Nursing Student Ethical Dilemna

[cbs701]

I was doing my OB rotation when the instructor brings us out into the hall. She says that there is a young mom who is delivering multiple babies now and the babies are very preterm. None of them survived.

She wanted us to go and see their remains, which was a good thing, as it gives us an idea of how a baby looks as it's developing.

The hard part for me was when she said she was going to baptize the babies. She proceeded to get a cup of water and pour some on the babies' heads and pray over them.

I asked her, "Did the mom ask for this?"

Response: "No. It's just something I like to do. Most people are Christian around here anyway." (We live in the heart of the Bible belt.)

This made me very angry, and I wanted to know how the rest of you feel.

Thanks...

[elkpark]

It is permissible in most Christian denominations for any Christian (not necessarily an ordained member of the clergy) to baptize someone, so that part of the scenario is not a problem. OB nurses have been baptizing babies for generations when necessary.

However, doing so without the mother's request/permission is completely inappropriate and unethical. I would raise a stink about this. Wow.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Also, frankly, I see no value in having the students view the bodies of the babies. It was not an educational experience and borders on voyeurism on the part of the instructor. If I was the mom I would be livid. This instructor sounds cracked in the head.

I think it a bit strange too...and I would not be happy about an instructor using my child's dead remains at part of "learning" experience (even though I'm not even sure it's that).

[OCNRN63, RN]

I'm a Christian, and it is certainly not permissible in my faith. I would file a grievance with the hospital as well as the BON...yes, the BON.

[elkpark]

Also, frankly, I see no value in having the students view the bodies of the babies. It was not an educational experience and borders on voyeurism on the part of the instructor.

I wonder if that was just an excuse/rationale to get into the room in order to perform the baptism ...

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

The Catholic Church allows any member to baptize in a pinch.

[Red Kryptonite]

The Catholic Church allows any member to baptize in a pinch.

This is true. However that's only done when the person asks to be baptized, or is known to have expressed a desire to receive the sacrament. And baptism after death has no effect and isn't valid anyway.

I'm a practicing Catholic and find what that professor did outrageous and a disgusting violation of the parents' rights. She should be reported and disciplined. Forced or nonconsensual baptisms have no validity anyway, so that professor just risked her career for literally nothing.

Those babies are trusted to God's mercy and He is able to take care of them without her interference.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Those babies are trusted to God's mercy and He is able to take care of them without her interference.

Since you're Catholic, maybe you can clarify something for me. As I understand it, Catholics believe that those who die before baptism will not reach Heaven....and this includes newborns, or infants who die prior to baptism. If they are barred from Heaven, how is this in keeping with the idea of "G-d's mercy"?

[Red Kryptonite]

Limbo was never an official doctrine, it was a theological idea that gained some currency in some parts of the Church for a few centuries. This article explains it fairly well:

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL2028721620070420?irpc=932

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Limbo was never an official doctrine, it was a theological idea that gained some currency in some parts of the Church for a few centuries. This article explains it fairly well:

Catholic Church buries limbo after centuries

Interesting. I thought it was not just 'some parts of the Church' but an overall, widely-held belief.

Good to know that the Vatican can (and does) recognize when changes of opinion, changes of mind, and changes of policy/procedure need to occur. After all, if the Church doesn't change with the people as THEY change, surely it will become less and less relevant to them. If an organized religion is to hold its members as a collective, it needs to recognize the values that those people hold (when they have changed from original doctrine or general position).

Clearly Judaism has done this over time as well. After all, it's been many centuries since adulterers were stoned in public (or private!), thanks to the wise Rabbis/sages of the time. Meaning the time that a decision was reached to NOT do this anymore.

[Nienna Celebrindal]

Excuse me while I pull my jaw off the floor.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Excuse me while I pull my jaw off the floor.

LOL! :)

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

I did not know that anyone could perform a baptism. If it were me and I was the parent, I would be livid. It is just my personal belief that only a ordained priest or minister would be able to baptize my child. I also would not want students looking at the remains of my children. And I am a student myself. I cannot even imagine losing one child much less multiple. I would go to the director of my program over this. To me, that instructor has no business in an ob unit, much less teaching students that is ok. That mother was probably well aware ahead of time the babies would not survive and would have made her own arrangements if she chose to. Religion is very personal to each individual person, and that is something not to be messed with. If that gets out and back to the mother she has a huge lawsuit on her hands coming to your school.