This assignment will focus on introducing you to the question of human dignity and, in particular, the Christian perspective of the intrinsic worth and value
This assignment will focus on introducing you to the question of human dignity and, in particular, the Christian perspective of the intrinsic worth and value of each person. You will have the opportunity to integrate this insight with scientific and philosophical approaches that inform judgements made in health care and contrast it with secular approaches to human value and worth. The logic of human rights will be made explicit as you engage with different concepts of "moral status."
Based on your reading of the "Case Study: Fetal Abnormality" (attached) and topic Resources, complete the "Moral Status: Case Analysis" (attached) document, in which you will analyze the case study in relation to the following:
- Christian view of the nature of human persons, theory of moral status, intrinsic human value, and dignity
- Theory or theories used by individuals in the case to determine the moral status
- How each theory used determines or influences recommendations for action
- Moral status theory personal response
- Integration of knowledge in health care (theories, multiple ways of knowing, evidence) and knowledge from other disciplines inform and support current or future professional health care practices and judgements
Support your response using only Chapter 2 from the textbook Practicing Dignity: An Introduction to Christian Values and Decision-Making in Health Care and the Topic 2 Resource "The Image of God, Bioethics, and Persons With Profound Intellectual Disabilities."
While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
Moral Status: Case Analysis
Student Name:
1. Based on the case and specific moral status theories in the topic Resources, in 450-500 words, what is the Christian view of the nature of human persons, and which theory of moral status is it compatible with? How is this related to the intrinsic human value and dignity?
2. Based on the case, in 200-250 words, which specific moral status theory or theories from the topic Resources are being used by Jessica, Marco, Maria, and Dr. Wilson to determine the moral status of the fetus? What from the case study specifically leads you to believe that they hold the theory or each of the theories you identified?
3. Based on the case and specific moral status theories in the topic Resources, in 200-250 words, how does the theory or each of the theories they used determine or influence each individual’s recommendation for action?
4. Based on the case and specific moral status theory or theories from the topic Resources, in 200-250 words, what theory do you personally agree with and why? How would that theory determine or influence your recommended action in a similar situation?
5. Based on the case and topic Resources, in 200-250 words, how does the integration of knowledge in health care (theories, multiple ways of knowing, evidence) and knowledge from other disciplines inform and support your current or future professional health care practices and judgements regarding moral status issues?
References
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Case Study: Fetal Abnormality
Jessica is a 30-year-old immigrant from Mexico City. She and her husband Marco have been in the United States for the last three years and have finally earned enough money to move out of their Aunt Maria’s home and into an apartment of their own. They are both hard workers. Jessica works 50 hours a week at a local restaurant and Marco has been contracting side jobs in construction. Six months before their move to an apartment, Jessica finds out she is pregnant.
Four months later, Jessica and Marco arrive at the county hospital, a large, public, nonteaching hospital. A preliminary ultrasound indicates a possible abnormality with the fetus. Further scans are conducted, and it is determined that the fetus has a rare condition in which it has not developed any arms and will not likely develop them. There is also a 25% chance that the fetus may have Down syndrome.
Dr. Wilson, the primary attending physician, is seeing Jessica for the first time, since she and Marco did not receive earlier prenatal care over concerns about finances. Marco insists that Dr. Wilson refrain from telling Jessica the scan results, assuring him that he will tell his wife himself when she is emotionally ready for the news. While Marco and Dr. Wilson are talking in another room, Aunt Maria walks into the room with a distressed look on her face. She can tell that something is wrong and inquires of Dr. Wilson. After hearing of the diagnosis, she walks out of the room wailing loudly and praying aloud.
Marco and Dr. Wilson continue their discussion, and Dr. Wilson insists that he has an obligation to Jessica as his patient and that she has a right to know the diagnosis of the fetus. He furthermore is intent on discussing all relevant factors and options regarding the next step, including abortion. Marco insists on taking some time to think of how to break the news to Jessica, but Dr. Wilson, frustrated with the direction of the conversation, informs the husband that such a choice is not his to make. Dr. Wilson proceeds back across the hall, where he walks in on Aunt Maria awkwardly praying with Jessica and phoning the priest. At that point, Dr. Wilson gently but briefly informs Jessica of the diagnosis and lays out the option for abortion as a responsible medical alternative, given the quality of life such a child would have. Jessica looks at him and struggles to hold back her tears.
Jessica is torn between her hopes of a better socioeconomic position and increased independence, along with her conviction that all life is sacred. Marco will support Jessica in whatever decision she makes but is finding it difficult not to view the pregnancy and the prospects of a disabled child as a burden and a barrier to their economic security and plans. Dr. Wilson lays out all of the options but clearly makes his view known that abortion is “scientifically” and medically a wise choice in this situation. Aunt Maria pleads with Jessica to follow through with the pregnancy and allow what “God intends” to take place and urges Jessica to think of her responsibility as a mother.
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2. God, Humanity, and Human Dignity "Great are you, O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise;
your power is immense, and your wisdom beyond reckoning. And so we humans, who are a due part of your creation, long to praise you—we who carry our mortality about with us, carry the evidence of our sin
and with it the proof that you thwart the proud. Yet these humans, due part of your creation as they are, still do long to praise you. You stir us so that praising you may
bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you."
