Assisted Suicide : A Controversial Issue

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Assisted suicide is a very controversial subject in the healthcare world and like most things there are a lot of areas that are not written in black and white. Though assisted suicide is only legal in five states it is still practiced all across the United States. In most cases, little to no information is provided to the families and the terminally ill patients on what assisted suicide truly is and what it not. It all has to do with the intent, but most conversations are reduced to a wink or nod and a type of unspoken understanding that prevents healthcare providers from being prosecuted, but in the process leaving the family members confused and with unanswered questions. If the same practices continue, in the future healthcare providers will have to deal with the challenges of sidestepping questions and leaving the families in the dark during one of the most emotional and intense time of their lives. Keywords: assisted suicide, illegal, nurses, healthcare The Gray Areas of Assisted Suicide The article I selected speaks about assisted suicide, a health care issue that is being debated by Americans. Assisted suicide or also known as physician assisted suicide (PAS) is defined as the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose (Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.). Currently assisted suicide is illegal in all states except Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Montana, and New Mexico. This
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