Capacitación y cualificación profesional legalmente exigida para el ejercicio de la

Florence Nightingale is recognised as the founder of modern nursing. Historically, nursing services evolved through caring for sick and wounded people in the Arabian Peninsula (Almalki et al., 2011). Although little was documented about the nursing profession during the pre-Islamic period (before 570 AD), it is believed that nursing and medicine were practised by the same healer (Almalki et al., 2011). Before the spread of Islam, the Arab community called the nurse "Al asiya" and "Al awasi". In the Arabic language, the word ''Asiya'' was used for a single female nurse, while the plural was ''Awasi" (Miller-Rosser et al., 2006). The word ''Asiya'' describes holistic care that includes physical, psychological, social, emotional and spiritual care (Tumulty 2001). These terms come from the Arabic verb ‘aasa’, meaning, caring and emotionally supporting injury people (Tumulty, 2001). Currently, the words ‘momarredhah’ for a female nurse and ‘momarredh’ for a male nurse are used (Almalki, 2012).These two terms come from the Arabic verb ‘marradha’, meaning "caring for sick people".

Islamic literature has a different view of nursing. Nursing in Islam started in the era of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in the 8th _{century (Miller-Rosser et al., 2006; Al-Hassani,} 2010). This occurred when the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) recognised nursing caregivers as a crucial part of the Muslim Army (Al-Hassani, 2010). Nursing care in the religion of

24 Islam is the manifestation of love for Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). During the pre-Islamic era, nursing work was acknowledged within the faith, as well as being sponsored and actively encouraged; during the pre-Islamic period, the role of Arab women focused on reassuring and encouraging males to fight (Gazzaz, 2009). Muslim women worked as volunteers in the battlefield, providing first aid and wound care to the soldiers (Miller-Rosser et al., 2006). During that period, nursing gained strength with the participation of women as volunteers, causing an upsurge in nursing as a religious duty. This developed into organised social healthcare services (Gazzaz, 2009).

However, nursing services in Islam were not limited to the war period; it was documented in Islamic literature that Rufaidah Bint Sa'ad Al Ansareyah, sometimes called Koaiba, was recognised as the founder of nursing in the Islamic era, many centuries before Nightingale's time (Miller-Rosser et al., 2006; Gazzaz, 2009; Al-Hassani, 2010; Lovering, 2012). Rufaidah’s father was a physician, and it was through him that she developed her knowledge and training in nursing skills, as she assisted regularly with caring for patients and soldiers. In addition, she was a nurse educator, and during times of war, she practised nursing by teaching and training Muslim women in her tent with the permission and support of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) (Lovering, 2012). She erected a small tent in Al Madinah near the prophet’s mosque, which is now recognised as the first portable hospital in Islam, in order to treat injured soldiers and solve social issues (Miller-Rosser et al., 2006). In her tent, many volunteer Muslim women learnt nursing skills, enabling them to care for ill and wounded Muslims. Rufaidah is described as a model nurse, a leader and a great teacher; passing on her clinical knowledge to others she trained (Al-Hassani, 2010). She did not limit nursing practice to the clinical field, but went out into the community to address and solve the social issues that contributed to disease. According to Al-Hassani (2010), Rufaidah was both a public health nurse and a social worker.

Many different names of women who worked with Rufaidah have been recorded in the history of Islam: Om Senan Al Esla Mey (Om Ammara), Om Ayman, Safiyat, Om Sulaim, and Hind. Other well-known female Muslim nurses included: Nosaiba Bint Ka’ab Al Mazeneya, Amiinat bint Abi Qays al Ghifariyat, Om 'Atiyyah al Ansariyat, Om Matawea Al Aslameya, and Om Wareka Bint Hareth (Miller-Rosser et al., 2006; Al-Hassani, 2010). The recognition of Rufaidah Al Ansareyah as the first female Muslim in nursing is a

25 current phenomenon (Lovering, 2012). Until recently, nursing was not considered a respectable profession in Saudi society (Gazzaz, 2009). To improve this negative image, the national nursing organisation and GCC looked at the history of Islam to place the role of nursing within a religious framework, and this has had a positive influence on the acceptance of nursing as a good choice for women (Lovering, 2012). Moreover, the MoH in SA set aside 13 March 2008 to celebrate Gulf Nursing Day, a date parallel with the 17th day of Ramadan, the date of the battle of Badr in the second year of the exodus, the day that Muslim women’s names were recorded as nurses for the first time in Islam. This day was selected by the GCC Nursing Technical Committee in its twenty-third meeting, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in March 2008, and through recommendation No. 22 at meeting No. 69 of the Executive Body held in Riyadh in December 2008, it was formally adopted. The Gulf Nursing Technical Committee selected Nosaiba bint Ka’ab as the example of the best nurse in Islam; they set criteria for the Award of Nosaiba bint Ka’ab, by selecting the best nurse among those who met the criteria to receive an award.

There is little documentation of nursing history in the Arabian Peninsula in the years between the death of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in 632 AD and the 1950s. However, the literature has described the practice and education of nursing in other parts of the Islamic world (Lovering, 2012). Interestingly, the story of Rufaidah can be linked to the work of Florence Nightingale at Scutari during the Crimean War. There is also the added similarity of the emergence of nursing in the face of the civil unrest and tensions of war. Again, religion and caring are entwined, similarly to nursing in the UK, where the early nurses came from religious orders and monasteries. Yet, the basis of Islam and nursing has had comparatively little representation or discussion within the global repertoire of nursing history, when compared to icons such as Florence Nightingale.

In the following section, the history of nursing education in contemporary times will presented including the curriculum outline of degree education in nursing.