Male nurse kills 40 patients...what do you think?

[jdm33351]

I read this story on Yahoo news today and when I first saw the headline I thought the guy was a psycho. But it turns out the murders were actually mercy killings.

Would you help a terminally ill patient die, especially if you felt no one would ever find out what you did? I remember that when this issue came up in medical ethics there was a heated debate about whether it should be more morally acceptable to watch terminally ill patients suffer than to help them end their misery sooner.

I'm curious to know everyone's thoughts about this.

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

You knew the patient was going to die, the family wanted the patient extubated, the doctor ordered it. You, the chaplin and resp. therapist extubate the patient. Do you feel you are killing that patient?

There's a BIG difference between passive euthanasia (withdrawing life support on a terminal patient who is going to die anyway and is just being kept alive by "machines") and active euthanasia (lethal injections that cause the death, whether terminal or not). The first I could participate in (within legal bounds, of course); the second I could never participate in.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Originally posted by VickyRN

There's a BIG difference between passive euthanasia (withdrawing life support on a terminal patient who is going to die anyway and is just being kept alive by "machines") and active euthanasia (lethal injections that cause the death, whether terminal or not). The first I could participate in (within legal bounds, of course); the second I could never participate in.

Sorry Vicky, I wasn't talking euthanasia. I was talking about giving pain medicine to a terminal patient that is about to die and the family wants comfort measures, and the patient is a DNR.

A scenero such as a patient that is actively dying, vitals signs are poor, bp low, heart rate low, respirs low. The patient is moaning. The family says give him something, and you have doctors orders. You know the pain medicine may slow the respirations down too low and you're nervous it may even stop the respirations, but you know the patient is in some kind of distress, perhaps pain (say in a terminal cancer patient who prior to this has been in a lot of pain for months). You may even call the doctor who says give it now. Do you give the pain medicine?

This is way off topic, which is probably what is confusing you. Sorry.

In fact, I'm going to move this to another topic. Thanks.

[boxermom]

I am a nurse to promote life and ease suffering, I am not God. Patients should have a living will, which would help the doctor decide at what point to give in to the human condition of dying and stop measures to prolong life of a terminally ill person. A priest or minister should be involved to guide the person or family. Morphine should be used to ease suffering , not to help the person die faster.

Ethics comittee should be consulted.

[NUTTI]

This man should be put to death. He broke the law, he murdered those people. he should die. Just my opinon. Nurse or not, he should not be above the law regardless, what his feelings were. I do not believe this is the whole story. More than likely, he has killed more than this.