Should the Doctor Permit Mike to Make Choices?
The doctor should let the father of twins decide on his own even though his decisions may seem to be illogical and destructive to his son.
Rationale
Making decisions for Mike would not assist him as that would make him unable to make positive decisions on his own. Moreover, by making him make his own decisions, the physician is supporting Mike to grow spiritually. The most important thing that the physician should consider is counseling Mike and Joanne on what the impact of the decisions they would take both ways. That is if they make the wrong decision, the effect would mean losing James while a correct decision would save his life ( Hatamipour et al., 2015) . During the counseling session, the physician should point out that the previous decision made was harmful to the kid as it denied the physician time to prevent the spread of the bacteria.
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Since the physician is familiar with the consequences of a delayed transplant, the effects need to be elaborated to the couple to enable them to understand what they need to do. It is the doctor's responsibility to save James life, and the medic can do so only that the choices made by the parents affect his ability to do so ( Hatamipour et al., 2015) . Therefore, the parents should be informed that “God helps those who help themselves” meaning that God will only assist the duo by healing their son if only they pursued therapeutic intervention.
Mike's primary concern is based on the previous decision he made that put his son in dire health condition. As a parent, Mike is worried that the doctor's advice of using the other sibling’s kidney might also put him in the same predicament ( Hatamipour et al., 2015) . As a specialist, the physician is familiar with the situation and should reassure Mike that the twins can each survive with a kidney if the decision is made on time or he stands to lose James and remain with Samuel.
How the Christian ought to reason about illness and wellbeing?
There is a different opinion between the Christian denominations on how they perceive diseases and sickness. For some, these are punishments from God while others think that they are trials by God just like he tested Job in the bible and can only be overcome through a firm belief in the Lord ( Austin et al., 2017) . But Mike and Joanne think that disease and sickness were sent to test their Christian conviction. Therefore, Christians should hold the belief that, as much as there are diseases, doctors were sent by God to eradicate illness from the face of the earth and they should seek medical intervention at the appropriate time.
How should a Christian think about medical intervention?
It is relevant that Christians uphold their religious belief and maintain a firm faith in God. There is a teaching from Mathew 21:21, where Jesus teaches his disciples by example, how faith works. From the rabbi's demonstration, the fig tree dried just from his command, and while they were surprised at this, he assured them that they too could perform similar feat if only they could muster enough faith ( Austin et al., 2016) . But Christians should also understand that the Bible calls for the application of prudence or discretion combined with wisdom in making decisions as indicated in Proverbs 3:21 and proverbs 8:12. Wisdom is being familiar with what actions to take while prudence is the understanding of the time and place to apply your actions. Therefore, Christians should know what actions to take and the places those actions need to be practiced about their faith. For instance, Mike should have known the best application of faith in his case was to trust more on the physician and praying to God that miracles happen through the Physician’s actions.
What should Mike as a Christian do?
As a Christian, Mike should pray; he should pray that God works a miracle through the intervention of the nephrologist. As a Christian, Mike scoffs on the physicians' advice and does not seek counsel from the righteous. He should understand that the morally upright referred to in the bible is not only people who walk away from sin, but people who seek to do good things to humanity can also be considered as righteous. From Proverbs 1:1-6, the Bible praises people who seek counsel from the moral and do not scoff good advice as Mike did. The bible verse further indicates that such people will prosper in everything that they do. The verse rebukes those who are against these virtues and demonstrates that they have repercussions to face for their actions which in our case could be similar to what Mike is facing after refuting advice on carrying out dialysis on James at the right time. Therefore, it will do Mike well to adhere to the opinion of the nephrologist as he wishes the best for his son.
How the father of should twins think about believing in God and curing his son about what is genuinely honoring the principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence in James's care?
The principle of nonmaleficence requires that no harm should be done while the principle of beneficence upholds that good should always be done. These are some of the standards that the doctors are bound and defend in their practice of medicine. Hence, Mike should have more trust in letting them perform the kidney transplant with Samuel as the donor as they will not harm but heal the twin ( Park & Sacco, 2017) . Moreover, in Mark 9:38 Jesus rebukes his disciples from preventing other people from working miracles because they are not his followers, in the same way, Mike should let the doctors do their work as the practice of medicine is about saving lives and no harm can come out of it. Mike should understand this principle that good begets good. Thus he should trust in the Lord as the doctors are used as instruments to show the miracles that God has in store for him.
Spiritual needs assessment Mike
Through a spiritual needs assessment, the physician can help Mike overcome his fears of which stem from the fact that he would like to prove to himself that he has faith in God. With the use of HOPE questions, Mike can be made to understand that by letting the doctor’s practice their profession, his faith is not put to the test ( Austin et al., 2017) . Instead, he is allowing God to work miracles through the hands of the nephrologist. The spiritual assessment will help Mike realize that by allowing Samuel's kidney to be used in the transplant, he is allowing the twin also to share his love with his brother.
Furthermore, the assessment will be of great help to Mike as it will let him understand deeply about his religious convictions, which involve letting others use the resources in their capability to bring change. Additionally, from the assessment, Mike will be able to understand that the decisions he makes are time bound and therefore, before making any decision he should contemplate on the repercussions when the time expires ( Timmins & Caldeira, 2017) . Would he be willing to live with the memories of the poor decisions he made, or what will the other family members feel? These are some of the questions that might provoke Mike to not just think about himself and his faith but also about his faith and the other family members' sentiments.
References
Austin, P. D., Macleod, R., Siddall, P. J., McSherry, W., & Egan, R. (2016). The ability of hospital staff to recognize and meet patients’ spiritual needs: a pilot study. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 6(1), 20-37.
Austin, P., Macleod, R., Siddall, P., McSherry, W., & Egan, R. (2017). Spiritual care training is needed for clinical and non-clinical staff to manage patients’ spiritual needs. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 7(1), 50-63.
Hatamipour, K., Rassouli, M., Yaghmaie, F., Zendedel, K., & Majd, H. A. (2015). Spiritual needs of cancer patients: A qualitative study. Indian journal of palliative care, 21(1), 61.
Park, C. L., & Sacco, S. J. (2017). Heart failure patients’ desires for spiritual care, perceived constraints, and unmet spiritual needs: relations with well-being and health-related quality of life. Psychology, health & medicine, 22(9), 1011-1020.
Timmins, F., & Caldeira, S. (2017). Assessing the spiritual needs of patients. Nursing Standard (2014+), 31(29), 47.
