ME: let me know what you think. I think this allows people to pray for each other even after leaving the hospital.
Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Sixth Edition
PART THREE
The Professional-Patient Relationship
Introduction
A person in need of health care and the professional health care provider who accepts that
person as a patient enter into a relationship that requires, among other things, mutual respect,
trust, honesty, and appropriate confidentiality. The resulting free exchange of information
must avoid manipulation, intimidation, or condescension. Such a relationship enables the
patient to disclose personal information needed for effective care and permits the health care
provider to use his or her professional competence most effectively to maintain or restore the
patient’s health. Neither the health care professional nor the patient acts independently of the
other; both participate in the healing process.
Today, a patient often receives health care from a team of providers, especially in the
setting of the modern acute-care hospital. But the resulting multiplication of relationships does
not alter the personal character of the interaction between health care providers and the
patient. The relationship of the person seeking health care and the professionals providing that
care is an important part of the foundation on which diagnosis and care are provided.
Diagnosis and care, therefore, entail a series of decisions with ethical as well as medical
dimensions. The health care professional has the knowledge and experience to pursue the
goals of healing, the maintenance of health, and the compassionate care of the dying, taking
into account the patient’s convictions and spiritual needs, and the moral responsibilities of all
concerned. The person in need of health care depends on the skill of the health care provider to
assist in preserving life and promoting health of body, mind, and spirit. The patient, in turn,
has a responsibility to use these physical and mental resources in the service of moral and
spiritual goals to the best of his or her ability.
When the health care professional and the patient use institutional Catholic health care,
they also accept its public commitment to the Church’s understanding of and witness to the
dignity of the human person. The Church’s moral teaching on health care nurtures a truly
interpersonal professional-patient relationship. This professional-patient relationship is never
separated, then, from the Catholic identity of the health care institution. The faith that inspires
Catholic health care guides medical decisions in ways that fully respect the dignity of the
person and the relationship with the health care professional.
Directives
23. The inherent dignity of the human person must be respected and protected regardless of the
nature of the person’s health problem or social status. The respect for human dignity
extends to all persons who are served by Catholic health care.
24. In compliance with federal law, a Catholic health care institution will make available to
patients information about their rights, under the laws of their state, to make an advance ….
https://www.usccb.org/resources/ethical-religious-directives-catholic-health-service-sixth-edition-2016-06_0.pdf
www.medscape.com
www.independent.co.uk
