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PubMed1988

The quest for organ donors: a theological response.

A study of God's creation, redemption, and salvation of the human community may provide an answer to the shortage of organs for transplantation. An exploration of these areas from a theological viewpoint leads to a conclusion that: 1. We belong to one another. 2. We owe others our organs when they can benefit from them and we no longer can. When Jesus said, "This is my body" and "This is my blood which will be given up for you," he handed over his body to the community. These words should be understood in a continuum with his giving up his life, his sacrifice on the cross. Thus, when he said, "Do this in commemoration of me," he meant not only that we should remember the sacrifice in a liturgical fashion but also that we should pattern our lives after his. Could it be that the eucharistic injunction can also mean, in our day, that we are to give our bodies to the community in the same way that Christ gives his to us in the Eucharist? Should organ donation be seen not only in a secular fashion, as an optional good deed, but also as a profoundly religious, even sacramental, extension of the eucharistic sacrifice itself? Just as Christians are one in Christ's body, they belong to one another in a physical sense. If Christ is the one body and we belong to Christ, then we also belong to one another--and are obliged to donate our organs to one another.

Christianity↗
PubMed1988

Guide for treating rape victims emphasizes compassion, respect.

The boards of directors of St. Bernardine Medical Center, San Bernardino, CA, and St. Mary Desert Valley Hospital, Apple Valley, CA, established a series of guidelines to help hospital personnel treat victims of rape. Guidelines include consideration for the total well-being of the woman, morally acceptable medical treatment, requirements for the use of antiovulant drugs, and legal and confidentiality procedures.

California↗
PubMed1989

The importance of being ethical. Essential skills for effective leadership.

The healthcare industry today is in transition from a service industry subject to public regulation to one of self-regulation. The impact of deregulation is severe. Traditional values are being tested; new values are emerging. Can healthcare providers, particularly Catholic providers with their rich history and mission, afford to hang on to traditional values? How do administrators remain competent and compassionate at the same time? Perhaps the time is right to institute corporate ethics to serve as a lifeline for healthcare leaders much in the same way that clinical ethics has served clinicians. The mix of values to which a corporation is committed forms a foundation for practicing corporate ethics. For instance, a corporation can develop means for information gathering and ethical reflection that can shape policy and decisions. Six practical principles for exercising corporate ethics are (1) the chief executive officer is committed to corporate ethics as a management method, (2) the corporation's mission and values are continuously scrutinized to see that they are understood and owned, (3) those responsible for governance and management develop structures and leadership styles consistent with the corporation's value system, (4) the policy-making and decision-making processes include specific ways to ensure that the corporation carefully weighs values as part of business decisions, (5) the corporation evaluates and rewards all employees according to value-driven performance standards, and (6) corporate policy and performance are evaluated annually to determine where the corporation is consistent with its mission and values and where it needs improvement.

Decision Making↗
PubMed1989

Save the body, lose the soul. Catholic healthcare professionals should respect Jehovah's Witnesses' right to refuse a transfusion.

The Jehovah's Witnesses base their belief that they must not submit to blood transfusions on a biblical prohibition against consuming blood. It is a fundamental religious conviction for the Witnesses, one that has the most profound consequences for them: eternal salvation. In their zeal to promote health and save lives, however, some healthcare institutions have reacted to a patient's refusal to receive a blood transfusion by appealing to the courts. In a few cases, this action sought a clarification of professional obligations and responsibilities. In others, however, the institution sought authorization from the court to give a blood transfusion to a patient against his or her will. In several instances over the past 25 years, the courts did not consider the cases in light of the First Amendment right to freedom of religion, despite the fact that the constitutional issue clearly lies at the heart of the controversy. Because the free-exercise clause deserves the "preferred status" of First Amendment liberties, only a compelling state interest could justify its limitation. Where the courts tried to balance interests, they have adduced various concerns to justify state interference. The question is more than legal, however; it is profoundly religious. Vatican II's "Declaration on Religious Freedom" proclaimed that all people have a fundamental right to religious freedom and an inherent freedom from coercion based on human dignity. In Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Facilities, the bishops say, "The total good of the patient, which includes his higher spiritual as well as his bodily welfare, is the primary concern of those entrusted with the management of a Catholic health facility."

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed1989

The virtuous response to euthanasia. Caring must become the alternative to curing.

