International Journal of Human and Health Sciences. Supplementary Issue: 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31344/ijhhs.v0i0.155

 

S37 
 

The Importance of Fatigue Management for Healthcare Workers from 
Islamic Perspective 
 

Khairil Idham Ismail1,2, Hanizah Mohd Yusof1, Ahmad Faidhi M.Z.3, Basri, I.4 

 
1Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical 
Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Kuala Lumpur, Ma laysia; 2Ministry of Health Malaysia, Federal 
Government Administrative Centre, Putrajaya, Malaysia; 3Universiti Islam Malaysia, Cyberjaya, 
Malaysia / Hospital Angk atan Tentera Tuank u Mizan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 4Universiti Islam 
Malaysia, Cyberjaya, Malaysia / Faculty of Islamic Contemporary Studies, Universiti Sultan Zainal 
Abidin, Terengganu, Malaysia. 

 
ABSTRACT  

 

Introduction: Fatigue is common among healthcare workers (HCWs). Long continuous duty 

hours, sleep loss with minimal recuperation and shift work are among work-related factors 
contributing to fatigue. Being fatigued will impair physical, cognitive, and emotional functio n. 
Substantially, it will impact the occupational and patient safety along with quality of healthcare 

delivery. Nevertheless, there are still paucity of Islamic perspective on the importance of fatigue 
management for HCWs.  

 

Objectives: Our aim is to outline the Islamic perspective of fatigue management for HCWs.  
 

Methods: Review of literature in relevance to fatigue among HCWs were carried out. 
Document analysis from Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) references including literature from 

Maqasid Syariah (the Objective of Syariah) and Qawaid Fiqhiyyah (Islamic legal maxims) 
perspective. Interviews with expert from both Islamic scholars and clinicians are conducted.  
 

Results: Our findings provide Islamic perspective on the importance of fatigue manageme nt 
for healthcare workers. The consequences of fatigue such as slowed reaction time, reduced 

vigilance, reduced decision-making ability, poor judgment, distraction during complex task and 
loss of awareness in critical situations raise the issue on the integrity of patient safety and 
occupational safety. This is in contrary with the principle of Maqasid Syariah which highly 

emphasize protection of life (hifz an-Nafs) and intellect (hifz ‘Aql) of both group of HCWs and 
patients. While Qawaid  Fiqhiyyah strongly against inflicting harm to themselves nor bring 

harm to others (La darar wa la dirar); which serve as basis to support this fatigue manageme nt 
framework in a holistic manner.  
 

Conclusion: This study may serve as an added perspective in the angle of Islamic view on the 
importance of fatigue management for healthcare workers.  

 
Keywords: Fatigue, Healthcare workers, Islamic, Maqasid