Another thread got me thinking.
Are there any people here that work in the medical field and did so as a JW?
Up until July of last year, I worked in a hospital laboratory as a phlebotomist (person who draws blood) and lab tech. I drew countless tubes of blood from people for "type and crossmatch." This meant they were going to have a blood transfusion.
I often coordinated with local blood banks in placing orders for PRBC (packed red blood cells), platelets, plasma, etc.
Once out of curiousity I asked an elder if doing so was violating god's law. I was told that it didn't since that was my occupation and I was only doing my job. I don't have them in front of me, but there have been some WTs that have said the same thing. Of course it said it was a conscience matter but laid out some scenarios like mine.
~~Tangent--I'm not defending the JW blood stance, but coming from someone in the medical field, there are risks associated with blood transfusions. True there are risks with everything, but really it is much better if you know your donor!
If someone receives plasma (the clear, light yellowish component of blood), chances are it was collected at a plasma center. Because it is a lengthy process to collect plasma, plasma centers will usually pay donors. Since people are paid for donating plasma, it attracts donors from the homeless, drug using, and generally skeezy populations of the city. Yes, the collection centers test for blood bourne diseases, but some blood bourne diseases have a lengthy incubation period in the body (e.g. hepatatis, hiv, etc.) and in theory could go undetected and then passed on. This doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen. I know the JWs use stuff like this to scare people away from blood.
Anyway, if you decide to receive blood and have the opportunity, donate your own or if you're fortunate enough to have a friend or family member that's your type, get the blood from them!~~
I knew a nurse who was a JW but she ended up disassociating herself.
But most of the JWs who I knew that worked in my hospital were...can you guess....environmental (janitors) and dietary (cafeteria) workers. It used to piss me off when they would come by the lab on their breaks and lunches to hang out. First of all, I was damn busy! Second of all, I didn't much appreciate them coming into the lab, plopping down in the break room and reading the paper or pulling out their WT to read (it was embarrasing). Thirdly, I had a problem with one of the holier than thou janitors look down his nose at me because of the nature of my job and because I often had to swing shift and miss meetings. F*^k him!
Oh, and if there was a brother or sister in the hospital, I was expected to look in on them and make myself available to them. Granted that wasn't part of my job, but I was frequently told, "Sister J is in the hospital. If you get a chance, I told her I would let you know so that you could look in on her from time to time." Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind doing that if I had the time, but sometimes I was so busy that I didn't even get my lunch break. I certainly didn't have the time to go and sit with them.
I was also put in the position where they wanted me to break HIPPA laws ("Hospital Information Privacy and Protection Act) by asking about the condition of witnesses in the hospital. First, as a lab tech, I wasn't usually privy to that kind of information, and second, I could have lost my job for divulging confidential information. When I informed them of what HIPPA laws meant, they would back off but I used to be amazed at their presumption.
Anyone else in the medical field? Have any stories?