Health Care Providers in Different Religions Essay

Health Care Providers in Different Religions - Essay Example In many cases however, one does encounter a variety of different faiths when seeking out health care. In Christianity there are seven aspects of providing health care to patients. All of these are tied to religion and the Holy Bible and its sayings. The first is a moral code of conduct and justification that will guide health care providers to tend to patients in a manner that is in alignment with religion. Such as the fact that they cannot present life threatening drugs or force people to take a drug that may cause death. At the same time, women cannot be advised of abortion etc. Secondly the doctor patient relationship needs to be built on the element of trust; the patient is entitled to receive all the information regarding treatment, health care and any aspect of a procedure that they have to undergo. Even though the provider is the true healer and is believed to be so by the patient as well, all sides of the story is a duty of the doctor to the patient. Thirdly, patients are aut onomous, that is, they are allowed to make any decision they want to, after being presented all the facts of the situation. At the same time, health care providers have to act like good citizens, taking it on their conscience to care for the patient and heal them; and not just go through with this procedure in a mechanical fashion, but to be caring and loving and compassionate towards the patient. God will only show mercy to him who showed mercy on his creation, and so providers need to offer not just treatment but compassion and mercy to patients, praying for their well-being and taking it as a duty as God’s servants to take care of his creation. At the same time there is the concept of non-maleficence in Christianity; which essentially translates into â€Å"never harm anyone.† According to this principle, health care providers need to be such that they give the right kind of prescription to the right patient and they need to assess whether a particular treatment woul d harm or benefit the patient in question. Christianity also believes in the principle of justice. Therefore patients are all to be treated equally and fairly, and treated till depth of the provider’s ability as that is their right as not just patients of the doctor, but also as human beings. He is also to provide access to the patients to health care if he himself cannot suffice. Lastly, it is believed that one, no matter what profession he follows, must have a character of integrity and virtue, so that no matter who he is dealing with, he will uphold his virtuous character and refer to the Bible and never wander from what it deems to be right and wrong. (Benedict M. Ashley, 2006) It is the general view, that all the principles aforementioned should be followed, whether the person seeking treatment is a Christian or otherwise. Doctors need to be compassionate, caring, try their best to bring the proper and complete treatment to their patients, while at the same time, upholdi ng the ethics of their profession, that is, anything that can cause harm to their patients is supposed to be out of the question. However, some cultures and religions have different aspects or an addition to the aforementioned principles. Buddhism originated through the concept of suffering, the state of the soul being in trouble rather than the body being in any agony. The Buddhists believe in both technique and discipline, and those principles along with the eight fold path determine all other aspects of life even health care. The eight fold path includes right speech, right view, right