Overview
Why This Matters: the Mental Model
A patient who tells you they are Muslim has told you about their faith, not about which accommodations they want.
NCLEX-RN
NCLEX-RN
A patient who tells you they are Muslim has told you about their faith, not about which accommodations they want. Islam is a faith that people practise in many ways. Two Muslim patients on the same unit may have very different needs: one may pray five times a day, fast every Ramadan and want a female nurse; another may want none of these. Practice also varies with culture, family background, language and personal conviction. The RN mental model has three layers: 1. Ask the individual. The only reliable source of this patient's preferences is this patient. Why: assumptions in either direction cause harm, because a missed accommodation can leave a patient without something that matters to them, and an assumed one can feel like stereotyping. 2. Separate established practice from personal preference. Some things are widely held (for example, avoiding pork and alcohol), while others vary between people and between scholars (for example, whether certain medications break a fast). So what: when practice varies, the answer is to ask and, where a religious ruling is needed, to let the patient...
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