Healthcare Provider and Faith Diversity

Healthcare Provider and Faith Diversity

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Healthcare Provider and Faith Diversity

It is a fact that different religious groups have different belief system in their provision of healthcare. Therefore it is very important for all the health personnel such as nurses and doctors to be aware of the religious beliefs that their patients believe in before offering some medication to them so that they may deliver their medical care effectively. While providing medical care, the religious faith and beliefs of a patient should be incorporated with the scientific medical care so as to be able to offer a holistic medical care to the patients whereby love is portrayed in it. In the course of offering the medical care, the medical personnel should put into consideration the beliefs of the patient (Jeffers, 2012).

That interview that I carried out gave a great insight to the fundamental Native American belief system and it is very evident that this belief is very different from the Western Christianity belief. The similarity between the two is that prayer is used as the bridge to communicate with the Supreme Being who is the protector and provider of life to human beings.

The second faith to be examined was Buddhism. According to my second patient Carol, this religion has five rules that one has to abide to in order to survive. The first rule says that there is no killing be it a human being or an animal, the second one says that there is no stealing, the third one states that there should be no infidelity, the forth one states that there should be no lying and then the fifth one says that one should never consume alcohol. They believe that their health is the greatest wealth that they have and therefore one should not be greedy over other kinds of wealth or have some cravings over anything that does not concern their health. This is to mean that one should not have any attachment with the material things Carol therefore told me that her spiritual perspective on healing is that, she believes in inner healing and that her health is the greatest asset in her life and since she views her body as a temple, she can’t allow any impurities to enter. The Buddhism and Christianity belief systems are used in order to determine the differences and the similarities in the provision of health care. All the medical personnel and every personnel should note that cure and healing occurs only when there is a balance between the spirit, body, physical connections, mind and emotions. Professional nurses consider spiritual assessment a very sacred discussion that gives them the very perfect details that they require in order to offer excellent medical care to the patient.

Throughout the interview, I realized and found that there were some similarities between Christianity belief and Buddhism in the provision of medical care. In both Christianity and Buddhism, a lot of emphasis has been created whereby each religious practices and beliefs should be adhered to so that one may attain healing. Both religions belief in power of prayers and believe that prayers, fasting and meditation makes one well if only the individual stands with his or her faith (Elizabeth, 2012).

For healing to happen, one must remain true to the religious beliefs and practices and should never at any given circumstances betray his or her faith. The patients in both religions have faith and trust that through meditation and prayer, they will change all the suffering that they are going through. Buddhism is a very strong religion that believes so much in prayers and according to it, a patient who practices prayer and meditation undergoes less pain and suffering in his illness because meditation creates confidence and hope in to the patient which are the greatest components of healing. On the other hand, according to Christianity, meditation also creates confidence to the patient and believes that God would stretch his healing hand upon them.

Therefore in conclusion, healing is founded in the trust and faith that one has to God. One should therefore seek medical advice in case of physical ailments as well as trusting in God (Anne, 2002). Many times the Bible points out that God only heals a person who has faith and without faith healing can’t happen.

References

Jeffers, S (2012). The Essential Guide to Religious Traditions and Spirituality for Health Care

Providers: CRC Press.

Elizabeth, J (2012). Religion: A Clinical Guide for Nurses: Springer Publishing Company.

Anne, R (2002). Cultural Competence in Health Care: A Practical Guide: Jossey-Bass

Publishers.