Jehovah’s witness and blood transfusion
Jehovah’s witness and blood transfusion
Jehovah’s witness and blood transfusion
According to the article of (Rashid et al., 2021) More than 8.5 million people in the world observe the Jehovah’s Witness faith and require unique consideration for perioperative blood management as they generally refuse transfusion of blood and blood products.
Managing anemia and acute blood loss in critical patients has long been reliant on the judicious use of red blood cell transfusions. The primary goal of blood transfusion is the efficient delivery of oxygen to end organs, especially the brain. Provided that appropriate guidelines are followed, allogenic blood transfusions are considered a safe and effective therapeutic option. Some patients refuse or decline blood transfusions due to cultural and/or religious beliefs, with the most well-known being followers of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Sticco et al., 2019).
Jehovah’s witnesses oppose receiving blood transfusions based on religious grounds. This refusal raises complex medical, legal and ethical issues for the treating medical staff. In the past physicians attempted to force patients and children to accept transfusions when deemed medically necessary through the use of court orders. However, in recent years the threshold for blood transfusion has been gradually raised by medical experts as expressed in consensus guidelines, which means that Jehovah’s witnesses’ aversion to transfusion would have been partially justified medically (Sagy et al., 2017).
Although the courts have ruled that the decisions of competent adults must be respected, and healthcare providers have come to appreciate the need to care for the whole person-including respecting beliefs that may appear irrational or harmful-dealing with individual believers can still be a source of moral distress. The Watch Tower Society has done an admirable job of establishing hospital liaison committees to educate healthcare providers about its beliefs with regard to alternative, bloodless surgical procedures, and to support Jehovah’s Witness believers in navigating the healthcare system (Pullman, 2019).
Conflicts arise between cultural beliefs and delivering competent medical care which makes it challenging for the healthcare providers. In my opinion, as a healthcare provider, it is imperative to respect a person’s belief in their care. It is paramount that we acknowledge and accommodate their culture and beliefs.