To show what makes euthanasia an affront to Catholics' most basic convictions, Catholics must be a virtuous community of interdependence, care, and hospitality. The Catholic community's challenge in opposing euthanasia is to help convert society from an aggregate of individuals pursuing their self-interests to an interdependent covenantal community. The Catholic healthcare community may contribute to the bonding that can make living interdependently liberating and life giving by being a catalyst for collaboration between the subcommunities within the Church--hospitals, schools, parishes, and religious organizations. To oppose euthanasia, caring must become the alternative to curing. Caring accepts decline and death as part of being human. A caring Catholic community can provide educational services to the wider community, focusing on managing health and assuming responsibility for treatment. In a community of hospitality the dying should be able to live as free from pain and as much in control as possible. Everyone who has contact with the sick, the elderly, and the dying has the moral responsibility to communicate that they are worthy of respect and are not being isolated or abandoned. Hospitality also must be directed to care givers. The lack of support for those who spend endless hours caring for the terminally ill has been a crucial factor in cases of euthanasia.

Catholicism↗
PubMed1985

Ethical and legal aspects of liver transplantation.

Catholic teaching on transplants derives from the principle of fraternal love, which would allow transplantation, provided no harm to the donor would result. It is based on the concept of functional integrity to guarantee that the body's systematic integrity is not destroyed. Since donating an organ is not an obligation but a choice, obtaining the donor's free, informed consent is essential. The competent donor should receive complete information concerning the transplant procedure, the prognosis, the material risks, and any alternative procedures. In the case of incompetent donors, consent of the parent or guardian usually is necessary. Some states, however, have laws that allow treatment despite parental objection. For example, the court may substitute its judgment for the incompetent patient's or may appoint a guardian. With the signing of the National Organ Transplantation Act in October 1984, the law now provides for a computer registry to speed the matching of donors and recipients. As transplant technology continues to advance and use of the organ procurement system increases, Catholic health care professionals must ensure that Christian concepts guide the resolution of transplantation's bioethical issues.

Catholicism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evolution of Church teaching on prolonging life.

God gave us the gift of human life to show forth his goodness and love. We, in turn, show our love for God by respecting and fostering that gift. Thus it is not an act of responsible human love to willfully and directly end one's own or the life of another. At times, however, the choice of another good may justify the indirect surrender of human life--for example, martyrs who surrender their lives rather than deny God. From the earliest centuries of the Church, the main questions concerning care for life as an act of love for God focused on suicide and euthanasia. But as the possibility of prolonging life through medicine or surgery increased, theologians started questioning how much effort should be expended to stay alive. The terms "ordinary means" and "extraordinary means" to prolong life were gradually introduced in Catholic teaching over the centuries. "Ordinary means" originally were those readily at hand and available to all; "extraordinary means" were expensive, difficult to obtain, or inconvenient to arrange for the average person. Over the years, they were used to signify whether particular means were morally obligatory (ordinary) or morally optional (extraordinary). Today the terms "proportionate-disproportionate" and "burden-benefit" have replaced "ordinary" and "extraordinary" to a great extent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Catholicism↗
PubMed1989

In the market for ethics. Marketing begins with values.

High-quality care and concern for the poor are among the core values that all Catholic healthcare facilities share. And marketing is a proven tool for extending those values. In times past, healthcare providers, including Catholic facilities, were concerned about whether healthcare marketing was ethical. Much of the concern focused on advertising and promotion. A number of ethical violations do appear in hospital advertising. But government and professional organizations have established guidelines for ethics in advertising. Hospitals should encourage their marketing professionals to personally adhere to these codes. To ensure marketing activities are conducted ethically, a hospital must clearly articulate its commitment to ethical marketing; ensure that marketing professionals adhere to this commitment; and monitor activity. These steps should extend to a hospital's strategic plan, particularly its mission statement. Although strategic planning has many critical elements, the heart of the plan and the process is the mission statement, the expression of an organization's distinctiveness. For a Catholic hospital, this distinctiveness is found in two tiers of value: the core Catholic values, as articulated by its religious sponsors, and the institution's specific values flowing from its history, location, and services. If a religious healthcare provider is really committed to its values, it will actively affirm them in its marketing.

Catholicism↗
PubMed1984

Responding to DRGs: ethical and mission implications.

Because of diagnosis related groups (DRGs), remaining financially solvent while being true to its mission is a bigger challenge than ever for the Catholic health facility. Tough decisions and judgments must be made, some of them unfamiliar. When does cost cutting compromise adequate care? Will Catholic hospitals be able to care for the "unprofitable" patient? To what extent will the profit motive damage patient trust? What will be the minimum level of care provided for all? Which programs and services can be dropped without sacrificing the Catholic mission? Hospitals should respond to DRGs in a number of ways: 1. Keep an appropriate balance between care values and cost values. 2. Continue to creatively provide care for the disenfranchised. 3. Critique inadequately brief or cheap care.

Catholicism↗