Beliefs About Blood Essay

As expected, with war comes extensive injuries. During WWI, it took a wounded soldier about 24 hours to travel from the battlefield to a hospital. Many times, the soldiers did not live through that excruciating 24 hours. The wounds inflicted on many soldiers led to the development of new medical techniques and improvements (iWonder 2015). The quickly rising death toll during WWI led to the creation of blood transfusion techniques. Prior to WWI, blood transfusions were nearly impossible without cross-matching blood types. An article published by Medical History argues that, “Though the technique (blood transfusions) caused several deaths, it did save dozens of other men, proving its lifesaving

If a Jehovah witness comes into the hospital in need of a blood transfusion the doctors and nurses must respect the patient’s wishes not to have a blood transfusion.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics, values and beliefs of Jehovah’s Witness group. It will discuss their reasoning for refusal to accept blood transfusions. The paper will elaborate on the best approach to offer appropriate care, advice and education while treating patients with respect in regards to their religious beliefs. British Journal of Nursing (2009) suggests that good, honest communication, without any element of coercion or scare tactics, is the key in the management of Jehovah’s Witness patients.

Jehovah's witnesses’ faith allows them to seek medical help; however, they do not accept blood transfusions. This belief arises from a biblical passage that states "Only flesh with its soul- its blood-you must not eat (Genesis 9:3-4), "You must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh, because the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood. I will set my face against that person who eats blood...Anyone eating it will be cut off” (Leviticus 17:10, 13-14). These passages are interpreted by Jehovah's witnesses as forbidding the transfusion of any blood products. The following presentation will address legal and ethical issues that can arise from this scenario.

The case of Kusmider v. State, 688 P.2d 957 (Alaska App. 1984), was a state appeal’s court case that addressed the chain of causation for a murder, which had occurred, and the actions of the trial court judge (Brody & Acker, 2010). In this case, the appellant, Kusmider, appealed his conviction for second degree murder, based on the fact that the trial judge did not let him introduce evidence, which may have shown that the victim may have survived his wounds, if not for the actions of the paramedics.

Allowing someone to die: Some religious affiliations (Jehovah’s witness) will not receive a blood transfusion. They have decided not to take advantage of medical technology to preserve life. If such person is in a life & death situation and required a blood transfusion in order to survive the choose to die vs. receiving a blood transfusion.

Rebecca Jemmett and Pamela Peacock stated in an article called “Medical Contributions of The Great War: Blood Transfusion”, that the first known blood transfusion took place after British physician William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood in 1628. “From that time until World War One, blood transfusions were practiced on humans, dogs, and other animals.” With this achievement, it leads to more ways blood transfusions can be proved useful like animal to animal and animal to person blood transfusions. Blood transfusions have now become more common as a result of the horrors of the First World War. New discoveries and the magnified demand for the practice propelled the procedure forward as time

An important detail which is explained only in The Koran is that God acknowledged faith over blood. An example of this is Noah's sons' refusal to

Notably, Jehovah Witness patients’ religious teachings prohibit their believers from Blood transfusion, euthanasia, autopsy and Artificial insemination. These medical practices are against the Biblical teachings of the Jehovah Witness since they consider them to be unholy. Further, they believe the medical interventions to interfere with God’s intentions for human life hence they disallow their followers from practicing

For many people Christianity is the religion of choice and a way of life. Jehovah?s Witnesses are one subgroup of the Christian faith. The JW religion was founded in 1872 by Charles Taze Russell. They comprise 1.2 million of the U.S. population (Campbell, Y., Machan M., & Fisher, M., 2016). They present a unique challenge to the medical community because of their stance on blood transfusions. Part I will provide a

In the case where the patient makes their strong religious beliefs verbal to the healthcare provider they have an obligation to make certain there is no documented religious preference in their previous records or if the patient has a Living Will on file. The recent admission documentation may have been entered incorrectly or the patients religious preference many have not been transcribed. If this was my patient and he expressed his strong objections to a blood transfusion. I would have documented this and brought this to the attention of his doctor prior to the procedure. Also, I would exhaust every avenue to insure that this patient had no documents on file. The healthcare provider should feel an obligation to check all prior admission documentation available in unique situations. I believe this is incumbent that personnel make the best choice possible in sensitive cases. Also, contacting the patient’s primary care physician may offer some missed documentation concerning the patient’s religious preference. If no religious preference past or present has been documented. I would ethically have a problem with the blood transfusion based on my conversation with the

I have had patients with cultural belief of refusing blood products. When getting report I was told the nurse tried to convince them to receive the blood transfusion. They refused even when told they could die without it.

Since the patient was a Jehovah Witness she refused any treatments involving a blood transfusion because she felt that if she accepted the blood transfusion she would be going against her family and religious beliefs. Her husband who was also at her bedside agreed with his wife 's decision. Eventually her husband left to pick up their children from daycare. Her condition worsened and she decided to change her mind because she realized that she was really going to die if she did not have the transfusion and wanted to be around for her children. She then asked the nurse if she could still receive the blood without informing her husband of her decision. The nurse was so relieved with the patient’s decision and informed the healthcare provider. Because of this decision the patient and unborn child were able to make a full recovery.

In a publication of the Stanford University School of Medicine, held an article entitled “Against the Flow—What’s Behind the Decline in Blood Transfusions?” The author of that article, Sarah C. P. Williams, stated: “Over the past decade, a growing body of research has revealed that in hospitals around the world, donated blood is used more often, and in larger quantities, than is needed to help patients—both in operating rooms and hospital

"You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood" (Lev. 17:14). This is just one of the several scriptures found in the bible from which the Jehovah Witnesses base their beliefs. To summarize the above excerpt, Jehovah Witnesses strongly believe that contributing to the health of their bodies by way of any type of blood material is not intended by God’s will. However in dire cases, ethical questions need to be raised regarding the patient’s mental capacity and legal competence. In particular cases concerning minor patients, where mental capacity is accounted for, parents should not have the dominant opinion about how their child wants to receive surgery based on their own personal beliefs.