Euthanasia is a very touchy subject, especially within the medical field. As a healthcare advocate, it is our job as professionals to better the lives of our patients. What happens when there is nothing more you can do?
I understand, being a Home Health Aide that works a lot with Hospice, that comfort care is important. But truly, when a suffering patient looks to you to ease the pain what do you do? Should you apologize and say their is nothing more I can do?
I can hardly say no more treats to my cat when he gives puppy dog eyes, much less a patient dying alone of cancer. In my opinion, for what it is worth, Euthanasia is most certainly not murder and should never be referred to as such.
If Euthanasia was legal, but very strict in regulations and rules, it would be very beneficial to many terminally ill patients. This may be the only healthcare decision a patient makes within their life, and they should be allowed to make such a decision when conditions permit. We all have choices in this world, what gives you or I the right to take such choices away from someone in such a situation.
What is your opinion? Do you agree or disagree? Do you have a story, personal or not that pertains to this topic?
I was just thinking today that if there were ever an issue I'd get politically involved with, it's making assisted suicide, and eventually euthanasia, legal. I am originally from Oregon and it is there and if I were to find myself with a terminal illness I'd move right back.
This is how I felt anyway, but it became even more solidified after putting a pet down the first time recently. She was obviously suffering and I didn't want to keep her alive for 5 minutes longer than I did. I would very much hate to be in that position as a human being, but no one kind enough to help me. It takes a long time to die naturally, even when actively dying. No thank you.
I think it's a natural progression of the PSDA. I hope. I am surprised it is still only legal in what, two states? Three?
It's 100% related to me being Catholic. Human lives are not ours to take, not even our own. Obviously I believe in palliative care. I disagree that dying naturally lacks dignity. Euthanasia and assisted suicide advocates call their cause "death with dignity" and that really pisses me off. Hospice is all about respecting dignity and preserving it as well as possible for our patients. I think the attitude of prettying up suicide and murder with terminology like dignity both comes from a utilitarian view of human life and is used as a marketing strategy. Who doesn't want dignity? Just don't peep under that he surface at all those ethical issues.....
I saw an article recently that articulated my thoughts really well. I'll find it and post it.
If you don't believe "human lives are not ours to take", what's your view on people who chose treatments, procedures, etc that carry a high risk of death? Isn't that gambling something that isn't ours to gamble? What about measures to bring comfort that are likely to shorten lifespan?
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
I believe that Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia are two separate but related issues. I also believe that as we perfect our abilities to palliate noxious symptoms and pain as people approach death that fewer people will seek this type of solution. Additionally, access to comprehensive mental health care would help many folks who struggle with depression and hopelessness as they learn to "live" with chronic and dignity robbing diseases and conditions.
I am more comfortable with the concept of assisted suicide as it implies that the person his/her self would be the individual who causes the death. Euthanasia opens all sort of ugly imagined scenarios in which one might imagine a nefarious agenda in which an elderly or ill family member is killed off to remove care giving responsibilities or to facilitate division of estate assets. Everyone who has worked for any amount of time in hospice or home care could likely provide examples of family members that would seem capable of similar behavior.
Having said all of that, I am not an advocate of health professionals being in the business of actively ending the lives of people. I speak out against health professionals engaged in life ending behavior for our criminal justice system and I don't believe it should be a portion of what we do in the health care world either.
When it comes to the Christian views of suicide I have to reinforce what others have said; our individual religious or spiritual beliefs have no place in the decisions of our patients. They may do as they see fit for them, their beliefs, and their needs within the laws of the land. What I might feel personally about it should have no standing in the care of that individual.
There are something like 6 or 7 suicides described in the Bible. IMV, most of them are relatively obscure characters. In none of the instances is there Biblical condemnation of the deaths or methods. There is nothing to suggest that they have broken some spiritual rule that precludes them from the saving grace of God because they took their own lives. Clearly we are taught that taking another life is against the will of God, but there is clear evidence that committing murder does not mean that you have no portion of God's mercy or are denied eternity in heaven. Moses and David (to name but two) were murderers, yet they are revered in the Christian and Jewish traditions. Samson completed a suicide but it was sort of a suicide bomber sort of affair also killing "enemy combatants" and he is considered a hero of sorts because of it.
Murder and Mercy imply that someone is doing something to the patient. In euthanasia the patient should always be the one to carry out the actions that lead to their death if they wish it. It would be therefore considered suicide. not murder or mercy.
It is not the role of the nurse to participate in a patient's suicide (the active process of ending one's life through medical means) either directly by administering drugs, or indirectly by handing the drugs to the patient knowing their intent.
I would never consider participating in such a thing. I am a believer in good hospice care. I am also a believer in, if the family or patient so choose, withdrawing supportive care (vents, feeding tubes, IV nutrition, vasopressors, etc) and allowing natural death to occur while giving adequate pain and comfort meds. This is much different than euthanasia.
What makes me really sad is we have a local hospital that uses hospice rarely, and on occasion will discharge to hospice knowing the patient is in their final hours and the hospital doesn't want the death to be reflected in their statistics. THAT sickens me.
