Posthumous Organ Donation in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism: How Religious Beliefs Shape the Decision to Donate.

Evidence indicates that the religious beliefs of patients, potential donors, family members, and healthcare professionals play an important role in deciding to donate an organ. We aim to summarize the religious views of Christians, Muslims, and Jews on organ donation contributing to the decision-making process. Different approaches to this topic worldwide are presented, providing helpful information for medical professionals. A literature review was conducted regarding the view of Israel's leadership of the three largest religions on organ transplantation. This review revealed that all Israeli central religious leaders have a positive view on organ donation. However, various aspects of the transplantation process (such as consent, brain death, and respect for the dead body) must be carried out as each religion prescribes. Thus, understanding the different religious views and regulations on organ donations may help reduce religious concerns about transplantation and narrow the gap between the need and the availability of organ donations.

Psychological distress and perceived job stressors among hospital nurses and physicians during the COVID-19 outbreak.

AIMS: The study examined self-reported job-related stressors induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and psychological distress among hospital nurses and physicians. In addition, we explored the role of negative affect (NA) and background variables in relation to COVID-19-related job stressors and psychological distress. BACKGROUND: During COVID-19 pandemic, hospital nurses and physicians were exposed to highly enduring occupational stress, that stem from subjective appraisal of inadequate job resources (i.e., personal protection equipment, information on how to manage safely in the ongoing work and organizational attention to the needs arising from the ongoing work). DESIGN: Cross-sectional design. METHODS: Between May and July 2020, 172 nurses and physicians working at a medical centre in Israel filled in self-report questionnaires about sociodemographic data, COVID-19-related job stressors, psychological distress and NA. RESULTS: Our results confirmed the positive direct link between perceived COVID-19-related job stressors and psychological distress among hospital nurses and physicians. NA was found to serve as a mediator in this association (indirect link). Furthermore, nurses and physicians' seniority was related positively to psychological distress and also played a moderator role in the indirect link. CONCLUSION: We recommend to monitor the mental health of hospital nurses and physicians and to provide a platform to address their job stressor concerns related to COVID-19, and share helpful coping strategies. IMPACT STATEMENT: During the abrupt COVID-19 outbreak, hospital nurses and physicians face challenges that might raise NA and psychological distress. Our study revealed that among hospital nurses and physicians, COVID-19-related perceived job stressors and psychological distress were positively linked, and NA plays a mediating role in this association. Among nurses and physicians with moderate or high years of seniority (>11 years), higher COVID-19-related perceived job stressors associated with higher NA, which in turn was associated with greater psychological distress. Policymakers would be wise to provide a platform to address hospital nurses and physicians' mental health.

"It's like we're at war": Nurses' resilience and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic forced healthcare workers to use all their professional and personal skills to battle it. The unexpected onset of the disease has led to extraordinary pressure on healthcare workers and has challenged their resilience. The study aimed to explore the subjective experiences of 18 Israeli nurses who are directly treating COVID-19 patients, and to identify the sources of resilience used by nurses to address national health crises. The data were gathered via semi-structured interviews and thematically analyzed. The analysis yielded three central analytic themes that described the nurses' experiences during the pandemic: maneuvering between professional demands and personal-family life; the nurses' coping strategies and resilience; and nurses' use of metaphorical military language as a way of coping with the difficulties. The findings show that in a time of severe health crisis, and despite the fear of infection, nurses adhere to the values of the profession and are willing to fight the virus to save lives. The nurses' extensive use of military metaphorical language reflected their experiences, strengthened them, and provided them with a source of empowerment in the face of a common enemy that needed to be overcome.

Underground Gamete Donation in Sunni Muslim Patients.

This qualitative study focuses on the "underground" practices of Sunni Muslim physicians and patients who are performing and undergoing religiously prohibited third-party gamete donation. It is based on face-to-face interviews with two Sunni Muslim gynecologists and 25 Sunni Muslim women who underwent third-party gamete donation treatments and gave birth to a baby. The analysis of the interviews sheds light on patients' experiences regarding donation and explores the experiences of the gynecologists. The patients shared with us their inner conflict regarding childbearing using either donated sperm or a donated egg. They expressed a subversive attitude toward the religious authorities and the Islamic fatwa (religious ruling) that prohibits third-party gamete donation. The gynecologists provide fertility care involving third-party gamete donation despite Islamic religious prohibitions; in consequence, they suffer feelings of guilt for their actions. The study participants challenge accepted binary conceptions regarding the boundaries between religious laws and the desire to produce offspring, between what is allowed and what is forbidden, between guilt and happiness, and between the desire to maintain a marital relationship and the desire to comply with cultural-religious rules. Based on Gloria Anzaldua's theory of the borderlands, and the context-informed approach, this study underscores the importance of giving voice to Sunni Muslim patients who underwent third-party gamete donation treatments and contributes to a deeper understanding of their dilemma of finding a reproductive solution that does not run counter to religious values.

