The Controversy Between Spirituality In Medicine And Biomedical Ethics

Evidence has linked a strong relationship between spirituality and medicine. There is a positive correlation between a patient’s spirituality or religious commitment and health outcomes. A spiritual assessment as a part of a health assessment is a practical step to incorporating patient’s spiritual needs into practice. The FICA Tool and HOPE Questions provide serve to assist clinicians in the spiritual assessment process. By examining the research done using these tools, it has been determined that the FICA Tool is easy to use and provides basic data on a patient’s spirituality. The FICA tool is both reliable and valid. The HOPE Questions are

The Bravewell Collaborative. (2015). Spirituality and Religion in Health Care. Retrieved from www.bravewell.org/integrative_medicine/philosophical_foundation/spirituality_and_healthcare/ Curry, K. (n.d.). A Biblical Worldview of Health Care. Retrieved from http://www.hcic.org.au/sites/default/files/imce/Biblical%20Worldview.pdf Mcskimming, S., & Puchalski, C. M. (2006, May).

Religion and spirituality is a major essential part of one’s’ health. They have included things such as prayer in healing, counseling, and the use of meditation. Spiritual issues make a difference in an individual’s experience of illness and health. With spirituality, the health care providers can learn to support the values for the art of healing. The health care provider must have respect for their patient’s religion. (Larry Dossey. Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine. Harper Collins, San Francisco. 1993.)

Physical evidence of this can be viewed as to how we have lengthened the life span in comparison to earlier times. Religion and spirituality has always and will remain to be the corner stone of medicine. Ethically, respect for everyone’s values and beliefs require competent communication skills in health care professionals. This can be crucial or a key factor to how a patient interprets their healthcare goals and outcomes. There are many key factors when one considers different religion and medicinal beliefs and practices, enhancing ones knowledge of these key factors can only help improve communication, patient understanding of their health and interpersonal relations with a healthcare

For health care providers to deliver the best holistic care that patients deserve, a thorough spiritual assessment must be included during their care. With more research showing a relationship between supporting a patient’s spirituality with their health and ability to cope with illness, it is now a requirement of organizations to include a spiritual assessment to maintain accreditation with The Joint Commission. The minimum required of a spiritual assessment by The Joint Commission is to determine the patient’s religion and

For most of the world's population, a disease is understood to be a physical issue, aside from mental illnesses. Viruses and bacteria are responsible for infections, tumors stem from an abnormal growth of cells, a poor diet may result in comorbidities, and so on. However, imagine a specialist explaining to you, the patient, that your symptoms of a cough, chest congestion, and fatigue are merely illusions created in the mind, to which the cure is overcoming your mental belief that you are sick at all. This alternative idea of disease and treatment comes from the religion of Christian Science, and along with its highly controversial healing practices, the church demonstrates two bioethical issues: are people seeking treatment in the church due to frustration with the current medical system, or are members afraid to seek professional medical help due to disapproval from the church? In examining these issues, first, the Christian Science doctrine must be understood, then the history surrounding the religion's creation, and finally how the two tie into today's bioethical problems.

Spirituality has been in and out of healthcare and has proven effective every time that it is used. Implementing spirituality into healthcare allows for faster recovery times, better interpersonal relationships with their healthcare providers, and a more holistic approach to healthcare. Several approaches to analyzing it have proven it to be effective but is often not taught when educating future nurses. Through the barriers and the controversy spirituality remains as an important aspect of a patient’s recovery process.

Often times, healing and faith go directly hand in hand with one another. Every religious tradition has its own set of beliefs on treatment, healing and the general administration of medicine. While we take our understanding of healthcare and faith from the well-defined intersection of medicine and Christianity, there are broad variations in belief and practice that enter into the medical traditions and values of every religious denomination. The discussion here, which addresses elements of spirituality in healthcare treatment for adherents to the Sikh, Shinto and Buddhist faiths, proceeds from a Christian healthcare perspective.

