A health care professional practice is generally considered as one of the prestigious professional practices in the world. In fact, every learner yearns for landing in the field of health care at least at some point of their life time. However, the field of health care practice is not as interesting as most people would imagine. A health care provider encounters with numerous ethical issues that pose devastating dilemmas to handle. One of the common factors that lead to health care ethical dilemmas is the risk of encounters with people from different religious beliefs. This article analyses one of the ethical health care situations (End of Life Decisions) in line with the Christian worldview.
George, a strong Christian believer, is confronted with a devastating health situation. He is diagnosed with a deadly disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and he is aware he may only survive for a period of between 3 and 4 years. He is also aware of the suffering he is going to undergo prior to his death. Based on the Christian teachings and with regards to the fallenness of the world, George may interpret his suffering in two main ways. First, he may think of reexamining himself in an attempt to establish if his state of suffering may be as a result of his sins. The world “sin” is used in this article to refer to one’s acts that annoy God. Therefore, George may view his suffering as a punishment from God due to his sinful life; and may think of embarking on a serious repentance as the best treatment for his suffering. Secondly, if George is certain that he is holy (without sins), then he may interpret his suffering from the Biblical Job’s point of view. Thus, like Job, George may assume that his suffering is linked to God’s intentions to use his (George’s) suffering to manifest His (God’s) saving power. Therefore, George may end up having a strong faith that he will finally get out of his suffering; and he may not accept any advice to opt for euthanasia.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The Christian worldview also emphasizes on hope of resurrection. The Christian Biblical teachings hold that there is hope for life after death. However, Christians believe that the hope for life after death is only achievable through one’s endurance while on this world. Thus, a good life after death, according to Christian faith, is attainable through successful earthly perseverance in suffering; meaning no one should take away his or her life regardless of the kind of suffering they are undergoing. Therefore, with regard to hope of resurrection, George would interpret his suffering as just earthily hardships he is going through in preparation for a good life after his death and resurrection. As a Christian, George would consider his suffering and the impending death as just a passage of rite. For George, and from Christian point of view of hope of resurrection, his suffering is short-lived and his impending death is not the end of everything to him (George). George would rather accept to go through the suffering and later enjoy his life after resurrection than to take euthanasia and live a miserable life after resurrection.
As a human being, George would however go through agonizing moments. He would day- in day-out, contemplate hard about his life with the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis state. He would suffer psychologically, particularly at a time he is not aware of his future. While George would be going through the uncertainties of his future, the Christian worldview would continuously give him hope for his future. The Christian worldview would keep reminding him about the value of his life as a person. George would be reminded that his life, however short it may be, is precious and of great benefit to both himself and the society at large. The Christian worldview would therefore advice him to utilize the little time he has to serve both his people and glorify God. This, according to Christian point of view, would heal his soul and help him come out of the harsh moments he is going through.
Christians have varying values and considerations about the credibility of euthanasia as a way of evading one’s suffering. Some Christians believe that euthanasia may be a good option for a suffering person due to a number of reasons. As for the case of George, some Christians would believe that euthanasia would serve to take away the suffering George would go through and yet finally die. Another reason for euthanasia is that it will save George from wasting family resources on treatment and finally die, leaving the family in financial constraints. Again, George is already in his fifties, meaning he has lived enough, and therefore he can now rest in peace and leave his descendants to carry on with life; thus recommending for euthanasia. However, the Christian biblical teachings are totally against euthanasia for a number of reasons. First, life is ordained by God and no one is supposed to take away life under any circumstances, thus George is not allowed to opt for euthanasia at all. Second, God is powerful and has the power to heal all illnesses regardless of their nature and therefore, George should maintain his faith in God in order to receive his healing. Thirdly, euthanasia is like committing suicide, which is completely against the Christian teachings; thus George may not be allowed to take euthanasia under all the circumstances. In general, the Christian worldview is against euthanasia and George being a Christian may not accept euthanasia at all.
Based on the fact that Christian worldview is against euthanasia, the only morally justified action for George to take is to be ready to endure suffering until his natural death comes. The Christian worldview holds that there are other people who have been through worse situations than this one of George and finally succeeded in life; the best example being the biblical Job. According to Christian worldview, George should show his courage and endure suffering, as perseverance for suffering is one of the Christian values.
Being in the George’s situation is a difficult life and it poses a big dilemma to both the victim and the family members. It is a dilemma because every one hopes to live forever; and at the same time everybody is aware that one day they will have to die. As for George, he is only remaining with relatively a maximum of five years to live. Besides, George is aware of the impending suffering he has to go through before he dies such as losing his speech, inability to feed himself and move, and severe case of breathing difficulties. In addition, the medication for the ALS is expensive and one is certain that he will finally die. If I were to find myselve in the George’s situation, I would calmly write my family will and wisely distribute all my wealth among my family members. I would then spend the remaining comfortable time wisely and once the situation worsens, I would opt for euthanasia. This will be necessary in order to escape suffering and avoid wasting family resources on medication knowing very well that I will finally die.
In conclusion, George’s case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an example of the many ethical health issues associated with religious believes. Ailments such as the ALS have no cure and lead to miserable death. Besides, seeking medical attention on such illness does nothing of significance other than to give hope to the patient that they may survive, but finally no assurance for healing. Thus, the patient ends up spending nearly all the available resources on medication and die; leaving the rest of the family members with lots of financial constraints. In such a case, euthanasia may be recommended. However, most of the religious groups such as Christian worldview prohibit euthanasia, thus posing a dilemma on the health care providers on whether to recommend euthanasia or not; and given that every citizen has the right to live. Therefore, end of life decisions is one of the ethical issues facing health care providers. It is thus recommended that health care providers equip themselves with enough knowledge on a variety of faith expressions of the different patients they serve in order to avoid conflicts during their services.
