The Crescent of Care: A Nursing Model to Guide the Care of Arab Muslim Patients

A reflexive ethnographic methodology was used to explore the meaning of caring as experienced by Arab Muslim nurses within the context of Arab culture.  Immersion in the experiences of Arab Muslim nurses within Saudi Arabia aimed at answering two questions:  1) What is the explanatory model used by Arab Muslim nurses in the caring experience? 2) What is the meaning of caring as expressed through the narratives of the Arab Muslim nurses? An extensive validation process with expert insiders, conference presentations and validation focus groups resulted in the co-creation of a model of caring, the ‘Crescent of Care’.

In this model, the patient and family are the focus of care reflecting the cultural importance of family in Arab culture and inseparability of the patient and family unit in caring. Surrounding the family are five components of professional nursing care: Spiritual care (actions to meet the spiritual needs of the patient and family); Psycho-social care (actions to meet the psychological and social needs of the patient and family); Cultural care (actions to meet the cultural needs of the patient and family); Interpersonal care (aspects of care related to the relationship and communication between the nurse, patient, and family) and Clinical care (physical and technical nursing care). The crescent (as the symbol of Islam) surrounds the components of care and symbolizes the inseparability of nurse’s caring and Islam. The linking of the crescent of Islam and care components also captures the shared spirituality between nurse, the patient and family. The outer circle identifies the three types of values that inform the nurses’ ethical decision making and caring actions: Spiritual values (derived from Islam); Cultural values (beliefs from the Arab cultural worldview); and Professional values (values arising from the profession, such as the code of ethics).