'I Prefer To Die at Home With Dignity': Perceptions of Death Rituals Among Religious Muslim Kidney and Liver Transplant Patients With COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Kidney and liver transplant recipients may be at a high risk of contracting acute COVID-19 due to chronic immunosuppression and comorbidities. These patients receive combinations of immunosuppressive drugs, altering their innate and adaptive immunity, thus, rendering them more susceptible to bacterial and viral infections and higher mortality. Kidney and liver transplant recipients frequently exhibit one or several risk factors, increasing the risk for unfavorable outcomes. METHODS: This qualitative study explores perceptions of religious rituals and practices relating to COVID-19 deaths among Muslim kidney and liver transplant recipients during the first, second, third, and fourth waves, focusing on their tendency to unlawfully refuse to be hospitalized due to their objection to certain guidelines that prevent or restrict religious practices and traditions. A qualitative study based on interviews with 35 older, religious Muslim liver and kidney transplant recipients was conducted face-to-face and on Zoom. RESULTS: Our findings indicated the absence of acceptable and respectful death rites for the deceased in the event of death from COVID-19, spurring the refusal of older, religious Muslim transplant recipients in Israel to be hospitalized after contracting COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: To address these concerns, health authorities and religious leaders must collaborate to find solutions that satisfy the requirements of both the health system and the religious Muslim community.

"Care About us First": Israeli Youths' Perspectives on Child Neglect.

Child neglect is considered the most common form of child maltreatment with severe implications for children's development. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of scholarly literature examining child neglect, possibly stemming from a lack of consistent definition. The current qualitative study addresses this gap by aiming to understand the phenomena of child neglect from the direct perspective of youth from the general population, a perspective that has so far barely been considered. Data were collected by 10 focus groups conducted among multicultural youth aged 12 to 15 years in the north of Israel. The qualitative-thematic analysis generated three main themes, each including several subthemes: (a) experience of neglectful behavior (lack of parental care, lack of parental priority, dynamics of blaming the child, rejection, and relinquishment of the child); (b) instrumental characteristics of neglect (lack of material and financial investment in the child, expressions of neglect in providing food and nutrition, poor appearance and hygiene of the child and home); (c) lack of parental involvement (lack of parental guidance, lack of communication and availability, lack of presence in the child's life). The perspectives of the Israeli youth resembled existing conceptualizations of child neglect. The youth also added a new dimension to the conceptualizations in their focus on the emotional context involved in the range of neglectful behaviors they described. This new conceptualization of child neglect is discussed together with some suggestions for how it can inform better professional practice.

Contextualizing risk and protection: Perceptions of Bedouin mothers from unrecognized villages in the Naqab.

This qualitative study utilizes ecological theory, a context-informed perspective, and an interactive model to study minority children, while considering structural factors, oppression, segregation, power dynamics, and awareness of the political context. It examines perceptions of risk and protection using "snowball" sampling of 33 Bedouin mothers, citizens of Israel, from the unrecognized villages (UVs) in the Naqab in Southern Israel. Data were collected via in-depth, semistructured interviews during 2011 to 2013. The interviews were thematically analyzed and then arranged according to the 5 contextual levels of the ecological systems theory. The findings demonstrate a wide range of risks to child development including immediate physical environment, lack of supervision, child characteristics, relationships in the child's life, difficult life conditions, sociopolitical risks, and risks related to the entry of technology. Despite these numerous risk factors, Bedouin families cope by trying to prevent risks, utilizing the mothers' constant investment in their children, family and tribal support, spirituality and religious beliefs, the positive use of technology, formal education, and cultural identity. Our findings suggest that marginalization and political discrimination affect child development on different contextual levels. Moreover, the findings highlight the need to include parental voices in discourse on risk and protection and the contribution of a context-informed perspective that includes awareness of historical and political effects. (PsycINFO Database Record