Hygiene Guidelines Relaxed for Muslim Nurses

Recently, the British Department of Health has revised its dress code to accommodate Muslim nurses whose religious convictions require that their forearms be covered lest they be dressing immodestly. Now, Muslim nurses no longer have to roll up their sleeves to scrub their arms. Instead, they can wear protective sleeves that would cover their forearms while still allowing them to be covered. Sikh members are allowed wear bangles associated with their beliefs as long as they roll them up their arms when they treat a patient.

These new guidelines have caused a fair amount of buzz. Many are concerned about the spread of germs from hospital personnel to patients. According to an article by Jonathan Petre on Mail Online, the new allowances go against "earlier guidance that all staff should be 'bare below the elbow' after long sleeves were blamed for spreading bacteria, leading to superbug deaths." Others note a much deeper issue involving double-standards. While Muslims were given the freedom to honor their traditions, a Christian nurse lost her battle against her superiors who asked her to remove her cross necklace.

After reading up on the issue and giving it a considerable amount of thought, I've come to a few conclusions:

As long as adequate safety measures are taken, Muslims should be allowed to honor their customs.
I really don't have an issue with Muslims wearing plastic covers instead of scrubbing because the covers are still preventing direct contact. The guidelines state that "disposable over-sleeves can be worn where gloves are used but strict adherence to washing hands and wrists must be observed before and after use." This seems pretty safe to me.

Now, in the same article on Mail Online, Derek Butler, the chairman of MRSA Action UK, stated, "My worry is that by allowing some medics to use disposable sleeves you compromise patient safety because unless you change the sleeves between treating each patient, you spread bacteria. . . .I've seen doctors and nurses fail to change their gloves, and I've no doubt this will see exactly the same thing happening." I won't argue with someone who's more knowledgeable in the field of health care than I am, but why not just take extra measures to ensure that Muslim staff change those sleeves after each use? Heck, why not take extra measures to ensure that all staff change whatever disposable gloves or sleeves they're wearing when they move on to a new patient?

As far as I can tell, there are enough options available to ensure that Muslim staff members can keep their traditions without compromising patient safety. I'm even okay with the bangles, so long as they don't fall down the arm while the nurse is working.

The double-standard might not be what it seems.
The controversy about the Christian nurse is the aspect of the story that has really gotten me thinking. According to another article on Mail Online by Luke Sakheld, Shirley Chaplin was asked to not wear her cross necklace to work anymore after having worn it for years with no problem. She claims that it's unfair that Muslim workers can have their sleeves and bangles, but she can't have her necklace due to safety concerns. On one level, I agree with her. I mean, a necklace isn't even anywhere near the arms, so I would guess that it would be much less of a potential danger. If hospitals want to respect religious beliefs and customs, why make allowances for one group and not another?

At the same time, I understand that the issue isn't as simple as that. I don't know a whole lot about Islam, but I do know that Muslims are stricter with their practices than Christians are with Christianity. I also know that clothing is much more significant in the Islamic tradition than in Christianity. As far as I know, there has never been a time in Christian history when wearing a cross was a requirement. Even though Petre's article says that "Islamic experts are divided about how Muslim women should dress as the Koran is ambiguous on the matter," I still see that dressing customs are vastly different for Muslims and Christians. People need to be taken in their full contexts, and I honestly feel that a Christian wearing or not wearing a cross necklace is vastly different from a Muslim wearing or not wearing traditional clothing.

My ultimate point on the matter is this: If we, as Christians, want to outwardly express our faith, we don't need necklaces or t-shirts or bumper stickers or anything else to do so. We simply need to live like Christ. I believe that Mrs. Chaplin is already outwardly expressing her faith by simply being a nurse (or at least she was until she got moved to a desk job). She made it her career to help and heal people, and that's one of the many things Jesus Christ did. Expression of Christian faith has never relied on believers wearing a certain object. If one feels unable to express one's Christianity in the workplace because a superior or certain codes prohibited wearing something, I would ask that person if their Christianity is real. Is not expressing Christianity loving the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul, and loving your neighbor as yourself? Jesus summed it up as such. We are to love God and show the utmost love and concern for our fellow humans because we all have been broken and have suffered. I think Christians are capable of this whether they wear a cross on their necks or not.

Sources:
Jonathan Petre
"Muslim nurses CAN cover up. . .but Christian colleagues can't wear crucifixes."
Mail Online

"Muslim staff escape NHS hygiene rule"
Telegraph.co.uk

Luke Sakeld
"Christian nurse 'ordered to remove crucifix...at hospital where Muslims were allowed to wear headscarves."
Mail Online