Health Care Providers and Faith Diversity - Essay Example

Health Care Providers and Faith Diversity In the provision of health care, certain factors usually comein as hindering aspects and slow down the dissemination of services. These might include language, culture, and religion to mention but a few. The following study text discusses the issue of diverse faiths, and how they can be transformed from being barriers to boosters of providing health care. Three religions are discussed; Sikhism, Buddhism, and Judaism, of which all of them are compared to the Christian faith. In the comparisons, conclusions are made as to what they reveal with regards to promoting health care provision. Introduction In their lines of duty, health care providers encounter patients from diverse faiths every day. While faith (religion) is mostly held constant when providing health services, it may act as a barrier to the provision of the same in some instances. As such, it is important that a health care provider in certain demanding or all working settings to have some basic knowledge about some faiths. It is, however impossible to learn something about all the faiths on earth and as such, sometimes the health care provider may seek some help from the patients or other related persons. To elaborate on how faith and health care can relate, the following study text analyzes three faiths; Judaism, Buddhism, and Sikh. The paper will compare the three faiths to Christianity, and in it explain how understanding a patient’s faith can be advantageous in disseminating health care services. Judaism Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. They value human life and are against any form of taking it away such as suicide, murder, or euthanasia. Judaism allows for medical intervention when one is sick, and supports that every community should have a physician. Additionally, the Judaists do not allow for surgeries or any treatment during the Sabbath, not unless it is very necessary as in saving a life. The sick are visited by relatives, but again, this should not interfere with the recovery of the patient. The issue of conducting autopsies is controversial in Judaism, and is only allowed under special cases. This is because they value the human body even in death. Abortion is also controversial because it is not allowed not unless it is for strict medical emergencies. Abortion and autopsy may have to be allowed by a teacher or Rabbi before they are conducted. Finally, they circumcise male children, eight days after they are born. It is done by a trained specialist with both medical and religious backing (Spitzer, 2003). Sikhism Sikhs usually turn to their God, WaheGuru when they fall ill; repenting and begging for mercy. They, however seek medical intervention. Generally, they treasure life and protect it through all means. This includes transfusing blood, discouraging euthanasia and assisted suicide, keeping a sick person on life support, organ donation, organ transplants, and autopsy. They allow birth control measures, but only for married couples. The issue of abortion is not allowed not unless it is for medical purposes. They are however, fully against human cloning. Male children are not circumcised until they are older. Finally, they advocate for patients’ space by demanding for only “necessary” touching, and women wear more than just hospital clothing on them (Cobb, Puchalski, & Rumbold, 2012). Buddhism The Buddhist religion is one of the most dominant when it comes to advocating for better health. A unique fact about Buddhism is that in it, they believe in controlling their health from their minds and demand positivity when giving or receiving medical intervention. They treasure life from the moment a sperm cell fertilizes an ova, and consider any disruption on the resulting zygote onwards as killing. They only permit birth control which prevents fertilization. Death is considered a special moment for a person, and they therefore emphasize on peace, comfort, and joy of a dying person. They say prayers or read special texts at the deathbeds of dying loved ones. When it comes to diet, some Buddhists are vegetarians, while others are not. This is determined by certain sub-divisions of under this religion. Meditation plays a central role in all aspects of Buddhist lives, including sick patients. As such, they are allowed private times to perform the act. The Buddhists associate their lives with Sakyamuni Buddha, and are allowed to carry the images with them, in addition to beaded ornaments. Another rare factor of the Buddhists is that mothers are offered extra-special medical care than fathers (males) because they take care of, and bring children into being. Finally, Buddhists believe that once the mind is exhausted, no medical intervention can resuscitate them, and as such do not believe in life saving machines (Kliewer, & Saultz, 2006) Comparing and contrasting with Christianity and my own perspective In the three evaluations above, two things stand out when it comes to comparing them. One of them is that when it comes to strict medical intervention, religion is mostly held constant, that is, it affects minimally across the three. The other fact observed is that some factors affiliated with faith are imposed regardless of the medical demands such as circumcision. With Christianity healing or medical intervention is the least opposed. This is chiefly because it is the faith in which abortion is allowed in some instances, executed at the mother’s will. Again, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and suicide also meet the minimal resistance in overly Christian environments. A similarity across the four religions with regards to healing is that a patient is accosted all the comfort possible, and is treated in the best way they would please. The other similarity is that although the believers across the four faiths believe in a supreme being, they do not rely solely on prayers, but put much into medical assistance as well. This relates to the third point which is that patients from across different faiths have no religious discrimination regarding who offers the medical assistance as long as their own faith’s beliefs and practices are put into consideration. What is important here is that the healthcare provider understands what the patient’s faith demands, and sticks to it through the healing/ treatment procedures. When a healthcare provider overlooks their own faith in order for them to cater for patients from a different faith, the act is perceived of as a unifying gesture. The patients feel that the providers care much about them, and are freer to associate with them. These acts are largely observed, especially in Christian philosophies of faith and healing because Christians can work in most parts of the world, disseminating healthcare services to patients while going out of their religious ways. This does not however mean that they ignore their faith; rather, they execute their duties of healing at times in circumstances which breach their own faith. Believers from other faiths follow the same during times of need, and these generally show that human life is treasured above all other aspects in nursing (healthcare). Conclusion In this research, the surest derivation is that one, learning, or possessing the know-how of other faiths is considerably advantageous to both the patient and practitioner. One of the merit is that the health practitioner understands the extent to which they can administer health services without interfering with the patients’ faith. This is important in that it avoids conflicts between the two parties, and again, the healing processes are effective. The other derivation is that it is necessary and important that a health practitioner be flexible so that they can work with other staff from different faiths, and treat patients without any discrimination. These lessons are important in that once applied, they foster the dissemination of health services. This is in turn important in that the nursing fraternity edges closer to meeting its objectives of providing health care to everyone. Health practitioners can apply these in their day to day activities, first by learning different faiths when possible, and when it is not, they can opt to let go of their own beliefs for the sake of the patients. Concisely, it can be concluded that health care and faith can correlate and contribute to effectiveness in providing heath to more people. References Cobb, M. R., Puchalski, C. M., & Rumbold, B. D. (2012). Oxford textbook of spiritaulity in healthcare. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kliewer, S. P., & Saultz, J. W. (2006). Healthcare and Spirituality. Oxford: Radcliffe. Spitzer, J. (2003). Caring for Jewish patients. Abingdon: Radcliffe Medical Press. Read More