Medical Restrictions: Jehovah’s Witnesses
Although the number has never been confirmed, it is estimated that there are around 4,000 religions practiced in the world, each having its own medical beliefs, values, and practices.
It is important that as a future healthcare provider, you have some background knowledge about the medical beliefs among prominent religions in the United States in the likely event that one of your future patients follows them. In today’s blog post, we are going to go over the medical restrictions among Jehovah’s Witnesses.
When learning about the medical restrictions of a certain religious group, it is important to know that different people practice religions to a different extent. This concept is known as heritage consistency (Spector 9e). For example, a person of Islamic faith may choose to pray 5 times a day and eat only halal foods. Another person of Islamic faith may also choose to pray 5 times a day, but they may not always eat halal foods.
Additionally, many people interpret religious scriptures in vastly different ways. It is important to note that medical restrictions for a certain religion may vary among people who practice the same religion. Therefore, it is imperative to never assume anything about the patient unless it is clarified.
The first medical restriction, and the most widely known, is that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions since they believe that taking blood through the mouth or veins violates God’s laws.
This includes transfusion with whole blood, packed red blood cells (RBCs), and plasma, as well as white blood cells (WBCs) and platelet administration. Furthermore, each individual must decide if they want to employ the use of albumin, immune globulins, and hemophiliac preparations since the use of these are not fully prohibited.
Additionally, those who are Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to have abortions or autopsies without reason. They are, however, allowed to donate organs, receive transplants, vaccines, and serums. In the case of minor blood fractions such as vaccinations and serums, an individual Witness may choose to refuse them although they are not explicitly prohibited.
Physicians are aware if their patient is a Jehovah’s Witness by an Advance Medical Directive/Release that is carried on the patient. This directs that no blood transfusions be given under any circumstances while releasing physicians and hospitals of responsibility for any damages that might be caused by the refusal of blood (Source).
A hypothetical example of treating a Jehovah’s Witness with cultural competence is in a Grey’s Anatomy episode titled “Bad Blood”. If you’re a fan of Grey’s anatomy, you might remember this particular episode in which a patient who is a Jehovah’s Witness is brought into the hospital. The surgical team quickly identifies the patient’s religious belief from the dog tag necklace the patient wore and realizes they will have to form a bloodless operation.
In this episode, cultural competence was highly demonstrated by the physicians. They knew exactly what to do, made sure to not give the patient blood, and thereby respected the patient and family’s wishes.
By: Sreenidhi Saripalli
