Cultural Competence of Muslim Healthcare

In today’s society, there are so many different viewpoints as well as life styles that many

people go by. In healthcare, the clinicians need to be able to properly assess the health of the

patient overall, and be able to respect that patient’s wishes. Today, I will be educating you on the

proper care of a traditional Muslim patient. A healthcare team needs to be able to know how to

properly treat a Muslim patient due to their religious beliefs and morals that restrict them from

various forms of western medicine. The reason why Muslim patients are so important is that it is

becoming the largest religion in the world, and is already the fastest growing religion. If a

healthcare team cannot understand the ways that they need to be able to prepare for that patient,

then they need to prepare better for that situation. For example, Muslims cannot use the

following medications due to their chemical composition which breaks their guidelines for which

they follow. PowerPoint of Muslim medications that are restricted. A few of the viewpoints

that I will be covering on how the Muslim patient requires additional care than the average

patient is that the patients may not be able to accept the medications that are offered for that

specific treatment, they may feel as if they are being misled by the hospital staff, and they may

feel as if their culture is not being respected by the hospital staff. Although the Muslim faith has

grown larger throughout the world, there are still various immigrants of the Muslim faith that do

not understand western medicine, and the practices.

Throughout the world, cultural expansion of the Muslim religion has spread quickly, and

is calling for medical professionals to be able to adjust to the patient, rather than the patient

needing to be able to adjust to the treatment that they are being forced to undergo. Clinicians

need to be able to make a patient feel as comfortable as they can in the hospital because no one

really ever enjoys going to a hospital in the first place, so why make them feel more subjected to
being scared of being there? Elderly Muslim patients that have been Muslims for a very long

time, and may have also immigrated to the United States for the medical purposes that the U.S. is

famous for may confuse them. Elders in general tend to be much more resilient to new things, so

before using any type of form of care that the patient has never undergone before, make sure to

be able to simply explain the procedure to them as well as being able to hold a conversation with

the patient if they are able to speak the same language, and if not, use a translator, but avoid

speaking directly to the translator rather than the patient, because the translator is not the patient.

Some forms of treatment like donating of blood, IVs, and oral medications are not allowed

during Ramadan, but administration of saline through an injection rather than an IV is allowed,

as well as liquid medications rather than oral pills. These treatments may violate their code of

ethics which may involve the diet restriction. Medications like Heparin, Gelatinous pills, forms

of mouthwash, and forms of insulin may not be allowed for the patient to use. The Muslim

patient cannot use heparin due to its chemical composition including porcine, which is a

chemical derived from swine, and the religion views pigs as unclean. The Muslim diet may

restrict the patients from medications that are derived from pigs, cows, and alcohol containing

drugs. Although majority hospital staff is helpful to the patients, some of the Muslim patients

may feel subjected to neglect.

Muslim patients may feel as if they are being misled by the staff, and by being misled, I

mean that the staff is not respecting their wishes of giving the patient a different form of a

medication that does not contain certain animal bi-products, and they may feel as if their

religious needs are not being respected as well. Muslim patients need to be able to pray

throughout the day without anything that is piercing their skin, so things such as IVs need to be

managed. Instead of hooking a patient up to a fluid drip or different forms of solutions, the
patient’s condition may call for injections rather than the IV. The importance of family to the

Muslim community ranks extremely high. A female patient may require a male in the room to be

able to speak to them, as well as the male patient needing to have an elder’s viewpoint of the

matter as well. So whenever a physician asks a patient what their preferred mode of treatment for

the illness that they are in the hospital for, may result in a timely response due to their own

viewpoint as well as the viewpoint of their family members. The community of Muslims may

also believe that their illness may be caused by their own sin. Even with the growing number of

healthcare providers increasing their knowledge of the Muslim faith, many still struggle with the

restrictions some treatments may come with whenever involving their cultural demands.

Muslim patients also call for a high value of privacy. With the privacy needing to be

respected, female nurses should not be in the same room with a male patient alone, and vice

versa for a patient that is female. If a male physician is assessing a female patient, there needs to

be another Muslim male or female in the room. The Muslim faith for older patients may also be a

little obstructive for the healthcare providers. Many elderly patients may use their own forms of

home remedy medications, so as long as the remedies that the patient is using is not affecting the

health of the patient detrimentally, the healthcare provider should be able to allow for the patient

to be able to consistently use the home remedy because the main job of the clinician is to provide

care for the patient as well as comfort. Bathing is also held to an extremely high standard, so if

the patient is not able to completely hold themselves up, or able to physically do it themselves, a

person of the same sex should aid them in the process since it is ritualistic, and need to be able to

be clean before they are able to pray. In conclusion, Muslim patients require clinicians to be

respectful of the culture, as well as patient to understanding what is needed to be done for the

patient. After I have explained the various issues that members of the Muslim faith have with the
healthcare system, I hope that as future healthcare professionals, you will all be able to

successfully care for a Muslim patient.