Medical Issues: Can Opposite-Sex Nurses Take Pulse Without Gloves If Contact Is Necessary?

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Medical Issues: Can Opposite-Sex Nurses Take Pulse Without Gloves If Contact Is Necessary?

English:

Question #1291:

To take the pulse count of a patient there has to be some sort of direct contact with the body. If it is feasible for a nurse from the opposite sex to do these wearing gloves, can he/she still do it without the gloves?

Answer #1291:

If it is feasible to go about this with the clothes on or by wearing gloves, there is no need for direct contact, by the opposite sex, with the patient’s body. It is, therefore, not permissible.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Medical Issues