PHI 413V Benchmark – Patient’s Spiritual Needs- Case Analysis

Benchmark – Patient’s Spiritual Needs: Case Analysis

Grand Canyon University: PHI 413V

Benchmark – Patient’s Spiritual Needs: Case Analysis

Patient’s Decision and Autonomy in Ethics

It remains unclear, if James was included in the decision-making of his care. Before the decline of his health, he was fully healthy and capable to understand the extent of his illness and should his father truly make the decisions without any input from James, a disrespect to James’ autonomy would be very clear. Respect for autonomy is defined as “A principle that requires respect for the decision-making capacities of autonomous persons.” The consideration whether the decisions that would been made by James would be helpful or not, or if he is too young to take part of this process, is in questions but the exclusion from a bioethical standpoint makes Mike irresponsible. As stated by (Meilander, 2013 p 99), “Our task is not to judge the worth of this person’s life relative to other possible or actual lives. Our task is to care for the life he has as best we can.” As this is unrelated to James’ case and the disease process, Mike based his decisions solely on his faith and what he has witness from community members. Such decision-making brings disrespect to James as a person and his autonomy. The physician should not allow Mike to make the decision of treatment solely by himself and rather include James to prevent the violation of patient autonomy.

Ethical Decision Making and Patient Autonomy

Sickness in the eyes of Christians should be seen as a way of God to work through them. Jesus replies “. Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”’ Ministers and healthcare workers are those, who receive a special call to care for the needy around us as part of their vacation in order to achieve a state of “shalom”. As stated by (Shelly & Miller, 2012 pp 141-142) “He gives to the sufferer the dignity of being united with him in his own suffering, and he gives to all of us the duty of attending to the sick, directing and freeing us thereby to show compassion to all who are ill.” This should not aspire one to be unhealthy or not to maintain themselves, as this would counter the action and graced of God. The respect for Imago Dei must be upheld. (Shelly & Miller, 2012 p 73) states “Recognizing the imago Dei in each human being does suggest that we have a special place in God’s plan, with serious moral consequences.” We are created by God’s image with a purpose to achieve the purpose of good health.

Medical interventions are part of the profession for those who are called to care, thus Christians should project positively on medical interventions. Secondly, the different principles of medical professionals to ensure the highest level of care for their patients need to be considered, as some of the presented medical interventions are needed but might be considered counterintuitive in a Christians faith. As a Christian, Mike should agree to dialysis and a possible kidney transplant from James’ twin brother as this is part of faith-based healing of God.

As stated in the previous paragraph, the close relationship of a Christians narrative and the profession of a healthcare worker with their standard of care for their patients, is the upmost concern. One would think this would allow Mike to trust and follow the advice of the doctor but it seems as he rather chose his faith-based healing decisions to determine the path of his child’s health. This decision misrepresents the narrative of Christian faith, as (Shelly & Miller, 2012 p 22) states, “Part of the pain of human life is that we sometimes cannot and at other times ought not do for others what they fervently desire…We should not act as if we believe that the negative, destructive powers of the universe are finally victorious.”

Impact of a Spiritual Needs Assessment on Interventions

It is very pertinent that there are very significant differences of opinions between Mike and the doctor, which need to be resolved with proper communication between the two. Often times in the current medical practice, patients either don’t receive enough information or too little opinion by their provider to make an informed and confident decision. The practice of shared medical decision-making allows doctor and patient the promoting of patient autonomy, while promoting physician beneficence. With this practice, the doctor should strive to communicate information in a way, that considers Mike’s worldview. The use of a spiritual assessment gives Mike the opportunity to include his faith in his decision-making as his wishes and faith-based healing are considered in the outcome. As a guideline, the Joint commission has a recommendation of leading questions that are included in the spiritual assessment, for example “what does suffering mean to you” or “what helps you get through this healthcare experience”. With this collaboration of questions with both Mike and James, the doctor can guide the decision-making in the best interest of all involved, while determine interventions to move forward. Furthermore, given the fact how close Mike is to his religion, this is a culturally sensitive way to provide a great deal of relief his suffering, if done in a compassionate way (Anandarajah, 2005). The creation of a connection between Mike and the doctor in the collaboration of decision-making presents much easier. This approach is clearly something Mike is in need of, in present time of spiritual crisis.

References

Anandarajah, G., M.D. (2005). Doing a Culturally Sensitive Spiritual Assessment: Recognizing Spiritual Themes and Using the HOPE Questions. AMA Journal of Ethics, 7(5). doi:10.1001/virtualmentor.2005.7.5.cprl1-0505

Meilaender, G. (2013). Bioethics: A primer for Christians(3rd ed.). Grand Rapids.

Moulton, B., & King, J. S. (2010). Aligning Ethics with Medical Decision-Making: The Quest for Informed Patient Choice. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 38(1), 85-97. doi:10.1111/j.1748-720x.2010.00469.x

Shelly, J. A., & Miller, A. B. (2006). Called to care: A Christian worldview for nursing(2nd ed.). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press.

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