The story of Rabbia, a dying person.

Many nurses report that caring for the dying and the dead is the most difficult situation they face. Several factors contribute to this anxiety: inexperience, sociocultural influences, and the lack of education about death. Current nursing practice in caring for the dying is philosophically steeped in the Western medical model. From this viewpoint, death is considered an enemy, and its occurrence implies that the practitioner has failed. The article explores how nursing care of the dying and dead is influenced by multicultural dimensions: Western medicine, societal norms, and religious beliefs. The nursing care of a dying American Muslim woman is compared with the care provided by the patient's family and religious community.