| Course | NURS 445 Contemporary Issues in Nursing and Healthcare (NURS445) |
|---|---|
| Module/Week | 8 |
| Assignment | End-of-Life Group Cultural Presentation |
| Paper type | Group presentation with speaker notes |
| Length | about 837 words, 3 double-spaced pages plus title page and references. Course guide: a group PowerPoint presentation on how a culture other than the Christian culture views death and dying, including end-of-life care, pain, after-death care of the body and mourning, with at least 5 references in current APA format |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| Points | 175 |
| School | Liberty University Online |
| Program | BSN |
| Where it sits | Module/Week 8 in Liberty's published NURS 445 course guide; current sections can differ |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NURS 445 Week 8
Death and Dying in Islam: End-of-Life Care, Pain, After-Death Care and Mourning for Muslim Patients and Families
[Student Name]
School of Nursing, Liberty University
NURS 445: Contemporary Issues in Nursing and Healthcare
End-of-Life Group Cultural Presentation
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The group, its members and the case are composites; the textbook and the sources cited are real. Slide text appears as bullets and the speaker notes as paragraphs. Practices described are common but vary among Muslims; ask each family.
Death and Dying in Islam: End-of-Life Care, Pain, After-Death Care and Mourning for Muslim Patients and Families
Slide 1: Purpose
- Understand how many Muslims view death and dying
- Provide culturally respectful end-of-life care
- Remember: practices vary; ask each family
Speaker notes: Our group chose Islam because Muslim patients are a growing part of many U.S. communities and because nursing students often know little about Islamic death practices. Thamanam et al. (2025) surveyed 414 undergraduate nursing students about Christian, Islamic and Hindu death rituals and reported limited knowledge of the practices of other religions, which they describe as a major gap for culturally competent care.
Slide 2: Core Beliefs About Death
- Life and death are in God's hands
- Death is a transition to the afterlife
- Illness may be understood as a test or trial
Speaker notes: Many Muslims understand death as a return to God and a passage to the afterlife rather than an ending. Illness may be seen as part of God's will and a test of faith, which can shape how patients and families interpret suffering and treatment decisions (Alkhabbaz et al., 2026).
Slide 3: Family at the Center
- Decisions are often made with and through family
- Family presence at the bedside is expected
- Ask who the patient wants involved
Speaker notes: Putker et al. (2026) found that advance care planning with patients of Islamic migration background was predominantly family-driven, relying on relational autonomy, while individual preferences varied across generations. Rather than assuming individual decision-making, nurses should ask what role the patient wants family to play.
Slide 4: Communication About Prognosis
- Hope is important; avoid stripping it away
- Some families prefer the family hear news first
- Clarify preferences early
Speaker notes: Putker et al. (2026) also describe the importance of hope-sustaining communication; cultural and religious meanings of illness shape how patients understand the end of life, and concepts such as quality of life may not translate directly.
Slide 5: Pain and Symptom Management
- Many accept pain medication
- Some prefer to stay alert for prayer
- Align care with religious and cultural values
Speaker notes: Mourhli et al. (2026) synthesized 18 studies on Muslims' end-of-life symptom management preferences in the British Isles and found that patients prioritized conformity between religion, culture and symptom management, that preferences were shaped by a desire to maintain a sense of control and that family-based care was culturally expected for a peaceful death.
Slide 6: Barriers in Health Care
- Unfamiliarity of staff with religious needs
- Misconceptions about palliative care
- Modesty and gender concerns
Speaker notes: Mourhli et al. (2026) report that health care professionals found it challenging to provide sensitive symptom management because they were unfamiliar with Muslims' religious needs. Alkhabbaz et al. (2026) describe barriers including modesty concerns, dietary laws and misconceptions about palliative care, and they recommend culturally competent care such as same-gender clinicians when requested.
Slide 7: Spiritual Care and Prayer
- Daily prayer remains important
- Help with ablution, positioning and privacy
- Offer a Muslim chaplain or imam
Speaker notes: Patients may wish to pray even when ill. Sharifudin et al. (2026) interviewed hospitalized Muslim patients and found that prayer was a central source of comfort but was often hard to perform because of physical limitations, which suggests practical help from nurses can matter a great deal.
Slide 8: The Final Hours
- Family may recite the Quran or encourage the declaration of faith
- Bed may be turned toward Mecca
- Quiet and privacy for the family
Speaker notes: In many families, relatives gather to pray and may wish to position the patient facing Mecca. Nurses can ask and help with positioning, in keeping with the textbook's emphasis on honoring each family's customs as death approaches (Mauk, 2018).
Slide 9: Care of the Body After Death
- Ask before touching or preparing the body
- Many families wash the body themselves
- Prompt burial, often within a day
Speaker notes: Practices commonly include ritual washing by family or same-sex members of the community, wrapping in a simple shroud and burial as soon as possible. Nurses should ask before performing routine postmortem care and keep the body covered to respect modesty.
Slide 10: Autopsy and Organ Donation
- Autopsy may be resisted unless legally required
- Views on organ donation vary
- Involve family and religious leaders
Speaker notes: Because prompt burial and the dignity of the body matter, many families may object to autopsy; when it is legally required, explaining the reason and timeline respectfully helps. Views on organ donation differ, so ask rather than assume.
Slide 11: Mourning
- Community gathers to offer condolences
- Formal mourning often lasts three days
- Grief is open but tempered by acceptance of God's will
Speaker notes: Mourning customs vary by family and tradition, but community visits and prayers in the days after death are common. Nurses can support grieving families by allowing time and space and by offering bereavement resources that respect their faith.
