Nurses Turning Muslim Patient' Beds Towards Mecca...?

Question

Do you think it's right that our over-worked and under-paid nurses should be spending their time turning Muslim patients' beds towards Mecca five times a day so then can pray?

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/27213/Nurses-told-to-turn-Muslims-beds-to-Mecca

OVERWORKED nurses have been ordered to stop all medical work five times every day to move Muslim patients’ beds so they face towards Mecca.

The lengthy procedure, which also includes providing fresh bathing water, is creating turmoil among overstretched staff on bustling NHS wards.

But despite the havoc, Mid- Yorkshire NHS Trust says the rule must be instigated whenever possible to ensure Muslim patients have “a more comfortable stay in hospital”.

And a taxpayer-funded training programme for several hundred hospital staff has begun to ensure that all are familiar with the workings of the Muslim faith.

Answer 1

Oh For God's sake, this is ridiculous!

I speak as a nurse, although not on a general ward, I can remember back to my training, and we were SO busy with the day to day work and the observations, on HEALTH(!) that these kind of things will just delay our ability to get the job done.
We were always trained to respect spiritual beliefs, of course, and provide necessary requirements but this job should be down to a relative not a nurse.
From a Health and Safety pointy of view also, I should think it should be stopped, this can hurt nurses backs.

Answer 2

No. Actually from a practical point of view of the fact that staff are too busy and moving beds is quite heavy on the back and also it may not suitable regarding the room itself, perhaps creating a fire hazard during the prayer time so I think the Health & Safety executive ought to be brought into this and put a stop to it.
It patients are that ill they cannot go to a special room designed for this purpose within the hospital then I am sure their religion will accommodate this in another way.
What if an airline pilot & attendants are on a long flight what happens at prayer time, do they alter course with the plane or what. No of course not, the religion must be more accommodating than this. I feel that it may be some persons intrepretation of the law that is a bit awry and not full of commonsense.
What do Muslims here feel on this issue.
Surely there must be a more commonsense approach? Any suggestions.

Answer 3

Good grief this is ridiculous. They certainly should not be forced to do it, if they choose to do it out of kindness then wonderful. The thing is that if a Muslim is completely bedridden and the bed happens to not be facing in a way that the person can not face Mecca to pray then they can pray whatever way they are facing. This article also said, "Muslims are also meant to wash themselves in running water prior to prayer. " and this is not correct. One the water does not need to be running and two if one is clean from the previous washing they don't need to perform wudu again. I'd like to know if any patients actually asked for this.

Answer 4

I doubt if this wonderful plan will last very long, chiefly on health and safety grounds. Nurses are likely to injure themself heaving these beds around and the regular cluttering up of the wards will impede freedom of movement. The idea of relatives coming in to do it will cause even more chaos in the wards and could exacerbate the liklihood of even more cross infection.
Hospital chapels are now multi faith, so those muslim patients who can get around should go to the chapel. Those that are too ill to do that are likely to be to ill to pray five times a day.
The complete lack of common sense in this country nowadays beggars belief. Little by little our ability to cope as a civilised nation is being eroded by the lunatics who run the asylum.

Answer 5

No this should not be........Here in Canada I live in a small city and recently they have combined the two hospitals we have into a major one. The major one was a Catholic hospital. You can see the where the Crosses were taken down to accommodate the non Christians sense of well being, for want of a better phrase.
A hospital is not a religious organization to pander to the many cults and religions in the land. The nurses have better things to do than act as acolytes to the Muslims and their TRADITIONS. They are medical professionals not religious babysitters.
If the Muslims want to be facing east then let the family come in five times daily to do this unnecessary chore. If the faithful Muslim hasn't got a family then let the members of his/her faithful congregation come in five times a day to move the beds around for them. But do not lay the burden of a religious tradition on the backs of the medical staff of professional nurses.
If people are afraid of a simple cross on the wall for faithful Christians then we should not have to pander to a minority religion in this land.
Mid-Yorkshire NHS Trust should bring in the family and congregation for this religious comfort in the public hospitals!!

Answer 6

Oh come on why do people actually believe these stories that appear in the mail and express and the like? Think about it for a minute. What are the odds that it's actually true and if you go the a hospital you will really see teams of nurses dragging these massive beds around constantly?
These stories seriously need to be taken with pinch of salt

Answer 7

this makes me so angry!!
i am a nurse in a dementia unit for the NHS. Our patients ages range from 58 to 97. I live in a fishing town in the north east of Scotland where the old people were brought up by religious parents and all went to church regularly.
We have now been told that their Sunday service has to stop in case we insult others of different faiths.
the thing is that our patients are all of the christian faith because we dont have any elderly people who come from different countries and faiths, being a small town in the north east.
I have been given umpteen tellings off for putting on a video of religious songs which they love to watch and which calms the more aggressive ones down as we prefer not to sedate them unless absolutely neccessary
It's becoming ridiculous.
IF EVERY NURSE IN THE COUNTRY REFUSED TO CARRY THIS OUT THEN IT WOULD CURE THE SITUATION. THEY CAN'T SACK US ALL


KAMRAN.....get a life.....does having a chapel in a hospital consist of nurses giving up their precious time NURSING..to turning their beds...no...they have to go there! you show your true colours more each day.

Answer 8

Its not right.
Am certain only Christian hospitals have Chapels.
Have yet to see a hospital of any other faith which houses a Chapel.

This could only happen the UK where PC has been taken to ridiculous lenghts. Scout around. It doesn't happen in other countries. Sure, spiritual needs need to be attended to. Thats why Priests of every faith need to make sick calls. But to inconvenience the hospital staff is nothing short of ridiculous.

Answer 9

As an atheist, and ex-hospital worker, I personally find this ridiculous. Whilst I respect others beliefs, ward staff have other priorities.

In my day relatives would have dealt with this. While ward staff may care about the psychological well-being of their patients as part of the healing process, catering to patients' religious sensibilities is not part of the job description.

Answer 10

This is not required at all. However they may argue that they pay so high taxes in UK.

One thing that bothers me that this is technically incorrect. Since a sick person doesn't necessarily need to face Mecca; There are many relaxations in case of a sick person or a pregnant woman! So this is odd.

This may be Anti-Islamic agenda news OR this may be case of a few religious fanatics wanting everything their own way.

Answer 11

Tell you what,why dont all these muslims bulild their own hospitals and pay for ther own seeing as facing towards mecca is so important.

No matter what is said religion is a personnel choice and if you think that you might not get what you are looking/praying for then goto a country where all your demands will be met and dont expect special treament just because of religion.