.

i would just say make dua (pray on it) because i would think that it would be almost near impossible to look up all the ingredients that youre giving to EACH patient for EACH drug.

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Sep 11, 2009

oooh pork !!! sorry didn't know... Ms Asia is giving the right advice .. as many of the others....

K.P.A. · Sep 11, 2009

Acceptance or rejection of a drug is the patients decision.

Correct administration is the nurses job.

Perhaps you have answered your own question?

The doctor uses the medication.

The patient uses the medication.

The nurse administers the medication.

-Katz

keithjones · Sep 11, 2009

another "prophet" put it this way "the law was made for man, not man for the law" the apostle paul put it this way, all things therefore are lawfull, but not all things are needfull. pork was forbidden for practical sanitary reasons which for the most part do not apply to modern societies. while eating a pork sandwich for lunch is not necissary, a lifesaving medication is. revalation is progressive, you dont tall a child why he cant play in the road when he is 2. you just forbid him from doing it. later you explain why and he learns to discern for himself when it is ok to play on his bike in a cul de sac and when it is not OK to play hockey on the interstate! the bible has the new testament to complete the revalation of the old and we learn this. Islam is a religion in waiting and has not given its "children" the discernment to decide for themselves what laws were given for basic sanitation purposes and those given for moral maturity.

keithjones · Sep 11, 2009

before i get flamed the children comment was refering to the children in the illustration, not a smear on muslims. I guess as a Christian its easier not to sweat the small stuff since Jesus gives an eternal tabula rasa, and there are no scales to worry about.

hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN · Sep 11, 2009

another "prophet" put it this way "the law was made for man, not man for the law" the apostle paul put it this way, all things therefore are lawfull, but not all things are needfull. pork was forbidden for practical sanitary reasons which for the most part do not apply to modern societies. while eating a pork sandwich for lunch is not necissary, a lifesaving medication is. revalation is progressive, you dont tall a child why he cant play in the road when he is 2. you just forbid him from doing it. later you explain why and he learns to discern for himself when it is ok to play on his bike in a cul de sac and when it is not OK to play hockey on the interstate! the bible has the new testament to complete the revalation of the old and we learn this. Islam is a religion in waiting and has not given its "children" the discernment to decide for themselves what laws were given for basic sanitation purposes and those given for moral maturity.

What the hell is the possible purpose of this post other than to say that your specific sky belief doesn't share the OP's problem? How is this in anyway helpful?

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Sep 11, 2009

If you truly want to follow your beliefs, the onus is on you to find the right path in nursing.

Nursing will not change for anyone as a WHOLE, but perhaps there can be circumstances where the facility can adjust.

I do not nor will I ever participate in the abortion process. When those occasions (thank goodness) ever came up, I was always able to change assignments.

Now your situation--seems awfully huge. How can you avoid the drugs you will need to

give?

I hope you find a solution.