Holistic nurses group responds to Catholic bishops: 'Denying Reiki is unethical'

Is it ethical to deny Reiki treatment? Or to prevent a nurse from administering Reiki?

The American Holistic Nurses Association says no, in a statement issued in response to last month's new guidelines from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops denouncing Reiki and calling it "inappropriate for Catholic institutions." Since then, Reiki programs at some Catholic health-care facilities have been discontinued.

The AHNA points out that "the practice of holistic nursing is not subject to regulation by religious organizations such as the Catholic Church.

"Further, it is important to understand that any person, organization, or institution denying a patient Reiki or prohibiting a nurse from administering Reiki violates the ethical principles of patient and nurse autonomy."

The AHNA statement quotes Midge Murphy, JD, PhD, a professional liability risk management consultant:

"One of the essential core principles of health care ethics is respect for patient autonomy. Autonomy refers to the patient's self-rule and the opportunity to make meaningful choices. . . Disrespecting autonomy means ignoring, insulting, or demeaning those choices by not honoring the decisions and preferences of the patient . . . The [Catholic bishops'] Guidelines in effect would violate the ethical principle of patient autonomy because the Guidelines would deny a patient in a Catholic hospital or health care facility the right to choose Reiki as part of the patient's treatment plan." 

The statement goes on to point out that the bishops' guidelines also conflict with the AHNA's Standards and Scope of Practice. It also cites five studies "that support the efficacy of Reiki in reducing anxiety, reducing pain, facilitating wound healing, creating a sense of well being, increasing hemoglobin levels, and decreasing free radicals." The AHNA statement concedes that "studies involving Reiki are not conclusive and the exact mechanism in which Reiki healing occurs is unknown. . . 

"Not all natural phenomena are understood by science -- new discoveries are first ridiculed, then argued against, then accepted as obvious," the statement concludes.

Many thanks to holistic nurse and Reiki Master Teacher Lilia V. Marquez for alerting us to this news.