Muslim nursing students

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Have any Muslim nursing students had problems wearing a hijab to class or clinical. I am worried about being asked to take mine off for class.

Salam auleikum! Personally, I've never had a problem with hijab being a hindrance while I was in school. Actually, it was kinda a plus...it was a great watercooler topic & patients loved it. At the end of the day, you're in a great profession that paves the way for diversity & understanding. Good Luck!

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Salam auleikum! Personally I've never had a problem with hijab being a hindrance while I was in school. Actually, it was kinda a plus...it was a great watercooler topic & patients loved it. At the end of the day, you're in a great profession that paves the way for diversity & understanding. Good Luck![/quote']

Wa alaikum assalaam! Thank you. I hope it won't be a problem. Most people around here don't want to understand that I have met sadly.

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If you don't want to do it, then don't. The money, although a living wage for most of us, is not nearly enough to compensate us for the jobs we do.

I really love what I do, but I question my decision to become a nurse at least once a month.

I was speaking out of anger sorry. I want to be a nurse then somedays I don't want to worry about the drama my hijab might bring.

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If you don't want to be a nurse, don't be a nurse. There is no nursing shortage and nursing is not a guaranteed ticket to getting "out of poverty". Read the first year nursing job hunt forums and see all the posts from unemployed new grads.

I was speaking out of anger. I want to be a nurse I really do. In my area people aren't that accepting of hijabs. I guess I was worried that if I made it through school here I wouldn't find a job.

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I personally wear long sleeves to every clinical shift (no religious reason, just because I like to) When I'm doing something when I think my forearms may get soiled (next to never) I pull my sleeves up, exposing the lower 1/2 of my forearm. Follow your dreams!!

And for the PP that said they wash their arms between every patient- really?? So you don't use sanitizer then? I have never seen anyone wash their arms unless they were "scrubbing in"

Thank you.

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^THIS.

Sleeves can be pulled up before engaging in some serious contact that may require "grunt work", aka code browns, wound care, bathing, etc. then clean the exposed areas throughly.

I'm usually perpetually cold; so again, sleeves do not get in the way of preventing the spread of infection; simple solution is to roll them up or push them up.

The true deterrent of infection control is good hand washing. :yes:

Thank you.

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If nursing isn't in your top 5 even DO NOT DO IT! There is no nursing shortage. It is not a career you want to pick if it is not something that you WANT to be doing. It's tough.

I was speaking out of anger. Sadly, I have problems wear hijab locally and it makes me fear how I will be treated.

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The OP sounds very smart from her posts. I daresay she would figure out whatever she wants to do and see it through. Get the facts ask questions and figure out what it is you want to do. And if it continues to be nursing, then go at it totally.[/quote']

Thank you. It is hard here, not that I don't want to be a nurse.

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Good day:

When I was doing research for a sociology class I'm taking, I found this video relating to this subject matter which may be of interest: A Perception Of The Veiling/ Hijab - YouTube when looking at this issue from a cultural relative point of view. As I'm not in a nursing program yet, I'm not sure of the actual impact as one does have to patient care above and beyond a lot of other things.

Thank you.

I can't watch it on my phone. I have seen some cultural views on it in daily life.

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wearing your hijab to lecture shouldn't be an issue, and i can't imagine that the instructors would have the gall to try to to turn it into a thing. With that said, lets talk about real life here--

realistically, you're gonna have an uncomfortable time. Some of the nurses/preceptors youll encounter that aren't directly affiliated with your school may give you a hard time, and you're gonna encounter a whole new level of stupidity when it comes to some of the patients you'll be treating as well.

Stay strong, and focused, and you should do as well as any other.

Thank you. I will tried to stay focused.

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Any institution which receives Federal money (99% of health care facilities receive Federal Medicare money) can NOT ask you to violate the precepts of your religious beliefs, unless for potentially life-threatening reasons. You have to be allowed to wear your hijab, the same way female nurses who belong to any of the Anabaptist Christian denominations are allowed to wear their Prayer Kapps, or male Jewish nurses are allowed to wear their Yarmulkes.

In addition to being a nursing student, I am also a Chaplain Assistant in the US Army, so I am an advocate for religious tolerance and accommodation. In the Army, LDS Soldiers have to be allowed to wear their Holy undergarments under their Physical Fitness uniforms, even though they may show beneath the Army shorts. Jewish Soldiers are allowed to wear their Yarmulkes. I know of 3 Sikh Soldiers who are in the Army, and they are allowed to wear their turbans and have long hair (totally contrary to uniform regulations, but it has gone to court, and they won). I believe (but can't say for sure), that I have seen pictures of female Muslim Soldiers wearing camouflage hijabs. (The pictures I'm thinking of could have been pictures of Soldiers in a Middle Eastern military being trained by US forces, or they might be US Soldiers, I don't remember for sure.) As a general rule, male Soldiers are not allowed to have beards, as they interfere with getting a good seal around the gas mask, but exceptions for religious reasons are routinely given to male Muslim and Sikh Soldiers, as long as the Soldier's military job is not considered to be in a direct combat role.

