Part of being human also includes having feelings that may not be the best towards a patient; no harm done just acknowledging them :)
If someone does take the assignment they need to give the best care they can. Doesn't mean they have to like it...
I agree. I just don't know if I could take on such an assingment. I would think of the 11 children this man raped and murdered - I don't know if I could separate my feelings from my duties. I would really hope I could. Like someone else said, its not for us to judge - I am certain this man is paying his dues now.
To those that I say they could, I only have the greatest admiration for. Kudos to you all.
My mentality is, if I were to withhold any type of care from someone out of spite or my own personal feelings/beliefs, it wouldn't make me much better than the person who I felt did wrong.
that's how i see it as well.
i've taken care of a pedophile, parent(s) that beat their children senseless, psychopaths that haven't a whit of conscience, and all sorts of low-lifes from all walks of life.
i keep myself detachedl...kind of dissociating and rise above it all.
it helps that i have never believed in an eye for an eye.
besides, i figure this dude is dying...
and s/he hasn't a clue as to what's ahead for him/her.
i have faith in believing God will handle all of 'em.
I've looked after a man who raped his children (male and female, the girls to the point where 1 couldn't have kids). I looked after him, gave him meds appropriately, and felt like I was doing something shameful by looking after him. I did the right things by him, but my heart was not in it. I wanted to go home and take a bath in bleach just from being near the guy.
However...I just happened to find out about this guy's past while trying to obtain a surgical consent. How many times have I been the nurse to someone as bad or even worse, without knowing? Have I coded and brought back someone that went on to continue to rape/murder/etc., and I never knew? It's not like all the serial killers wear big signs...they're successful because the blend in and look just like everyone else. At some point, have I helped "fix" a Jeffery Dahlmer, a Ted Bundy, a Jack the Ripper so they could go off and do it some more?
That's the kinda stuff that'll keep you awake at night.
I've looked after a man who raped his children (male and female, the girls to the point where 1 couldn't have kids). I looked after him, gave him meds appropriately, and felt like I was doing something shameful by looking after him. I did the right things by him, but my heart was not in it. I wanted to go home and take a bath in bleach just from being near the guy.
However...I just happened to find out about this guy's past while trying to obtain a surgical consent. How many times have I been the nurse to someone as bad or even worse, without knowing? Have I coded and brought back someone that went on to continue to rape/murder/etc., and I never knew? It's not like all the serial killers wear big signs...they're successful because the blend in and look just like everyone else. At some point, have I helped "fix" a Jeffery Dahlmer, a Ted Bundy, a Jack the Ripper so they could go off and do it some more?
That's the kinda stuff that'll keep you awake at night.
I hear ya. I just keep thinking- could I have kept this creep comfortable in his last days?? I honestly don't know. I hope I never have to face this decision.
Paul Bernardo ( another famous Canadian serial killer ) looked like a nice, respectful young man (in fact, that's how he got his vicitms to trust him). If he were my pt prior to being convicted, I'd think "what a nice young man.."
Two wrongs don't make a right is my point of view. I started doing this to help people (with their health) whether they are murders, victims, or just in need of a helping hand.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
For nurses who have ethical dilemmas caring for criminals, Corrections wouldn't be the field for them. But you can end up caring for someone in the hospital who has committed heinous acts.
You just have to tell yourself, if you wanted to be judge and juror, you would have gone into the legal system. Nurses are supposed to alleviate human suffering, period. I've found this approach has helped me get past the ethical dilemmas.
Is it not the responsibility of a nurse to do right by their patient?
Does the nurse have the obligation to decide what the "right" thing is, in accordance with the patient's life history? I hope not! Sure, your heart may not be in it, you won't be happy about it, but the nurse has an obligation to direct patient care as needed. That patient requiring medical care may be a sweet little lady who refuses to kill spiders and smells like cookies, or the patient may be a 40-smth male convicted of possessing staggering amounts of child Mediaography.
Just because you are attending to a patient's medical needs does in no way mean that their thoughts and actions become your responsibility and your burden.
but what do I know, I'm not even a nursing student yet.
Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.
I think it's one thing to think about this hypothetically, "what would you do if..?", and a whole other thing to actually do it. We can say we'd care for anyone with no biases in the care we give, but if we really had to do it, what then? I think most would do their best to do their best, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have a huge emotional impact.
Thank you to those who have shared actual experiences in this. It's a biggie....
I think it's one thing to think about this hypothetically, "what would you do if..?", and a whole other thing to actually do it. We can say we'd care for anyone with no biases in the care we give, but if we really had to do it, what then? I think most would do their best to do their best, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have a huge emotional impact.
Thank you to those who have shared actual experiences in this. It's a biggie....
Exactly!
I can't help picturing myself getting ready to give this person some pain meds, and then picturing him raping and killing 11 children. It's really difficult.
I hear ya. I just keep thinking- could I have kept this creep comfortable in his last days?? I honestly don't know. I hope I never have to face this decision.
Paul Bernardo ( another famous Canadian serial killer ) looked like a nice, respectful young man (in fact, that's how he got his vicitms to trust him). If he were my pt prior to being convicted, I'd think "what a nice young man.."
A LOT of criminals don't look "that bad"....if they did, they'd have fewer victims because we all think we know what someone "should" look like who is some monster.
If anybody wants to know how to help protect themselves- see my page here on AN. it's by no means anything foolproof...just opens up eyes when you see how to locate info about sexual predators (not the same as the OP- but similar issue).
I would do what I had to do, do it how I normally did it, and hate every minute of it....mostly because of the kids who didn't have a chance. But if I take an assignment (and I've only refused one - and that was because of inadequate pain control over an extended period of time), I'm "in"....but nothing says I have to, or am obligated to, like it. :twocents:
:twocents:
xtxrn, ASN, RN
4,267 Posts
What I got from the OP is how other nurses would feel- nothing more. :)