Women Muslim medical students are to defy a new rule that they must have bare arms below the elbow during operations - because it is immodest.
The medics also refuse to roll up their sleeves to put on a gown and when they "scrub" their hands and arms before theatre.
Some of the women at Alder Hey, Liverpool, and Leicester and Sheffield Universities said they will quit rather than expose their arms. Dr Steve Ryan, from Alder Hey, said: "Good hand hygiene is a matter of patient safety."
A changing room for them has been provided.
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2 comments:
Salams - I have also struggled with dress/cover issues in the surgical environment - it's a thorny issue and often very awkward to negotiate. But the focus or goal of this protest caused me a lot of concern.
Scrubbing ones arms to avoid infecting and potentially killing your patient is surely a legitimate exposure of the arm.
It's well-documented that clothing is a major vector for infection transmission (neckties, white coats, etc). Of course those are items that are generally washed infrequently and worn from patient to patient.
What I would have liked to see was for the muslim MDs/RNs to push for 1) a private space to scrub, and 2) long sterile gloves -eg veterinary gloves- that cover the arm, or some other type of sterile, disposable arm cover.
Salaam Sarah
And thanks for your comment. I agree wholeheartedly with you. There was a better way to work this out. If you look at some of the commentary on the internet, it seems these nurses protest made more enemies than friends. I think that putting some thought, as you suggested into how to fix it rather than rallying to a cause too soon is the way to go.
NisaNurse
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