How does one determine when someone should die, when someone should heal, when someone should feel pain, or when someone should end their life? The topic of physician-assisted suicide or physician-assisted end of life is a very hot topic in this country. Only three states fully recognize this in a positive way and have laws now in place to allow physicians to help their patients end their life when they are facing a terminal illness. The first and groundbreaking state that introduced such a law is Oregon. The law is called, "Oregon 's Death with Dignity Law." It allows physicians to write prescriptions for patients for lethal medications which can only be taken orally by the patient who wishes to end his/her life. Brittany Maynard was
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How does justice pertain to physician-assisted suicide? Justice is giving patients their due and treating them fairly. Every patient should be treated with respect and dignity just the same as all other patients. Each patient should be able to have access to similar treatments as another patient with similar factors and diagnoses. If each patient has the right to refuse any treatment that could prolong his/her life, then the only treatment left to ensure no pain and suffrage is physician assisted-suicide. Each patient should be able to receive as best of an equal treatment as others would. So, if a patient with a terminal illness opts out of treatments that would prolong their life with more pain and less dignifying loss of independence to be treated equally, they should be offered physician assisted-suicide treatment. This treatment would be the best option that would equal other treatments offered to similar patients, but just don 't prolong their life. This also pertains to treating the patient fairly and with respect to the wishes he/she chooses. Not becoming bias, if say, a 35-year-old patient with a terminal illness decides physician-assisted suicide over a clinical trial treatment and a nurse thinks that the patient is still so young and in his/her prime years, should be taking treatment over physician-assisted suicide. …show more content…
Even if those options go against peoples ' own morals. The main purpose, from a nursing perspective, is to help heal and advocate for patients. If a patient has a condition which can never be "healed," why wouldn 't we as nurses want to advocate for our patients to receive the next best of care of physician-assisted suicide? I hope to see in the near future more states opening up to the idea of physician-assisted suicide. If this practice can be justified by at least two principles of nursing ethics, it doesn 't make sense that it is not readily available "treatment" for people to chose that have a terminal disease. Instead, patients in the other 49 states must suffer in pain, loss of independence and
How does justice pertain to physician-assisted suicide? Justice is giving patients their due and treating them fairly. Every patient should be treated with respect and dignity just the same as all other patients. Each patient should be able to have access to similar treatments as another patient with similar factors and diagnoses. If each patient has the right to refuse any treatment that could prolong his/her life, then the only treatment left to ensure no pain and suffrage is physician assisted-suicide. Each patient should be able to receive as best of an equal treatment as others would. So, if a patient with a terminal illness opts out of treatments that would prolong their life with more pain and less dignifying loss of independence to be treated equally, they should be offered physician assisted-suicide treatment. This treatment would be the best option that would equal other treatments offered to similar patients, but just don 't prolong their life. This also pertains to treating the patient fairly and with respect to the wishes he/she chooses. Not becoming bias, if say, a 35-year-old patient with a terminal illness decides physician-assisted suicide over a clinical trial treatment and a nurse thinks that the patient is still so young and in his/her prime years, should be taking treatment over physician-assisted suicide. …show more content…
Even if those options go against peoples ' own morals. The main purpose, from a nursing perspective, is to help heal and advocate for patients. If a patient has a condition which can never be "healed," why wouldn 't we as nurses want to advocate for our patients to receive the next best of care of physician-assisted suicide? I hope to see in the near future more states opening up to the idea of physician-assisted suicide. If this practice can be justified by at least two principles of nursing ethics, it doesn 't make sense that it is not readily available "treatment" for people to chose that have a terminal disease. Instead, patients in the other 49 states must suffer in pain, loss of independence and