When Parents Say No - Religious and Cultural Influences on Pediatric Healthcare Treatment (Paperback, illustrated edition)

Pediatric healthcare professionals are sometimes faced with an ethical, emotionally charged dilemma when treatment, even life-saving treatment, goes against the religious or cultural beliefs of a pediatric patient's family. The impact of these situations is quite profound. Healthcare professionals want to treat the child using all known technology and interventions, yet the child's parents may refuse to consent to all or part of the needed care. This book offers healthcare and social services professionals the information they need to create favorable outcomes when faced with parental refusal situations, including how to anticipate religious or cultural healthcare conflicts, how to work with the family and clergy to favorably resolve the conflict, and when and how to initiate legal action to save the child's life. Included are useful tools and checklists that should be posted in every emergency room and pediatric care unit.