"No One Respects My Religious Beliefs"

Nurses Relations

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Hey everyone,

There is a nursing assistant employed at our hospital who is a devout Muslim. I understand that she is very devoted to her faith and I can respect that. However, what most of the staff take issue with is that she feels she is entitled to leave the floor several times a shift to pray, regardless of whatever else may be going on. Last night, she took it upon herself to leave the floor at 4am "whether there is anyone on the floor to relieve me or not!" In the midst of this, the float aide was helping the other aide in the ICU and was unavailable. This person goes past the desk announcing she's leaving and stormed off to the breakroom WITH NO OTHER AIDE ON THE FLOOR! (I'm the unit clerk.) I reported her to the charge nurse. I'm not sure what all was said but at one point I heard her scream through the breakroom door about how she felt we were disrespectful and ganging up on her and we discriminate against her religion. I wouldn't have said anything, but I thought her going off the floor like that was totally unfair, especially to the patients.

What are your thoughts on this?

Specializes in ER, Trauma ICU, CVICU.

I have done some research on this topic and can hopefully shed some light.

According to her faith, she should be praying several times per day. HOWEVER, the Muslim faith stresses that no rituals compromise the wellness of another human being. For example, pregnant women are allowed to forgo fasting during Ramadan because going without food or drink could compromise health of the baby. Stepping away and leaving patients unattended could potentially cause harm to them, which would be frowned upon!

Muslim surgeons aren't stepping out of the sterile field during a 12 hour surgery to pray.

Sounds like an excuse to me!!!!

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

Muslims pray at set times, so she should arrange coverage for her prayer times. In my pre-nursing life I worked for a delivery service where about a third of the drivers were Muslim. Things could get hairy during Ramadan, because they all wanted to eat at the same time, but we managed to get things delivered.

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Specializes in long term care, alzheimer's, ltc rehab.
I have done some research on this topic and can hopefully shed some light.

According to her faith, she should be praying several times per day. HOWEVER, the Muslim faith stresses that no rituals compromise the wellness of another human being. For example, pregnant women are allowed to forgo fasting during Ramadan because going without food or drink could compromise health of the baby. Stepping away and leaving patients unattended could potentially cause harm to them, which would be frowned upon!

Muslim surgeons aren't stepping out of the sterile field during a 12 hour surgery to pray.

Sounds like an excuse to me!!!!

Thank you! That's exactly what it is...an excuse to get out of doing work. And yet we're evil and should be condemned to die because we refuse to feed into it. She's one of those people who think that no matter what, she should have whatever she wants and we're supposed to automatically give it to her. I swear she's 50 going on 5, but that's a whole nother vent altogether.

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Specializes in occupational health.

It sounds like a management issue. The nurse is abandoning the patients and management is afraid to do anything because she might report it to the EEOC.

This is about patient safety. Either accommodate the nurse for her multiple breaks or if that is not possible, then transfer her to a different position where patient abandonment isn't a possibility. Management needs to be reminded that the cost of a law suit from a wrongful death (from a patient being abandoned) is probably the same as a religious persecution one. They need to go back to their mission statement, which I'll bet says something about providing the safest and best care for the patients.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Unacceptable. If she cannot do the job then she should be gone. I am so tired of people requiring/demanding unreasonable accommodations.

I have no problem with peoples faith. However, you need to figure out how to manage it in the context of your job duties or not do that job. Simple as that.

I have known many lovely Muslim people in health care and they manage their faith and still meet all job requirements just fine.

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BlueDevil said it well. People tend to abuse privileges. Worked with someone who took time from the shift to go to church services or to go into the breakroom to read the Bible. That had to end when the supervisor found out that church was a movie and he had to go retrieve the person from overly long Bible breaks one time too many. This action increased harmony for the workers who did not use religion as an excuse to slack off.

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Specializes in Rehab, LTC, Peds, Hospice.

She sounds immature and opportunistic. Tell her she must arrange coverage and she can't leave the floor without notification. These are standard expectations for the job, and have nothing to do with violating her religious rights. Counsel her as to this and put it in writing so it is clear she has been informed. When she violates these expectations, just write her up until she has enough documentation to show there is just cause for firing her.

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That employee should be reprimanded, better yet sacked. Work is work. I know some things about religious liberty and we shouldn't judge, but working in this field requires employees to be on the floor 100% of the time. If that person cannot find an replacement while he prays, then he is in the wrong job. He is working under the RN's license, anything that happens to the patients during his shift will be partly blamed to the RN and he will loose his license.

He should find a job that has more flexibility in breaks or work around and not in his work schedule with his prayer time

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

So the issue is not really religion so much as it is people with lousy work ethics who manipulate other people. I'm sure there are many devout Muslims who would take issue with this nursing assistant's idea of what it means to be a devout Muslim. As was alluded to earlier, there are countries where Islam is the dominant religion of the population. They don't engage in wholesale patient abandonment at certain times of the day as far as I know anyway.

I don't see any reason why co-workers should hide their religion from each other as a rule. Doesn't mean you proselytize at work or inject it into patient care as a matter of course. I find it interesting to learn about other's religion if they want to discuss it, really no different to me than other aspects of their lives they choose to share.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

Muslim co-worker who cannot work a standard shift or schedule because of her religious choices (not mandates) should find another line of work.

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Interesting article on the topic, see below....includes how a surgeon views and approaches the issue. I think accommodations could be made. This could include the individual coming to work earlier, staying later to make up the time, and taking time to pray when it is convenient for one's employer and safe for the patients. But, under no circumstances should this interfere with work or burden others. For me, this applies to any religion or belief as well as anything else not work-related, unless of course it is something out of one's control, i.e., emergency, illness, etc. For U.S. Muslims, Work-Time Prayer a Struggle

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I'm new here and I just ran across this, I'm a unit clerk myself and I am a Muslim . As stated in some of the statement here on this form , Muslims does have to pray FIVE time a day this is a known fact . Like all jobs they should give you two 15 min breaks and a half hr lunch ( most jobs) so I don't know when her breaks are but her co-worker and her charge-nurse should have a understanding that at 4pm if possible her assignment can be covered for at least 5 mins until she returns. So that the care for her residents are still are still in good standing. Like all religions, if your true to it, whatever that book tell you to do , you try your best to do what it ask of you . Hopefully this helps ( Side note at my job , they cover me and I cover them ) the unit is a team . I keep the unit together ;)

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