Slide 12: Referral to Palliative Care
- Clinicians' own beliefs shape referrals
- Frame palliative care as comfort, not giving up
Speaker notes: Natour Hleihel and Sperling (2026) found that cultural and religious factors, including clinicians' own religiosity and death-related anxieties, shaped Arab health care providers' decisions about referring Arab patients to palliative care, which reminds us that culture affects clinicians as well as patients.
Slide 13: Nursing Actions
- Ask the family about beliefs and wishes
- Allow presence, prayer and positioning
- Protect modesty; offer same-gender caregivers
- Ask before postmortem care; support prompt release of the body
Speaker notes: Culturally respectful end-of-life care begins with a question, not an assumption: "What is important to your family at this time?"
References
Alkhabbaz, O., Mohamed, A., Alshaikhsalama, A., Kanjwal, S., Alkhani, A., Atassi, B., Ahmad, Z., Alomar, A., Hallab, A., Ghalib, L., Alahmadi, A., Droubi, R., Mourad, H., & Rashdan, S. (2026). Culturally competent oncology care for Muslim patients: A case-based narrative review of barriers and clinical outcomes. Cureus, 18(3), e105396. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.105396
Mauk, K. L. (Ed.). (2018). Gerontological nursing: Competencies for care (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Mourhli, J., Sosnowski, K., Kuhn, I., & Bowers, B. (2026). Muslim communities' perspectives and preferences regarding end-of-life symptom management: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. BMJ Open, 16(1), e108877. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-108877
Natour Hleihel, N., & Sperling, D. (2026). Cultural, religious, and demographic factors shaping Arab healthcare providers' decisions on referring Arab patients to palliative care in Israel: A qualitative study. BMC Medical Ethics, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-026-01383-w
Putker, A., Haddane, A., Engels, Y., Kuip, E., & Perry, M. (2026). Advance care planning with patients of Islamic migration background: A qualitative study identifying the need for relational autonomy and hope-sustaining communication. BMC Palliative Care, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-026-02207-9
Sharifudin, M. A., Yusop, Y. M., Taib, M. N. A., Omar, M. F., Ibrahim, A. H., & Yunus, A. M. (2026). Negotiating faith in a hospital bed: A qualitative exploration of barriers to prayer (Solah) among hospitalised Muslim orthopaedic patients in Malaysia. Belitung Nursing Journal, 12(4), 485-497. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.4619
Thamanam, N., Lehwaldt, D., Sweeney, M. R., & Corbally, M. (2025). Measuring undergraduate nursing students' knowledge of Christian, Islamic, and Hindu death rituals: A national study. Nurse Education Today, 151, 106691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2025.106691
What the NURS 445 Week 8 instructions ask
The End-of-Life Group Cultural Presentation closes NURS 445 in Module/Week 8, with two presentations and a website, after the group chose its culture in an earlier module/week. Working in assigned groups, students build a PowerPoint presentation on how a culture other than the Christian culture views death and dying, including specifics on end-of-life care, pain, after-death care of the body and mourning. At least five references in current APA format are required. Divide the topics among group members early, agree on one slide style and assign one member to edit the speaker notes, so the final presentation reads as a single, coherent piece rather than separate parts stapled together. Rehearsing it once as a group also exposes gaps and repetitions before the final submission.
How this NURS 445 Week 8 example is built
The sample presents thirteen content slides. The opening slides introduce the group's purpose and core Islamic beliefs about death. The middle slides cover end-of-life care, family roles in decisions, pain and symptom management, the final hours and care of the body after death. Later slides address autopsy and organ donation, mourning customs and common barriers in health care. A closing slide lists practical actions for nurses, and every slide reminds viewers that practice varies among individuals and families, from one country of origin to another and between generations. Each slide shows three or four short bullets, with its fuller explanation and sources in the notes below, and the deck ends with a reference slide.
NURS 445 Week 8 grading rubric: where the points go
Faculty grading this presentation look for specific, accurate coverage of the four required areas, end-of-life care, pain, care of the body after death and mourning, along with respect for the culture and clear acknowledgment that individuals and families within it differ. They expect nursing implications that a staff nurse could act on, at least five scholarly references formatted in APA style, slides that are easy to read and speaker notes that explain and cite. Evidence that the group worked as one, with consistent style and voice, also counts. Generalizations that turn a faith into a checklist, or slides packed with paragraphs, tend to lose points.
NURS 445 Week 8 help: mistakes that cost points
Choose sources that report the culture's own perspectives, ideally studies that include patients and families from it, and divide the four required areas among group members early. Give each area at least one slide, keep slide text short and put explanation and citations in the notes. Use careful wording such as "many Muslims" rather than "Muslims always," and build a reminder to ask each family into the presentation itself. End with practical nursing actions. Name one member to check every citation against the reference slide and to edit the notes into a single voice before the group submits.
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NURS 445 Week 8 questions, answered
What is the NURS 445 End-of-Life Group Cultural Presentation?
The 175-point Module/Week 8 group PowerPoint on how a culture other than the Christian culture views death and dying, covering end-of-life care, pain, after-death care and mourning, with five references.
Where can I find a free NURS 445 Week 8 sample paper?
This page presents a complete NURS 445 Week 8 group presentation on Islamic perspectives on death and dying, slide by slide with notes, free to read.
How can nurses support a dying Muslim patient?
Ask the family about their wishes, allow family presence and prayer, help position the bed toward Mecca if requested, protect modesty and contact a Muslim chaplain or imam if the family wants one.
What happens to the body after death in Islam?
Many Muslim families wish to wash the body themselves or through same-sex community members, wrap it in a simple shroud and bury it as soon as possible, often within a day.
Do Muslim patients accept pain medication at the end of life?
Many do; a 2026 review found that preferences often reflect a wish to align symptom care with religion and culture and to keep some sense of control, so ask each patient.
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