Religious beliefs provide structure for people who are facing illnesses and seeking health, during time of crisis. The health care industry is rapidly responding to the ever-changing population through continued education. Health care works are faced with multiple dilemmas that require thought and fast-acting decisions. Challenges of providing medical treatment to people of different religious backgrounds may be altered. All members of the health care team need to address the issues and concerns regarding specific health care practices and religious beliefs and remove their perspective from the situation. The following paper will discuss three different religions while incorporating a comparison of beliefs, perspective on healing and

Healthcare providers are exposed to various worldviews across the care continuum. In order to provide unbiased care that is consistent with an individual’s worldview, providers must educate themselves to the variety of faith expressions present within their society. This paper will examine the various worldviews associated with Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, as well as assess the spiritual perspective on, and the critical components of healing that are unique to each faith. A comparative analysis was performed, and similarities in moral principles were identified. Differences in the areas of prime reality and personhood were predominantly noted. However, it was determined that the main factor that is important to people when receiving care from someone of a different faith is the preservation of dignity, which is realized through respect for one’s individuality. This research confirmed this writer’s belief that all individuals desire respect and compassion, which serves to nourish an individual’s spirit.

This study also provided insight from the DCE/ACCE on how spirituality training should be incorporated in education, and the authors provided their own suggestions as well. It is suggested that this area should be incorporated into the core curriculum and inserted in courses such as professionalism, ethics or wellness and then reinforced during the clinical education (Lavinder, Patel, Campo & Lichtman, 2012). It is also suggested to be offered as a seminar (Lavinder, Patel, Campo & Lichtman,

Spirituality is a delicate topic, and some may not be open to talking about their beliefs. Spirituality is generally understood to be an essential aspect of being human (Lyndo-Lam, 2012). Assessing the spiritual needs of patients is a key component in the nursing process. A compassionate and thoughtful nurse can make a patient feel more secure, making it easier for him to express his spirituality. The participation of both patient and health care provider is vital in promoting spiritual health. The main focus of a spiritual assessment is to gather information regarding the patient’s spiritual needs in order incorporate them into the plan of care, so as to treat

Recognizing medical spirituality as a distinct interdisciplinary field of interest, with its own well-developed body of clinical evidence, clinical skill,

Medical ethics is an arrangement of moral principles that relates to values and judgments through the practice of medicine. When it comes to medical ethics, Christianity plays a very big role in this moral belief just as any other religion does. In our daily practice of medicine, the seven principles of medical ethics is a vital part in life-and-death decisions, and it is always up-to-date on human life issues. The one that I mainly wanted to focus on was justice, which is the sixth principle of medical ethics. When it comes to justice from a Christian’s point of view it means respecting the human rights and self-respect of all human being. “The real purpose of civil law is to guarantee an ordered social coexistence in true justice, so that all may "lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way” (First Timothy 2:2). The doctor’s obligation is to be unbiased with his patient, respect his/her moralities as an individual, and give the patient suitable access to health care. Biblical justice involves making people, societies, and the universe complete, by safeguarding both goodness and fairness. According to James, biblical justice stands at the middle of true religion. He also stated that “the kind of religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (James 1:27). I chose this verse

During the years of 1975 and 1976, a Supreme Court Case was fought that changed the world of biomedical ethics. On April 14, 1975, twenty-one-year-old Karen Quinlan experienced severe brain damage after ingesting a combination of narcotics and alcohol. Shortly after this, she lost consciousness and quit breathing for two periods of fifteen minutes each The young woman’s doctors declared her brain dead due to the irreversible trauma that her brain had endured with the combination of drugs and lack of oxygen. She was promptly put on a respirator and a feeding tube. As Quinlan’s condition deteriorated within the following months, a team of doctors working at St. Clare’s Hospital diagnosed her as being in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. It was noted in the case that the family had proven to be devout Catholics, as well as the girl up until recent years. Upon receiving the diagnosis, the parents of Karen Quinlan requested that the respirator be removed from their daughter’s treatment so that their daughter could die with “grace and dignity.” (qtd. from the NY Times) The young woman’s doctors; however, refused to comply with this request. On September 12, 1975, the parents sued the hospital. In November of the same year, the judge assigned to the case ruled in favor of the doctors, but the decision was then reversed and the case went to the New Jersey Supreme Court. On March 31, 1976, in a