(St. Augustine of Hippo, ca. 397/2012) By Nathan H. White and Valerie De La Torre
Essential Questions
What does it mean to be a human being?
Why does a human being have value?
What is meant by the concept of personhood?
What are the practical implications for the value of human beings within a health care context?
Introduction Humankind’s restless heart is an invitation to be involved with the human endeavor and particularly with those who are sick and dying. In caring for other human beings while loving God, human hearts may feel flooded with the fulfilling praises of God. Those called as nurses can praise God through their hands, bodies, minds, hearts, and spirit and will make decisions that may decide life and death. They may even help others find salvation. St. Augustine writes, "My heart is listening, Lord; open the ears of my heart and say to my soul, I am your salvation" (St. Augustine of Hippo, ca. 397/2012). This chapter will address why nurses carry this care to others based upon the Christian belief that every human being is made in the image of God.
One of the main hallmarks of the medical profession is its interpersonal nature. Medicine is, if nothing else, a very human profession. A nurse gives medicine, offers comfort to a dying patient, educates patients about their diseases, and walks with patients through their medical treatment. Interpersonal caring defines the
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experience of the profession. Throughout history, health care professionals have acknowledged and celebrated the compassionate nature of nursing as its motivation and foundation.
Although the vocation of nursing centers around caring for other human beings, medical professionals often do not stop to ask why they are doing what they are doing or what it is about another human being that warrants the kind of involved and often difficult care that nurses provide day in and day out. In seeking answers to these questions, the inherent value of human beings becomes apparent. Nurses frequently empathize with others and want to do the best for them, and this is to be applauded. Yet, primarily, the Christian belief that human beings are created in the image of God, or imago Dei, undergirds the value and dignity of every human being simply because of his or her existence. This belief suggests certain practical implications in a range of contemporary health care issues, such as abortion, in vitro fertilization, the definition of death, and euthanasia. This chapter will begin to address many of these topics by looking at ways that science, philosophy, and theology have attempted to answer them.
What Does It Mean to Be a Person? While the question “What does it mean to be a person?” may, at first, seem to be a straightforward question, scientists, philosophers, and theologians still debate the answer. Some perceive a person to be only a physical body with a brain dependent on the body. This is called naturalism. Others suggest that each person has a body and a soul. This is termed dualism. Some have more complicated understandings of the human person that identify the significance of characteristics, such as reason and the search for meaning, that separate human persons from other living organisms. Each of these descriptions of a person understands a human being in a different way. In the field of health care, how health care professionals approach what it means to be a person uniquely informs treatment options.
For example, if a physician perceives a human as having an eternal soul, practitioners will craft treatment that involves this spiritual reality. If a person is understood as having only a physical body, treatment will focus entirely on these options. Every nurse already approaches a patient with an idea of what a person is, and the goal of this chapter is to raise awareness of the reality of the personhood that lies within every patient.
At its most basic level, being a person means that an individual has inherent worth. The person possesses moral, ethical, and legal rights that a nonperson does not have. Generally, in the Christian tradition, personhood has been understood as a substantive nature that all human beings possess. A person may also possess certain traits, such as faith, reason, moral capacity, and consciousness, that enable deep mutual relationality with other persons, including God. In the Christian understanding, personhood is inherent to human beings and is not merely based upon recognition of certain capacities, such as reason, moral capacity, and consciousness.
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Worldview and the Question of Personhood
Worldview significantly impacts the understanding of what it is to be human and to be an individual person. Some believe that God or a transcendent source gives human beings value. Alternatively, another may understand humankind as simply being at the top of the food chain, within the closed system of natural selection. Yet an individual who believes in the existence of God would find God's nature to be of primary importance for understanding what it means to be human. On the other hand, an individual who subscribes to the worldview described as scientism would assume that science can completely answer the question of what it means to be human. In each of these cases, the question of personhood is not primarily a scientific one but, rather, a philosophical one.
Additionally, an individual's worldview about personhood directly influences decisions regarding the care and treatment of patients. Nurses and other health care professionals may think that beliefs and actions separate easily into different boxes without mutual interaction. In reality, beliefs and assumptions about the world significantly shape interactions with the world. This is easily seen in health care situations. If belief in God shapes understanding of personhood, a nurse may display his or her faith determining the care that is needed based on personal and professional perception as well as listening attentively to the patient. If a practitioner perceives a person as being only a physical body, personal interaction with patients and health care considerations may remain at the level of basic physical care.
For example, in the context of palliative care, what constitutes a human person may help decide when to withhold or withdraw treatment from a patient. If quality of life is assumed to be the only consideration for care, treatment could be withdrawn too early before other methods of comfort care are considered. Alternatively, the Christian worldview makes it clear that every human being is approached as being made in the image of God and worthy not only of quality care for physical ailments but also of complete care for both body and soul.
The Metaphysical Question: What Kind of Thing Is a Human Person?
The Bible describes the need to reverently consider the mystery of the human person. Some 3,000 years ago, the writer of the Psalms, prayerfully reflecting on the finitude of humanity and the mystery of G
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