Does Religion Have On Healthcare?

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.

A lot of people are unfamiliar with Jehovah’s Witnesses (J.W.) population and their religious believes. As stated in the Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, J.W., Christian sect, founded in 1872 in Pittsburgh, Pa., by the American clergyman Charles Taze Russell, with congregations throughout the world. The legal governing body of J. W. is the Watch Tower Bible (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2014). After researching the values and beliefs of J.W. and comparing them to Christianity, Professor Watson found quite a few differences (Walston, R., 2004). One of the major differentiating characteristics of J. W. is their refusal to accept blood transfusions because it is considered to be a sin. Members of this sect refuse blood mainly based on the Book of Acts that says to abstain from blood. They see blood as

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.

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.

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.

In this paper the author will explain what is faith and religion, and compare the philosophy of Sikh, Buddhism, and Jewish religions with that Christian and the author’s religion, include spiritual perspective and elements of healing, how necessary is to permit patient to practice their religious beliefs and rituals, and last, describe how this information could be incorporated into the daily health care professionals routine.

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.

Different religious groups have different believe system in the provision of the healthcare. The health personnel such as doctors and nurses should be aware of the religious beliefs of their patients for effectively delivering medical care. In provision of medical care, religious faith and beliefs of the patient is incorporated with the scientific medical care in offering a holistic medical to the patients. The medical personnel should take into the consideration the religious belief of the patient in the course of offering medical care to the patient. The

In the United States, Healthcare has been affected by many changes in the clinical practice. The social and institutional lives have also affected the systems. The religion sector has come up with clinics that have lower rates than the general hospitals hence most patients are comfortable attending those clinics. Religion has taken major impact on its followers despite the changes in the society. The healthcare system has had its challenges and needs improvements on some areas (Tollefsen, 2007).

Of course transfusion was associated with haemoglobin criteria on admission (p=0.001), and the quantity of packed red cells given was also associated with haemoglobin grouping on admission (p70 g/L that received blood transfusions for upper GI bleeding, suggesting that some physicians are initiating blood transfusions with a more liberal strategy in some circumstances. Given the recent evidence finding that blood transfusions can contribute to increased morbidity and mortality in patients, there are grounds for this audit to be expanded and continued to determine the results of a fuller and in-depth cohort to understand the reasons behind liberal strategies for initiating blood

The Jehovah Witness beliefs are in strict accordance to the Bible. Their Bible is called the New World Translation Bible. Their God is the God of the Old Testament and they call him Jehovah. Jehovah’s reject the symbol of a cross because they believe it comes from a pre-Christian, pagan origin. They believe Jesus was nailed to a single upright wooden stake. They don not believe in the Trinity. They believe that the Holy Spirit is a force, which intervenes for God on earth. Jehovah’s view Satan as the enemy of God. The way to resist him is to learn about Jehovah.

"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.