Euthanasi The Nurse's Role In The Dying Process

****In this article nurses had raised some extended questions, “what is the nursing role in treating patients than physician-assisted suicide?” First, we need to define physician-assisted suicide “the provision to a patient by a medical health professional of the means of ending his or her own life” (Dilemma,2010). As we all know that the patient has the right to deny any kind of treatment at the patient’s proposal so we cannot view it as physician-assisted suicide but other than a respectful manner to the patient’s nobility and one’s own choice. Nurses encounter problems when caring for their terminally ill patient who request for a physician-assisted suicide. The Code of Ethics for Nurses, is a standard principle for nurses to abide by. When the end-of-life questions arises for nurses, “The Code of Ethics for Nurses” is to guide their practice so no

They provide the opinions of nurses nationwide and analyze suggestions from a large number of nurses to improve the care provided to patients at the end of their life. Since there are many suggestions as to how end-of-life care can be improved from not only a specific area of the United States but from nurses representing the nation as a whole, this proves that the care provided to these patients had become an issue. The authors have expertise in the nursing profession and have all acquired their PhD, proving that this is a reliable source. I will use this in my research paper to explore different ways of improving end-of-life care to help patients feel comfortable and how improving the system can cause physician-assisted suicide to no longer be

A study conducted in Spain, to explore this exact issue, was preformed in 2012. The results were very compelling and showed a lack of education and resources to professional nurses needed to properly handle patients requesting more information on PAS. The study performed consisted of 35 questions to distinguish basic knowledge in this area, attitudes towards this topic, and their personal experience with these types of conversations with patients. Of the 390 returned surveys, 59% of participants were able to appropriately identify a case of euthanasia, while 64% were able to appropriately identify a case of PAS. Majority of those surveyed felt a stronger sense to support legalizing euthanasia versus PAS (Tamayo - Velazques, Simon-Lorda, Cruz-Piqueras, 2012). While this study was not conducted in the United Sates, it is clear that education of professional nurses on the topic of PAS and euthanasia is imperative as this practice gains more momentum. There is a need to develop a resource and education program for professional nurses that encounter questions regarding hospice, palliative care, and other end of life

It is imperative that nurses, and other healthcare providers, take a professional and personal stance in the debate. Ethical arguments against assisted suicide include pain and suffering, patient autonomy, and the quality of life. Activist for PAD believe it represents empathy since it helps patients end their pain. Pro-assisted suicide supporters claim that this practice can be added to palliative care. But does legalizing assisted suicide undermine efforts to maintain and improve good care for patients nearing the end-of-life? A broad right to physician-assisted suicide could undermine the efforts, and the will, to ensure humane and dignified care for all patients facing terminal illness or severe disability. The doctor-patient relationship

This paper explores physician assisted suicide and how it relates to nursing professionals ethically along with the current regulations. Current regulations are examined by looking at the states individually that provide physician assisted suicide legally and exploring the guidelines to receive assistance in a lethal dose of medication. Individual state demographics are included to get an idea of who mainly participates in this type of suicide. Ethical issues related to physician assisted suicide are researched with looking at how professional organizations such as American Nurses Association (ANA) and American Psychological Association (APA) view and what stand they take ethically in the subject of physician assisted suicide. Finally, nursing implications are suggested on how to support the patient inquiring or participating in physician assisted suicide if the nurse chooses to participate after examining his or her own ethical beliefs on the subject.

Voluntary Euthanasia has been considered a controversial topic for many decades. The idea of committing an act that involves the taking of human life is not one that many people would care to discuss openly. The main argument is that a person who has been diagnosed with an incurable illness and is in extreme pain and their ability to move has been limited, while that person still has control over their destiney should they be allowed take their own life (Bowie, R.2001). The worldwide debate weather one should be allowed to end a life is still one of the biggest ethical issues. The attempt to providing the rights of the individual is in conflict with the moral values of society. Voluntary Euthanasia has been highly rejected by many religious and pro-life institutions.

I believe that as a nurse, you should be advocating the patients wishes and concerns no matter what they are. In the case of a terminally ill patient, I believe that the nurse should participate in euthanasia. The patient should be able to have a say in when to end their suffering if it is proven that they are not going to make it or get better. By having the patient as their number one priority, I think that nurses should advocate those wishes and be able to end their suffering because in 2.1 in The Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses, it states, “Because the nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, it carries the greatest weight and priority and consequently it trumps all other loyalties” (ANA, 2015, p. 26).

