Clinical Ethics--Request for Religious Care

[Gregory Matthews]

I will give you two cases.   Both are true as in both cases the request for religious care was made to me:

!)  Patient X was being cared for in one of our Intensive care Units.  His clinical condition was such that he was unable to communicate his wishes to us.  So, we consulted with family members when appropriate.  In his clinical records, Patient X had stated that he is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  Family members approached me and requested that I arrange for a Roman Catholic Priest to provide Patient X with certain specific sacramental services.  From the ethical perspective, what should have been my response?

2)  Patient Y is receiving clinical care on one of our wards.  His records state that he is a Roman Catholic  He is able to communicate his wishes to us.  I receive a telephone call from a woman who states that she is the daughter of Patient Y.  She informs me that she is living in another State.  In two (2) days, she intends to arrive, with other family members and a Protestant clergy person and she intends to have Patient Y baptized by immersion.  She asks me to make the arrangements to have him baptized by immersion.    What should I have done, from the ethical perspective?   NOTE:   Baptism by immersion could be possible.

NOTE:  This section is not for discussions of religion, doctrine and theology.  Respond, please from the ethical aspects of this issue and not about Catholics vs. Protestants, or about doctrinal aspects of baptism.

 

[Outta Here]

In case one, I would ask the family members to provide sufficient evidence to me that it was the wish of the patient to receive the sacramental services. And, until doing so, their wishes would not be granted by me.

In the second case, please! The patient is able to communicate, HE should be asked and HIS wishes followed.

[Gregory Matthews]

Aubrey, thank you for responding.  I shall wait for more to respond.

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Thank you for your thoughts.  I will await more comments.

 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

1) I'm not sure a Catholic priest would give any rites/sacraments to a specified non-Catholic.  If the person had been a Catholic early in life (childhood), then the rites could be done.  (This hits close to home.  My grandmother was dying, and though she didn't believe in the Catholic faith, she had been thus raised.  My aunt was Catholic, and called in a priest to do the last rites, which he did... (to my Dad's consternation).

2) I can't imagine the nerve of a Protestant daughter trying to impose her baptismal view on her Catholic father.  I'd veto that notion in a heartbeat.

 

[Gregory Matthews]

I will await more responses.  I appreciate all that have been given.  Maybe tomorrow I will tell you what I did and mention certain of the ethical issues that impacted on that decision.

 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Answer, or at least my response: 

Probably the most interesting situation is the one about the birth mother who wanted her child baptized;  That one I am going to leave for a while.   But, I will respond, at this time to the one about Patients X & Y.  Clinical Ethics is a broad subject which has many aspects.  My response is not going to cover all of the issues involved.

*  My function as a hospital chaplain was NOT to provide services.  Rather, it was/is to facilitate the spiritual needs of sincere individuals.  In doing that, I may provide services.  E.G.  I did on a number of occasions perform the marriages of people.  Let us say that I was requested to hear the  confession of a patient.  I was not required to do so.  Rather, and only if reasonably possible, I would be expected to coordinate the patient receiving services from a clergy person, acceptable to the patient, who would decide whether or not to hear the confession.

*  When dealing with a competent adult who understood the consequences of his/her clinical decision making, my function was generally to abide by the clinical wishes of the patient.  This would also include any record that we might have of the patients wishes.

*  Absent records of the patient's wishes, we had rules as to how we might make clinical decisions which included input from people close to the patient.

As to patient X, where the family wanted a professed SDA provided sacramental services by a Roman Catholic priest:

*  Notice, the family did not ask me to provide such sacramental services, which ethically I could not have provided, even if I had been willing.  I was asked to coordinate contact with a RC priest.

* Fundamental to this issue is for me to have a developed relationship with a Roman Catholic priest.

*  My knowledge of RC theology led me to believe that the priest whom I would call would refuse to provide sacramental services to this professed SDA.  So, I had an ethical responsibility to inform the priest that the patient was a professed SDA.  NOTE:  Some of you of Catholic background might believe that a priest would perform such services under an exception that exists in RC Theology.  I believed otherwise.

*  So, I called the priest and informed him.  He immediately told me that he   could not provide the requested sacramental services.

*  However, there was something that he could do and did.  He visited with the family.  He had prayer with them that the Lord would be with both them and the patient in the unfolding events that were taking place in our Intensive Care unit.

*  The family was satisfied.  However, even if the family had not been satisfied, my function was to coordinate between them and a RC priest.  Once that had been accomplished, my function was finished.  What the priest did, as he related to the family was between him and the family.  As to how the priest related to the patient, I knew how that would happen before I called him, so my function was accomplished as to the patient.

 

As to Patient Y, where the daughter wanted a Roman Catholic patient baptized by immersion by a Protestant clergy person:

* I visited the patient, informed him of the request of his daughter and immediately he informed me that he did not want to be so baptized.  At this point, I had an ethical obligation to protect this patient.

*  I telephoned the daughter and informed her of her Father's wishes.

*  I then told her that she and other family members would be free to visit her Father.   But, we would not allow any such service to be performed.

*  The daughter immediately informed me that no visit would be made to her Father.

*  I informed the patient of her decision.

 

With this in mind, I leave you all to consider the the other thread where a birth mother wants her daughter baptized.  That one is interesting--at last in my thinking.