Muslim Nurses Administering Haram Medications

Nurses General Nursing

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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'?

Specializes in Psych.

At one LTC facility I've been in, the LPN gives meds and the RNs don't. That might be a possibility in your area.

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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?

most muslims count jesus as a highly revered prophet (not as messiah) Jesus quote that was expounded on by Paul is very relevant to the dillemma at hand. the rules regarding pork usage in food or medicine is about cleanliness and sanitation ,that obviously does not apply to medication made today. if we look at why our religion tells us not to do something instead of blindly following Law we find how God intended us to live. Allah will not condemn you for using any medicine in good conscioence to heal someone. the Law was made to help (protect) you not hinder you! If you do revere Jesus as a great prophet it is worth noting that he declared all food clean! It is not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out, our actions!

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Specializes in Critical Care.
most muslims count jesus as a highly revered prophet (not as messiah) Jesus quote that was expounded on by Paul is very relevant to the dillemma at hand. the rules regarding pork usage in food or medicine is about cleanliness and sanitation ,that obviously does not apply to medication made today. if we look at why our religion tells us not to do something instead of blindly following Law we find how God intended us to live. Allah will not condemn you for using any medicine in good conscioence to heal someone. the Law was made to help (protect) you not hinder you! If you do revere Jesus as a great prophet it is worth noting that he declared all food clean! It is not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out, our actions!

Somehow I remain skeptical your authority on Islamic customs, rituals, and law surpasses that of Islamic scholars. Your posts amount to a trivialization of their beliefs-- you think you have some sort of big revelation said scholars haven't considered.

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

you can call it what you want. i didn't waste my time to write out the question if i didn't want a serious answer. if it makes you happy to reply with rubbish, to you your own madness.

yes, i got through nursing school and plenty of clinical experience without thinking about this even once. if you study islam, or any other faiths, or if you have experience with any faith personally...you will learn about something called growth. may god forgive me, but i did not always ahdere to all of the teachings of islam out of ignorance. i am learning more. the more i learn, the more i will not compromise my belief because i will be held accountable.

mind you, this affects me personally because i am a patient as well in certain circumstances. i have medication prescriptions, and i am at odds about whether to pop the pills every day or not.

you obviously don't understand the issue, don't wish to understand it...and should therefore refrain from commenting on the issue.

to you your business, and to me mine.

thanks to all of those who made worthy contributions

i'm calling bs on this one.

are we supposed to believe the op got through dosage calcluation studying, exams, and clinicals without thinking about this issue?

i suspect the post is satirical commentary on the recent "anti-abortion" and "no blood products" threads.

which leads me to my commentary on all of the hand-wringing over supernatural beliefs: you have a job to do, a role to perform. you chose that role. if your religious beliefs interfere with you doing that job, then go find something else to do.

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

thank you very much. yes, there is room for people of all backgrounds in nursing. the facility i am employed with is well aware i am a muslimah and adhere to certain practices. i am prayerful that necessary accomodations will and can be made in the event something short of life-threatening does arise.

to answer a previous question, a medication is considered haraam (forbidden) if it contains forbidden ingredients (pork and some other animal derivatives).

the problem is, a lot of the ingredients are not listed on labels; and even if they are, the source of the ingredients are often not shared (for instance whey protein can be derived from animal or plant sources).

i disagree. the op had posted and frequently about her faith.

i don't have a problem accomodating someone's beliefs. as has been said, a bone marrow transplant unit would be a bad choice for a jehovah's witness, and planned parenthood would be a no go for a strict cfatholic. however, nursing is a very large field and there is room for us all at the table.

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

nursing is in keeping with my religious beliefs, as health care is promoted and encouraged in islam. god willing, i will not compromise my beliefs...and my goal is not to cause difficulty to either my co-worker or my patients. but, that has nothing to do with the question i asked. what i say is not a difficulty another person may say is indeed difficult. islam is not meant to be hard, it's an easy religion to follow for those who believe (of course, there are tests)

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?
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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

it seems some of you have gotten a bit carried away: i wasn't asking your opinion on my beliefs, i wasn't asking to make anybody's life easy/difficult...i thought my question was quite clear: how do you muslim nurses deal with administering haram medications?

i am not asking for nursing as a whole to change, because i know it won't-not in this country.

i stand firm in my beliefs whether they make any of you comfortable or not. i believe for every affliction there is a cure...and the cure does not contain any harm. the majority of you might think "a" is the cure for "b," but if "a" is harmful, then the cure has not been found. again, my belief...but that wasn't the question.

so, for the muslim nurses out there, or other nurses with similar beliefs or situations...how do you deal with it? for those of you wishing to start trouble, please note that what you do doesn't trouble me at all. \

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Specializes in Cardiac, Derm, OB.

