KUALA LUMPUR: The
Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and the Health Ministry have
been urged to issue guidelines on uniform for Muslim nurses at government and
private hospitals.

Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) chief activist
Datuk Nadzim Johan said this followed a case of a nurse at a private hospital
who was threatened with sacking for refusing to adhere to the hospital’s dress
code.

The case involving the nurse was among 20 complaints received by
PPIM this year on discrimination against Muslim nurses, he told a media
conference here today.

The nurse, Naziah Sauni Samat, 24, who was at the media
conference, claimed that her problem started when she refused to wear
short-sleeve uniform to work.

“I was scolded and chased out of the hospital because of
that,” she said, adding that she could not apply for a new job as her
Annual Practising Certificate (APC) was being held by the hospital.

She said she had signed a one-year contract with the hospital.

“The directive for nurses at the hospital to wear
short-sleeve uniform was issued two months after I started work there,”
she added.

Naziah claimed that when she continued to ignore the directive,
she was not allowed to enter the hospital premise.

“When I did (enter the premise), I was not allowed to do
any job if not clad in the short-sleeve uniform.

“I was also warned by the hospital management that I would
be imposed compound of RM5,000 for breaching the contract,” she said.

Naziah, who has a Diploma in Nursing, worked at a clinic before
joining the hospital on Sept 1 this year, upon her return from Japan where she
worked as a personal nurse for more than a year.

Naziah said she had lodged a report at the Taman Melawati police
station on the mistreatment by the hospital last Nov 24