There has been much global debate as to whether physician-assisted suicide should be legalized. Physician-assisted suicide is defined as taking place “when a doctor helps a person to commit suicide by providing drugs for self-administration” (Tomlinson, Spector, Nurock, & Stott, 2015). Other means of assisted suicide include active euthanasia, which is an act undertaken by the physician himself that involves “…administering a lethal drug at the request of a patient with the explicit intention to hasten death” (Rietjens et al., 2006). For the purpose of this ethical review, the term “assisted suicide” will be used to envelop both active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide; the intent of this paper is to examine the arguments for and against assisted suicide from a nursing standpoint.

Active euthanasia is a subject that is raising a lot of concern in today’s society on whether or not it should be legalized and under what circumstances should it be allowed. This is a very tricky subject due to its ability to be misused and abused. There are a wide variety of things that need to be considered when it comes to who should be allowed to request active euthanasia such as, is it an autonomous choice, do they have a terminal illness, is their quality of life dramatically decreased, and are they in pain and suffering. Both James Rachel and Daniel Callahan have very different opinions on active euthanasia and whether or not it should be allowed. However both authors manage to provide a substantial argument on where they stand regarding active euthanasia.

NMC (2008) The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives. London: Nursing and Midwifery Council

In the article, “Case Twenty-Three: A Fevered Hand on a Cooling Brow-The Nurse’s Role in Aid in Dying” written by Peggy Connolly, David R. Keller, Martin G. Leever, Becky Cox White, the authors evaluate the role of nurses in the aid-in-dying (AID) process and object to the nurses’ traditional thinking of assisted suicide. A nurse’s duty is to relieve pain and suffering but with the option of offering patients AID, in the very few places where it is legal, it has nurses questioning whether participating in the process is ethical. Because of the various circumstances nurses encounter on a daily basis, they have numerous moral obligations which cannot be reduced to a single obligation. Nurses must prioritize which moral obligations are the most

Asch recognised that Euthanasia and assisted suicide was receiving a lot of attention of medial publications, public discussion and legislations. Euthanasia is defined as administering medication or performing an action with the intention of ending a person’s life. It is illegal in America and most of the world. He also recognised that the focus was primarily on physician’s roles in euthanasia and that nurses too could have a major role in this. He mailed surveys to 1600 critical care nurses in the USA and asked them to disclose any requests from patients, their family members or physicians to partake in euthanasia.

Euthanasia is a term that originated from the Greek language: eu meaning "good" and thanatos meaning "death". Generally, euthanasia implies the intentional termination of life that is initiated by a person who wishes to commit suicide. However, euthanasia has many meanings and as a result, has several terms that define and differentiate various types of euthanasia. For instance, passive euthanasia is altering a form of support thereby hastening the death of a person, i.e. removing life support or not delivering CPR. Causing the death of a person through a direct action and in response to the request of that person is considered active euthanasia. When information and/or the means are supplied by the physician to commit suicide, it is

Euthanasia is a controversial issue. Many different opinions have been formed. From doctors and nurses to family members dealing with loved ones in the hospital, all of them have different ideas for the way they wish to die. However, there are many different issues affecting the legislation and beliefs of legalizing euthanasia. Taking the following aspects into mind, many may get a different understanding as to why legalization of euthanasia is necessary. Some of these include: misunderstanding of what euthanasia really is, doctors and nurses code of ethics, legal cases and laws, religious and personal beliefs, and economics in end-of-life care.

The patient voluntarily wanted to end his life because he was suffering from Lou Gehrigs’s disease (Siu, 2008). Since then, the controversy over active euthanasia has remained an ethical dilemma for healthcare providers, patients and their family members in America and the rest of the world. The general public’s belief is that, health-care providers have professional obligations to save the lives of their patients regardless of their health status. The majority of the public feels that, healthcare workers’ involvement in the euthanasia practice is a betrayal of the “do no harm” oath. When a healthcare worker is involved in either active or passive euthanasia, it can be viewed as a disregard to this value. However, the proponents for euthanasia claim that a physician turning down a suffering patient’s request to end their life is also a violation to the “do no harm” oath (Siu, 2008). The right to die falls under patient’s autonomy and the basic question is whether individuals should be allowed to end their lives if they choose to do so (Sanders & Chaloner 2007). Those in the healthcare sector grapple with this notion on a daily bases because they have to practice under the codes of ethics guidelines. Nurses and doctors should be cautious in their practice as they balance the patient’s autonomy and their professional ethics and guidelines. Sanders & Chaloner (2007) pointed out that nurses and doctors know that a patient's autonomy