In light of the Jahi McMath incident, I am left wondering how often my nursing colleagues have encountered the family of terminally-ill (or brain dead, etc.) patients in a state of complete denial that is bolstered by their faith. If you visit the Facebook page named "Keep Jahi Mcmath on life support", you will find dozens of people claiming that God will perform a miracle and allow Jahi to 'wake up', despite the fact that no less than five physicians have declared her brain dead, and the coroner issued a certificate of death on December 12th. These people have seemingly entered a state of delusion, and are completely unable to accept the reality of the situation.
If we have a terminally-ill patient, and a family member says, "I believe that God will heal her," do we have a professional obligation to reiterate the prognosis and dismiss their religious beliefs, or just nod our heads? Creating false hope is unethical, but it is also not our place to argue with peoples' religious beliefs.
How have you dealt with these situations, or how would you if put in a similar circumstance?