Appraising Rufaidah Al-Aslamia, First Muslim Nurse and Pioneer of Islamic Nursing: Contributions and Legacy

Global advancement in nursing is attributed mainly to western pioneers withnegligible recognition of Rufaidah Al-Aslamia,who was the first Muslim nurse, and pioneer in Islamic nursing more than 1,400 years ago in Madinah(Medina, Saudi Arabia). She responded to the need for the provision of organized nursing caretoinjured soldiers in the Islamic battles duringthe time of Prophet Mohammed (Peace & Blessings Upon Him).The paucity of focus on Rufaidah Al-Aslamiatriggered this scientific study to appraise hercontributions and legacy as the pioneer of Islamic nursing. A qualitative,historical research inquiry was conducted usinga research design that was exploratory, descriptive, explanatory, interpretive, and contextualwithin the constructivist paradigm. Data collection ofliterature was conductedby purposive sampling.Dataanalysiswas conductedin two parts, whichis document analysis, and thematic and content analysis with the use of deductive, inductive and abductive logical reasoning. The resultsof topic themes related to nurse-,patient-, and system-focused activities are provided with the emerging themes includingefficient organizer, effective communication, clinical practice teacher, community care, and spiritualcare.The historical narrative is reconstructed using empirical data sources as part of the discussion that includes the biography of Rufaidah Al-Aslamia and a vivid comprehensive portrayal of the contributions and legacyof Rufaidah Al-Aslamia as the first Muslim nurse and the pioneer of Islamic nursing.