Jehovah's Witness Culture

In taking care of a patient, it is important for nurses to respect the patient, their beliefs, and their right to autonomy. Provision One in the Code of Ethics states “the nurse practices with compassion and respect for inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person” (ANA, 2015, p. 7). With a Jehovah’s Witness patient, the nurse must first acquire information regarding their religion and how it may impact their care and their wishes related to their healthcare. Once their patient’s beliefs are noted and understood, the nurse must establish a professional and therapeutic relationship with their patient without bias to their religion and the associated beliefs. The duty to act without bias can be found outlined in Provision 1.2 (ANA, 2015).

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.

Family, heritage, ethnicity, beliefs, values, knowledge, experiences, attitudes, religion, education, roles, language, and cuisine are all items encompassing culture. Culture is what influences your outlook on life itself as well as behaviors and rituals. Culture is the way different groups of people do things. While some cultures have overlapping cultural behaviors or aspects, most cultures vary significantly. Culture, for the most part, is something you are born into, your innate programming, however, it some aspects can be changed or evolved. "Only part of culture is conscious" (Spector, 2013).

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

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.

According to dictionary.com (n.d.), Jehovah witnesses are a part of a Christian Sect. Henslin (2012) states that a sect is like a cult, but larger than the cult. Dictionary.com (n.d) states that Jehovah Witnesses were founded in the late nineteenth century,

Jehovah Witness is an active presence of religion around the globe, with a peak of 8.2 million followers. It is centred upon the growth from Judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford. It is very strict due to the set of rules placed upon followers that doesn’t necessarily guarantee salvation. Even though it might seem hard to follow, it is very active amongst the globe.

Blood transfusion is a practice that breaks rules of their religion. As an adult they are allowed to refuse transfusions, even though it is said that approximately 1,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses die every year from their denial of blood transfusions (Wilson, 2005). When it comes to children in the United Kingdom, however, the doctor is allowed to do a blood transfusion, if needed, against the parent’s wishes. The protection that is behind this is the Children Act of 1989. This act states that although the parent’s rights are considered, it is ultimately the well being of the child that is the priority (Wilson, 2005). Acts like this are reassuring to see, and are a big improvement that will continue to help save the lives of

Founded by Charles Taze Russell in the 1870’s, he named the group “Millennial Dawn Bible Study”, years after he died; they rename their organization “Jehovah’s Witness”. In 1945 the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society find out that blood transfusion is against the divine law. This prohibition is inspired from the bible passage “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” (Genesis 9, 3–4).However, Jehovah’s Witness accept medical and surgical treatments, but they absolutely refuse any type of blood transfusion including whole blood, plasma, platelets, red and white blood cells. Indeed, when they receive blood, this is constituted a grave sin

In a major manner Jehovah's Witnesses are like everyone else. They have ordinary tribulations economic, physical, and emotional. They make errors sometimes, for they are not superlative, motivated, or flawless. But they

Jehovah’s Witnesses are a people known widely throughout the world. They are well-dressed people who come knocking at your door on different occasions offering religious literature for sale or trying to introduce their beliefs through carefully prepared conversation. People young, old, rich, poor, well educated and non-educated have embraced them. Their enthusiasm as proclaimers of God’s Kingdom has impressed even their harshest critics. Their love toward one another makes some non-witnesses hope and pray that more people would act in that manner. Yet, some may still wonder, who really are the Jehovah’s Witnesses? What is their history, their practices and their beliefs? Why are they the most attacked new religious

"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.