"Crescent" support helps Muslims - Nursing

A new version of parish nursing called "crescent" has been created by Radford (Va.) University graduate student Jennifer Simpson. In parish nursing, a nurse provide services in a Christian or Jewish place of worship. In crescent nursing, a Muslim nurse will render primary and preventative care to Muslim followers while the mosque will offer both location and support for the services given. The practice crescent nursing is novel to U.S. healthcare in that it provides religion-based nursing outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Similar to many other minorities low incomes, cultural and language differences, and a lack of communication and awareness about healthcare services are barriers to Muslims acquiring health care that suits their needs. "When I started my classes in nursing, the textbook talked about being culturally sensitive.... They barely discussed the culturally sensitive care needed for the Muslim patient. There is not a I lot known about providing healthcare to Muslims."

Simpson converted to Islam three years ago. She later married a Muslim from Jordan. She says that she I saw a "great open door" for her work--to educate Muslims and those taking care of them. In addition to her full-time job as a nurse at Montgomery Regional Hospital, Simpson trains area physicians and healthcare providers to be ethnically aware and address specific needs of Muslim patients. She also has office hours twice a week in the Blacksburg mosque. She counsels and advises patients, but cannot conduct physical examinations until she completes her family nurse practitioner graduate degree.

Because of the crescent nursing project, indicates Simpson, the quality of life for Muslims, especially women, will be improved through educational and language specific informational programs about the importance of preventative care such as breast self-exams, family planning, and annual screening for cervical and breast cancers. "There is a desperate need for culturally sensitive health programs and culturally sensitive health care providers.... I feel compelled to do what I can to address that need."

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