In the past few years, many people with an Islamic background have settled in Australia. Within the health care context, this means that health care providers must modify the care provided to ensure it meets the needs of this culturally diverse population. Little nursing research has focused on understanding the perceptions and experiences of Muslim people within health care systems, particularly in Australia. This study provided an opportunity to explore, and document the experience of the hospitalisation for Islamic people and thereby advance the available information upon which important nursing care decisions that relate to this group can be more informatively made. This study aims to explore and interpret the lived experience of thirteen Muslim patients who had been hospitalised in an Australian hospital. The hermeneutic phenomenology of Heidegger (1967/1996), the philosophical hermeneutics of Gadamer (1989), and the ideas of van Manen (1990/1996) underpin this study. The meaning and understanding of the everyday experience of Muslim patient in a non-Islamic hospital is achieved through interpretation of the participants’ stories. Data were generated using unstructured audio-taped interviews from participants. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed, then interpreted using phenomenological methods. The two themes to emerge from the participants’ experiences are: Being-thrown-into-an-un-everyday-world and living-Islam-in-the-un-everyday-world. The theme of Being-thrown-into-an-un-everyday-world arose from the sub-themes of the awareness of self and Being an outsider. The theme living-Islam-in-the-un-everyday-world was drawn from the three sub-themes of Being the same and different, hindrances to being Muslim, and adapting-to-the-un-everyday-world. The findings of this study provide an insight into the experience of Muslims being cared for in Australian hospitals. It is hoped that this interpretation will make a significant contribution to the care of Muslim patients by having health professionals consider how this group could be cared for in a culturally sensitive manner. It is not intended as a prescription for care but draws the reader to reflect on aspects of the Muslim faith and how this may impact on individuals experience when in hospital. The scope of this study and the dearth of available research in this area conclude that much more research needs to be undertaken. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1317115 / Thesis(Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2008

In the past few years, many people with an Islamic background have settled in Australia. Within the health care context, this means that health care providers must modify the care provided to ensure it meets the needs of this culturally diverse population. Little nursing research has focused on understanding the perceptions and experiences of Muslim people within health care systems, particularly in Australia. This study provided an opportunity to explore, and document the experience of the hospitalisation for Islamic people and thereby advance the available information upon which important nursing care decisions that relate to this group can be more informatively made. This study aims to explore and interpret the lived experience of thirteen Muslim patients who had been hospitalised in an Australian hospital. The hermeneutic phenomenology of Heidegger (1967/1996), the philosophical hermeneutics of Gadamer (1989), and the ideas of van Manen (1990/1996) underpin this study. The meaning and understanding of the everyday experience of Muslim patient in a non-Islamic hospital is achieved through interpretation of the participants’ stories. Data were generated using unstructured audio-taped interviews from participants. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed, then interpreted using phenomenological methods. The two themes to emerge from the participants’ experiences are: Being-thrown-into-an-un-everyday-world and living-Islam-in-the-un-everyday-world. The theme of Being-thrown-into-an-un-everyday-world arose from the sub-themes of the awareness of self and Being an outsider. The theme living-Islam-in-the-un-everyday-world was drawn from the three sub-themes of Being the same and different, hindrances to being Muslim, and adapting-to-the-un-everyday-world. The findings of this study provide an insight into the experience of Muslims being cared for in Australian hospitals. It is hoped that this interpretation will make a significant contribution to the care of Muslim patients by having health professionals consider how this group could be cared for in a culturally sensitive manner. It is not intended as a prescription for care but draws the reader to reflect on aspects of the Muslim faith and how this may impact on individuals experience when in hospital. The scope of this study and the dearth of available research in this area conclude that much more research needs to be undertaken. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1317115 / Thesis(Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2008