Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 75(1) February 2025
Report
Association of Catholic Nurses Ethics Conference
Report by Teresa Lynch, MSc, RGN, RNT
President of the Association
of Catholic Nurses
The sick were always a priority in the compassionate ministry of Jesus. We look forward to representing the Catholic Nurses Association at the annual World Day of the Sick to be held on Saturday, 8 February 2025 at Westminster Cathedral.
The eugenic ethos of a change in the law on Assisted Dying, can be seen in the emerging catastrophe of Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) law. The diminishing of palliative care provision and the drive for death in preference to life, is chilling. It could be described as ‘social murder’ of the vulnerable, a term coined by Freidrich Engels in his study of the treatment and deaths of English workers during the industrial revolution.
Due to the pressing need to see the defeat of the Leadbeater Bill, on Assisted Dying, we held our Ethics conference in September this year. This was attended by both Catholic nurses and some nursing members of Christian Medical Fellowship which was a good opportunity for networking.
The conference aim was to highlight the dangers for those managing aggressively secular cultures in health care.
Topics included an overview of ethical principles presented by the President of the Catholic Medical Association, Dr Mike Delaney. I explored the important nursing role of the patient advocate in our secular age. Dr Philip Howard, a retired Physician who is both medically and legally qualified, highlighted the strength and support required for the stressful and too often, very isolated role of Whistleblowers in healthcare who may pay for their courageous stand by the loss of their job.
A talk by the CEO of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, Mr John Deighan, emphasised our role in countering the creeping secularism which seduces by emotivism rather than true compassion and reason and which can become aggressive in word and action.
A Catholic barrister, Mr James Bogle, reminded us that the Code of Conduct can act as a protection for both patient and nurse within a ethically challenging work place where conscientious objection is required. Any gaps in professional protection can be filled by legal provision and the Christian Legal Centre is a helpful source of support. Other sources of support were outlined in the literature provided.
The anti-faith developments we see within a secular ethos can result in determined attempts for assisted suicide. Such a development is against all the Abrahamic faiths and Islam considers assisted suicide as a sin against God. This prohibition was a focus of the talk given by Dr Majid Katme, a retired Psychiatrist, Muslim pro-life doctor. He explained that many may be unaware of the tenets of Islam which are firmly against suicide and assisted suicide in particular. He reminded of the importance of patient depression to be acknowledged and treated.
The dangers of assisted suicide, include inevitable pressure on vulnerable patients and the problem of conscientious objection for staff in healthcare, all of which cannot be underestimated.
A firm commitment to offer true not false compassion, is what is expected of pro-life health professionals no matter how challenging a secular culture in the workplace. There is help available from within both the Catholic nursing and medical associations.