There are many fields in nursing. Possibly if medication administration is an issue you may find another area. Research RN for example would not require medication administration and possibly school nursing in an educational position. Otherwise I could not support a nurse whom could not give her own meds because I feel it would put her patients at risk for not receiving their meds on time or at all, (Do no harm). Also, There would not be time to look up every med for every patient every day even if you could. Alternative work environment may be your answer.

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i stand firm in my beliefs whether they make any of you comfortable or not. i believe for every affliction there is a cure...and the cure does not contain any harm. the majority of you might think "a" is the cure for "b," but if "a" is harmful, then the cure has not been found. again, my belief...but that wasn't the question.

for you, as a patient, i would do my best to respect those beliefs. just as i would expect my nurse to respect my beliefs and give me the care that corresponds to my beliefs and not theirs. giving the medications isn't about your beliefs, it's about the patient's beliefs. if you as a patient expect your beliefs to be respected, you have to make sure to do the same for your patient's beliefs.

i don't know how you'll get around to doing something you can live with. a lot of people have to avoid certain lines of work because of their beliefs.

i'm all for teamwork and helping each other out. but there comes a point where things start getting ridiculous. this nurse can't take this patient because she's pregnant. that one can't hang blood. that one can't take him because he's too heavy and she's got a bad back. all the while i'm dealing with my bad back lifting patients, hanging blood, gowning up for the anti-pregnant room, and all the while pouring fish guts down g-tubes and cutting up salisbury steak even though i don't believe in killing animals for food. it's not about me. it's about the patient. if their beliefs allow salisbury steak or a leg of lamb or a big ole ham, then that's between them and their god. do i get grossed out by the meat products, sometimes. does seeing pork skin on burn patients really freak me out, yes. and i've made clear when i'm a patient what i'll allow and won't allow.

abortion, pork, animal testing, blood, dnr, they all bring up ethical questions for a lot of people. to me though, it's not about my beliefs when i'm working, it's about the patient's beliefs. i've done cpr when it was futile and my beliefs said it was time to stop, but the patient (or family) wanted everything done. i've given tube feeds that prolonged quantity but not quality of life. i've done plenty that no nurse ever should do to me, whatever they may believe. my beliefs come into play when i'm the patient.

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I spoke with a hijabi friend of mine who is also an RN but does not frequent this site.

She said that she would, for herself, look for an alternative and, were none available, consult her spiritual leader. She will administer medications to patients as ordered.

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This is a fascinating piece about this very issue from a Saudi medical journal.

http://www.sjkdt.org/article.asp?issn=1319-2442;year=2007;volume=18;issue=4;spage=629;epage=637;aulast=Albar

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
For you, as a patient, I would do my best to respect those beliefs. Just as I would expect MY nurse to respect MY beliefs and give me the care that corresponds to MY beliefs and not theirs. Giving the medications isn't about your beliefs, it's about the patient's beliefs. If you as a patient expect your beliefs to be respected, you have to make sure to do the same for your patient's beliefs.

I don't know how you'll get around to doing something you can live with. A lot of people have to avoid certain lines of work because of their beliefs.

I'm all for teamwork and helping each other out. But there comes a point where things start getting ridiculous. This nurse can't take this patient because she's pregnant. That one can't hang blood. That one can't take him because he's too heavy and she's got a bad back. All the while I'm dealing with my bad back lifting patients, hanging blood, gowning up for the anti-pregnant room, and all the while pouring fish guts down G-tubes and cutting up salisbury steak even though I don't believe in killing animals for food. It's not about ME. It's about the patient. If their beliefs allow salisbury steak or a leg of lamb or a big ole ham, then that's between them and their God. Do I get grossed out by the meat products, sometimes. Does seeing pork skin on burn patients really freak me out, yes. And I've made clear when I'm a patient what I'll allow and won't allow.

Abortion, pork, animal testing, blood, DNR, they all bring up ethical questions for a lot of people. To me though, it's not about MY beliefs when I'm working, it's about the patient's beliefs. I've done CPR when it was futile and my beliefs said it was time to stop, but the patient (or family) wanted everything done. I've given tube feeds that prolonged quantity but not quality of life. I've done plenty that no nurse ever should do to me, whatever they may believe. My beliefs come into play when I'm the patient.

I cannot and WILL NOT participate in the abortive process.

I have been a nurse for 17 years and WILL NOT do that. I have changed assignments, and there is a policy that supports my creed.

As for what the patient needs, that is the reason why I do not participate--because she/he/they would need someone who won't be offended by that and they need a caregiver who won't impose his/her beliefs.

The difference in my situation is that this has only happened to be TWICE in my whole career--and I knew ahead of time so that the potential for it occurring was minimized.

As for giving meds, that's what we do. As I've said before, this is a difficult situation, but doable in the right nursing department/path.

The onus is on the OP.

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