There are about six million Jehovah’s Witnesses world-wide, with approximately one million in the USA and about one 148,000 in Canada. They are a Christian religion who believe that the bible is the literal word of God. Jehovah's Witnesses base their religious beliefs on a strict literal interpretation of the Bible and hold that eternal life may be forfeited if they do not exactly follow biblical commands (Doyle, J., 2011). There are several verses written in the bible about receiving blood that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have interpreted as sinful and wrong. Jehovah’s Witnesses are often a hot topic brought up in the healthcare setting regarding their cultural beliefs due to their controversial and martyr approach to evidence based practice
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Most hospitals have policies and procedures put in place for when certain situations involving medical care for Jehovah’s Witnesses is needed. It is not always easy for the licensed healthcare team member to put aside their years of knowledge and schooling in order to respect the wishes of their patient, when they know that in order to save their patients life certain procedures must be done. Ideally the policies and procedures that have been put in place to care for a Jehovah’s Witness patient should be able to provide most everything that we would normally provide to a patient without any religious healthcare stipulations. Things such as providing them with dignity and respect. Letting them know that we will make sure they are given appropriate treatment, care and education. Making sure that they feel their wishes have been validated while still trying to get them well in a manner that a nurse might not be used to or are very familiar with because it is not the normal …show more content…
First the nurse must remind all legal and of sound mind adults that the choice to not receive blood, or other procedures and/or products that are considered “sinful and shameful” could potentially be life threatening and it is against medical advice to go against any evidence based healthcare practices. The clinical risks must also be laid out and written in lament terms. The Jehovah’s Witness must put in writing the exact procedure or products they are refusing. Once a Jehovah’s Witness patient has written down and verbalized their exact wishes, it should be promptly noted on all of their hospital patient documents. Lots of lots of extra paperwork is signed to protect the hospital and any healthcare providers in the instance that a legal issue arise from the death of a Jehovah’s Witness patient. If a Jehovah’s Witness family were to come and try to sue the hospital or any healthcare providers involved in care of the recently deceased patient, stating that their family member died because not everything was clinically done in order to save their loved one’s life, the extra paper work that had been filled out prior to the loved one’s death would be shown in court and the case would hopefully be thrown
Most hospitals have policies and procedures put in place for when certain situations involving medical care for Jehovah’s Witnesses is needed. It is not always easy for the licensed healthcare team member to put aside their years of knowledge and schooling in order to respect the wishes of their patient, when they know that in order to save their patients life certain procedures must be done. Ideally the policies and procedures that have been put in place to care for a Jehovah’s Witness patient should be able to provide most everything that we would normally provide to a patient without any religious healthcare stipulations. Things such as providing them with dignity and respect. Letting them know that we will make sure they are given appropriate treatment, care and education. Making sure that they feel their wishes have been validated while still trying to get them well in a manner that a nurse might not be used to or are very familiar with because it is not the normal …show more content…
First the nurse must remind all legal and of sound mind adults that the choice to not receive blood, or other procedures and/or products that are considered “sinful and shameful” could potentially be life threatening and it is against medical advice to go against any evidence based healthcare practices. The clinical risks must also be laid out and written in lament terms. The Jehovah’s Witness must put in writing the exact procedure or products they are refusing. Once a Jehovah’s Witness patient has written down and verbalized their exact wishes, it should be promptly noted on all of their hospital patient documents. Lots of lots of extra paperwork is signed to protect the hospital and any healthcare providers in the instance that a legal issue arise from the death of a Jehovah’s Witness patient. If a Jehovah’s Witness family were to come and try to sue the hospital or any healthcare providers involved in care of the recently deceased patient, stating that their family member died because not everything was clinically done in order to save their loved one’s life, the extra paper work that had been filled out prior to the loved one’s death would be shown in court and the case would hopefully be thrown