Grief and Crisis

Grief and Crisis

Introduction

Nurses are undoubtedly masters of all trades. They not only have to be professionally qualified to address the health related concerns of their patients, but they also have to adequately handle tasks, reports and deal with people in such a manner that is both receptive to their concerns, respectful and informative. With that in mind, one must consider the fact that nurses must interact with individuals that come from varying backgrounds. One patient may be oriental where as the next might be South African.

Nurses must keep in mind the cultural values, religious beliefs, customs and traditions of their respective patients, be supportive and ensure that their stay is pleasant. This, however, does not mean that a nurse must sit down and study every culture of the world, commit the details to memory and then refer to their textbooks every time patient from a different background as compared to them checks in. A little background research goes a long way and should be actively encouraged. This paper takes a look at how the Islamic beliefs with respect to death and grieving, tie in with the Kubler Ross Model. The paper then takes this relation and applies it to the field of nursing.

Death, Dying and Grief in Islam

As per the teachings of Islam, death is not the end of everything. Muslims believe in the afterlife, and based on their deeds, are either sentenced to hell or heaven. When an individual believed to be in the last stages of his life, it is fairly common for his family, relatives and friends to gather by his side. This is not as much a question of religion as it is tradition. Everyone supports the individual, continually praying for the individual's good health while simultaneously reminding the individual to seek forgiveness from the Almighty Allah for his sins and a place in heaven (Bregman, 2009). When an individual dies, their soul is said to rise from the physical body and is taken away by the angel of death.

After a Muslim dies, burial proceedings do not take long as it is recommended that the individual be buried within three days of death, unless unforeseen circumstances restrict such from happening. Burials take place as per the customs and rituals described by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Leming and Dickinson, 2010). It is the duty of the all Muslims to partake in offering burial prayers for the deceased. Upon death, the corpse's eyes are closed, the body is washed in accordance with Islamic rites and finally, the body is covered in a clean white cloth before it is lowered into the grave. Males wash a male's corpse and females wash a female's; in order to maintain the dignity and gender segregation ideology of Islam. It must be noted that embalming, or any other preservation method, is strictly forbidden in the religion. Similarly, autopsies are also frowned upon unless they are required by the law.

Before the actual burial, the local Muslim community joins and offers ...