Where I'm going with this is that, by law, you have to be allowed to wear your hijab, unless it might be a safety issue. Since there are multiple ways to tie it, find a way where it can't be pulled. I think someone here said there is another type of head covering that she wears in the clinical setting that is acceptable. (I think it is something like a tubular balaklava.) Check with your religious leaders as to what that might be. Your right to wear your hijab (or other head covering) is guaranteed under the First Amendment's clause on Freedom of Religion.

(Slightly off-topic touchy subject, don't let me get up on my soap box. It says "Freedom of Religion", meaning we all have the right to practice whatever religion we want. It does not say "Freedom from Religion", so atheists shouldn't be able to tell us we can't practice our religions just because they choose to be offended that we don't believe--as they do--that God, Allah, Yahweh, Jehovah [insert the God of your Faith] doesn't exist.)

As far as long sleeves are concerned, they shouldn't be a problem at all. I have been a CNA for 12 years, all of them in acute care (i.e. a major hospital), and I have ALWAYS worn long sleeves as defense against the extreme air conditioning because I'm perpetually cold. If I'm going to be bathing a patient, or taking care of a Code Brown, etc., I take off the over-jacket or push up the long sleeves of the t-shirt or long-john top worn under short sleeve scrubs. In the OR or in isolation rooms, the provided gowns are long sleeve anyway.

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Any institution which receives Federal money (99% of health care facilities receive Federal Medicare money) can NOT ask you to violate the precepts of your religious beliefs, unless for potentially life-threatening reasons. You have to be allowed to wear your hijab, the same way female nurses who belong to any of the Anabaptist Christian denominations are allowed to wear their Prayer Kapps, or male Jewish nurses are allowed to wear their Yarmulkes.

In addition to being a nursing student, I am also a Chaplain Assistant in the US Army, so I am an advocate for religious tolerance and accommodation. In the Army, LDS Soldiers have to be allowed to wear their Holy undergarments under their Physical Fitness uniforms, even though they may show beneath the Army shorts. Jewish Soldiers are allowed to wear their Yarmulkes. I know of 3 Sikh Soldiers who are in the Army, and they are allowed to wear their turbans and have long hair (totally contrary to uniform regulations, but it has gone to court, and they won). I believe (but can't say for sure), that I have seen pictures of female Muslim Soldiers wearing camouflage hijabs. (The pictures I'm thinking of could have been pictures of Soldiers in a Middle Eastern military being trained by US forces, or they might be US Soldiers, I don't remember for sure.) As a general rule, male Soldiers are not allowed to have beards, as they interfere with getting a good seal around the gas mask, but exceptions for religious reasons are routinely given to male Muslim and Sikh Soldiers, as long as the Soldier's military job is not considered to be in a direct combat role.

Where I'm going with this is that, by law, you have to be allowed to wear your hijab, unless it might be a safety issue. Since there are multiple ways to tie it, find a way where it can't be pulled. I think someone here said there is another type of head covering that she wears in the clinical setting that is acceptable. (I think it is something like a tubular balaklava.) Check with your religious leaders as to what that might be. Your right to wear your hijab (or other head covering) is guaranteed under the First Amendment's clause on Freedom of Religion.

(Slightly off-topic touchy subject, don't let me get up on my soap box. It says "Freedom of Religion", meaning we all have the right to practice whatever religion we want. It does not say "Freedom from Religion", so atheists shouldn't be able to tell us we can't practice our religions just because they choose to be offended that we don't believe--as they do--that God, Allah, Yahweh, Jehovah [insert the God of your Faith] doesn't exist.)

As far as long sleeves are concerned, they shouldn't be a problem at all. I have been a CNA for 12 years, all of them in acute care (i.e. a major hospital), and I have ALWAYS worn long sleeves as defense against the extreme air conditioning because I'm perpetually cold. If I'm going to be bathing a patient, or taking care of a Code Brown, etc., I take off the over-jacket or push up the long sleeves of the t-shirt or long-john top worn under short sleeve scrubs. In the OR or in isolation rooms, the provided gowns are long sleeve anyway.

Thank you.

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