Christian Perspective and Actions Related to Sickness and Health, Principles of Beneficence and Nonmaleficence
Benchmark – Patient’s Spiritual Needs: Case Analysis
Spiritual care is an integral perspective of any care provision. From a Christian perspective, it is a calling to ensure that all patients’ spiritual needs are addressed alongside other medical needs. Notably, patients have varying spiritualties and understanding the patients is integral to offering holistic care (Notini & Oakley, 2022). While this might seem straightforward on paper, it is more complicated. Many ethical issues and decisions need to be made to ensure that the patient can access the best care possible.
By following Christian principles of care which include beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy justice and fairness, it is possible to navigate the different experiences in patient care (Bogue et al. 2022). A case study of a boy who had acute glomerulonephritis, and kidney failure showed the interaction between faith and healthcare provision. His father Mike had delayed treatment in favor of spiritual treatment and ended up placing his son, James in a more dire situation.
Moreover, the situation required more intense decisions such as asking the twin to be a donor. From a Christian worldview, it is crucial to understand the situation better by discussing issues such as autonomy, spiritual needs assessments, Christian perceptive and accountability of the stakeholders.
Patient Autonomy
Patient autonomy refers to the respect of patient’s decisions regardless of the current situation they are experiencing. However, for patients to have autonomy they must have informed consent. In the case involving the patient James, an eight-year-old it is evident that the decision-making was reserved for the father alone. While this should be no issue as the father only wanted to have what was best for their son the hospital should have invoked a participatory approach. This would ensure that all stakeholders were involved in the care of James.
For their initial contact with the hospital, all stakeholders could have been informed of the current condition of the patient. While they could not be entitled to make the decision, they would passively influence the father based on the discussion and their understanding of the situation hence averting the current dire situation (Green, 2021). Moreover, the young son could have gotten a small understanding of his situation and made his wishes known to the father.
Nonetheless, given the situation has already escalated, it would be better to enhance the patient’s autonomy by involving the son. Patient-centered treatment dictates that a patient must be an active participant in their treatment regime. Therefore, moving forward, they should be more honest with James regarding his condition Buchanan et al. (2022).
From a Christian perspective, to enhance a patient’s autonomy, it is crucial to encourage the patient and even offer spiritual guidance when needed. Mike is also a patient in a way as he is the main guardian to James (Kristyna Polakova et al., 2023). He should also be offered support and guidance as needed. This will go a long way in helping him make better decisions as care continues.