As a matter of interest, a recent poll of physicians about this topic showed that although many physicians felt uncomfortable with this entire topic with regards to their patients, they were perfectly clear about wanting that big slug of morphine when they asked it for themselves. Hypocrites, cowards.
As for me, if I am in the bed and I ask you for that big bolus of fentanyl to be followed three or four minutes later by a big bolus of potassium, I will come back and haunt you to the end of your days (and perhaps beyond) if you don't give it to me. If I don't ask you for it, then you can feel better. But if I do ask you for it, it's because I am tired of feeling a lot less than better.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
As a matter of interest, a recent poll of physicians about this topic showed that although many physicians felt uncomfortable with this entire topic with regards to their patients, they were perfectly clear about wanting that big slug of morphine when they asked it for themselves. Hypocrites, cowards.
As for me, if I am in the bed and I ask you for that big bolus of fentanyl to be followed three or four minutes later by a big bolus of potassium, I will come back and haunt you to the end of your days (and perhaps beyond) if you don't give it to me. If I don't ask you for it, then you can feel better. But if I do ask you for it, it's because I am tired of feeling a lot less than better.
Fortunately, I don't believe in ghosts or hauntings and I would give you the dose of fentanyl but would not follow it with potassium, even if you threaten me with haunting.
As a matter of interest, a recent poll of physicians about this topic showed that although many physicians felt uncomfortable with this entire topic with regards to their patients, they were perfectly clear about wanting that big slug of morphine when they asked it for themselves. Hypocrites, cowards.
Totally agree with you. Either have the balls to be intellectually consistent or shut up. Blech.
We see this in hospice all the time. It's disgusting. I've already told my husband that if I go first and he acts that way, I will come back and haunt his ass.
Haha, we think alike.
I've always told my husband that I'll come back and haunt him if he allows me to wallow in misery for weeks or months on end, develop painful open wounds in my skin and flesh, have tubes coming out of every opening in my body, not be able to communicate or move at will and just generally rot away in front of his eyes.
I'll take the "I told my husband" stories one step further: my husband is NOT my POA. Of course, the person I did choose will not go and make decisions without my husband's input, but she is smart, strong, and compassionate enough to explain to him if I do or do not have a chance at meaningful recovery should I ever have to be on life support.
My grandmother, an 83 y/o woman with COPD, Emphysema, type 2 diabetes, CHF and about a half dozen other conditions, decided to stop ALL of her medication WITHOUT telling her doctor, so she would die.
She was sick of not being able to breathe, walk to the bathroom or cook dinner. She thought if she d/c'd everything she would die quickly, but it took 6 agonizing, horrible, suffering months. The only one who knew about it was my Grandfather, until the last few months when family went to visit. (They lived 12 hours away)
We were able to get hospice involved finally, and make her last days as comfortable as possible, but it makes me really sad that she couldn't just go to her doctor and let him know she didn't want to be kept alive anymore, because that's what the meds were doing. They were keeping her alive when she really should have died a long time ago.
It was her choice, she wanted to die. She had no quality of life left, and was suffering.
I've always believed in helping patients who were actively dying in ending their suffering. I'm on the fence when it comes to someone who isn't exactly terminally I'll, but who is certainly not able to "live". Especially, when the only reason they are alive is because of the med's they take every day, but I think they should have the choice and our government shouldn't be able to stop them.
Is it really "euthanasia" if they're living on borrowed time?
In a perfect world, we'd be able to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis, and that's what I'd love to see happen, but it won't.
It's 100% related to me being Catholic. Human lives are not ours to take, not even our own. Obviously I believe in palliative care. I disagree that dying naturally lacks dignity. Euthanasia and assisted suicide advocates call their cause "death with dignity" and that really pisses me off. Hospice is all about respecting dignity and preserving it as well as possible for our patients. I think the attitude of prettying up suicide and murder with terminology like dignity both comes from a utilitarian view of human life and is used as a marketing strategy. Who doesn't want dignity? Just don't peep under that he surface at all those ethical issues.....
I saw an article recently that articulated my thoughts really well. I'll find it and post it.
My moral limitations apply to me and my practice. I will politically advocate against laws with which I disagree, in full understanding that my side may lose.
I am not Catholic but I agree with your stance as I am a hospice nurse and think we should focus on palliative and hospice care. We don't have to jump straight to euthanasia.
As medical folks, we need to do more education about Morphine Sulfate and other drugs that ease pain. People are so afraid of MS and it is one huge challenge in hospice to educate family members.
I am a huge fan of Wesley J. Smith and agree with his take.
ShelbyaStar
468 Posts
I was just thinking today that if there were ever an issue I'd get politically involved with, it's making assisted suicide, and eventually euthanasia, legal. I am originally from Oregon and it is there and if I were to find myself with a terminal illness I'd move right back.
This is how I felt anyway, but it became even more solidified after putting a pet down the first time recently. She was obviously suffering and I didn't want to keep her alive for 5 minutes longer than I did. I would very much hate to be in that position as a human being, but no one kind enough to help me. It takes a long time to die naturally, even when actively dying. No thank you.
I think it's a natural progression of the PSDA. I hope. I am surprised it is still only legal in what, two states? Three?