Helping patients kill themselves

[Cwoods]

Colorado is now the 5th state to adopt a form of physician-assisted suicide.

O' wait, I said that the wrong way... "Death with dignity" or "Right to die"

What do you think about the law?

Will it, at some point in the future, fall into NPs hands?

Apparently, insurance companies in California feel great about denying a terminally ill mother costly chemo tx and offering to subsidize a life-ending treatment for $1.20.

Can you imagine? I could potentially extend my life, again for my children, for a few months but bankrupt my family or I could end it all for the cost of a cheeseburger...

Assisted-suicide law prompts insurance company to deny coverage to terminally ill California woman - Washington Times

[pigginsrn]

That's the point though. Will providers that have moral objections to these practices be either forced to participate or give up their medical careers?

I believe that that people have the right to end their lives in the face of suffering however; no practitioner should be legally mandated to provide these services.

[Jules A, MSN]

That's the point though. Will providers that have moral objections to these practices be either forced to participate or give up their medical careers?

I believe that that people have the right to end their lives in the face of suffering however; no practitioner should be legally mandated to provide these services.

I'm fairly certain no matter how things play out people will not be forced to give up their careers due to refusing to participate in euthanasia. Although as discussed previously in this thread if it in fact is part of someone's job duties they will possibly need to find another position. Although not ideal it is a part of life making decisions we can live with. I personally don't believe in long term MAT for the majority, small minority yes, but not everyone especially adolescents therefore I don't work at one of those clinics and if my practice took a turn in that direction and required me to prescribe in that fashion I would find other work. Again not my personal ideal but just another choice we face as adults.

[LPC2RN]

OllieW,

It's interesting to me how your second paragraph totally contradicts your first paragraph. You hate how people "demand to force their beliefs on everyone else" and then follow that up with "It made me sick back then and it makes me sick now to think how others hold their own weak morals over the actual needs of others." So, in other words, everyone should act like you, right? You know, those people with their "weak morals." I think it is interesting that you take the position of "right to die" believing that it is a personal one and is nothing out of the ordinary, whereas history proves you wrong. This position you have on euthanasia has not been accepted by any Judeo-Christian culture or any long-standing society since the forming of these people groups.

[LPC2RN]

AllOfMyWat,

So I'm sure your logic applies to other areas as well, right? If you don't like spousal abuse, don't abuse your spouse. If you don't like child abuse, don't abuse your child. Does that work for you?

[NurseLauraM]

I think a lot of the resistance to PAS comes from fear of one's own death. We can't help but put ourselves in our patient's shoes in these scenarios and it's hard not to react strongly against the idea of choosing to end our own lives, especially since we are not actually feeling the immense pain that motivates a patient to prefer PAS.

I don't think it's fair to compare past painful experiences to those of individuals who are terminally ill. You survived. Maybe you even 'grew spiritually' from the experience. But what does a terminally ill patient have to gain from suffering if they won't ever live without it?

This might sound silly, but if you're having a hard time understanding what would make a suffering patient choose to end their life, imagine your most painful moment. Maybe it was childbirth, maybe a kidney stone, maybe a bad migraine. Now picture having that extreme pain, unremitting, with death as your only relief. Add to that the loss of dignity that accompanies incontinence and immobility. Does this help make things clearer?

In all honestly, when presented with the topic of PAS my gut reaction is fear. Yet, when I really try my hardest to put myself in a suffering, terminally ill patient's shoes, I understand the decision to opt for PAS. And I can't say that I wouldn't make the same choice.