Caring for Jehovah's witnesses

I too am an RN, who is also one of Jehovah's Witnessess. I have tried to read the thread so I would not repeat anything.

I have had the privilidge of doing a lecture on transfusion free medicine. I consulted the Watchtower's Hospital Liason Committee as previously mentioned.

To help those RNs trying to decide if a specific procedure (such as the surfactant) is acceptable, I will review the principle from my lecture. The Bible states once blood is removed from the body it is to be poured on the groundg, therefore accepting a transfusion from a bag of blood which has been stored is against the writing of the Bible and not accepted by Jehovah's Witnesses. One post mentioned a witness doing a pre-surgery blood bank donation, this is not within the Bible principle.

The other matters such as, hemodialysis and bypass is (as already mentioned) are "matters of conscious" for each witness. No specific Bible text refers to this issue so one must make a personal decision about such things as a continuous circut, hemodilution or blood fractions ie. Epogen (as proteins pass from mother to fetus).

Some facts I discovered preparing for my lecture may surprise some of you.
The anethesia "standard" of needing a Hgb 10.0 for surgery has no documentation or research behind it. I have known several patients with Hgb <5 who survived just fine without transfusions - those patients who everyone thinks would have been saved "if only they had blood," certainly is not always true. If a patient looses 50% of their blood volume through trauma or surgery their fatality is 80% with or without transfusion.
Post-op infection rates increase 25% for patients receiving blood transfusions.
At least for prostate and breast cancers, relapse rates increase as much as 80% for patients who receive blood transfusions as part of their treatment in comparison for those who do not get blood (we all realize their are MANY other factors in this mix.)

I hope you all will realize that we are all people, just as you would not serve a pork roast to a devout Jewish person, please educate your Witness patient so they don't end up in the same position.

Thanks to all those nurses out their who take the time to be true patient advocates.

Michelle

I don't get a chance to talk to too many fellow Jehovah's Witnesses who are RN's. I am curious to know how you deal with the issue of blood transfusions.
Some in our religion would give the blood transfusion as a matter of conscience feeling they are simply following a doctor's order. Others (as in my case) ask the RN they are checking the blood with to start the transfusion, and they monitor the infusion from there. Either is acceptable. So I am just curious.

Hey Meg. I too am one of Jehovah's Witnesses, however I'm just now finishing up my pre-reqs and applying to a nursing program. I was actually searching this forum to see if I could find the answer to the exact question you just asked! I am interested in going into emergency nursing, so I know this will definitely be an issue. You already clarified one question that I had, which was if a nurse can administer blood transfusions, and if so, under a doctor's direction or on their own. My friend's father has been the head ED nurse at his hospital for some fifteen odd years, and according to my friend, he just asks another nurse to perform the transfusion. I've never actually gotten to talk to him personally, so I don't know if he does something similar to what you do, or has the other nurse do everything. By the way, what's involved in monitoring the infusion once it is given?
Thanks for your help, Chris

I am pursuing my BSN. As part of my current class I am researching the difficulties of caring for patients with the Jehovah's witness' beliefs. If anyone has an experience that he/she can share with me about your personal feelings in caring for a Jehovah's witness, I would greatly appreciate it. I am new to the discussion board and look forward to hearing from you.