Lethal injection nurse???

[Zhakrin]

hi everyone,

I just read that some states are looking into having nurses administer lethal injections to death row inmates. Since I have a questionable source my question will be hypothetical.

Would this be a p/t job you would consider?

How do you feel it fit/ or does not fit in to nursing?

I have very mixed feeling about this, i feel alot of anger when I think of people like Susan Smith (she the one who droend her kids right?). But I would not like anger to be my primary moviation in this context.

[night owl]

i'm not a rn, but it would be totally against my beliefs as a nurse and as a roman catholic... mortal sin. thou shalt not kill, i would think, includes rn's pushing lethal drugs to purposely kill another. if it's against the ethical code of nurses, why would a nurse even think of participating in such a thing? killing a convicted murderer is murder itself even though he/she was found guilty in a court of law. what gives anyone the right to kill another human being? court ruling or not, it's still murder. nurses shouldn't have that responsibility nor should anyone else. i would have a great deal of ptsd and would never have peace of mind ever again.

[Aide]

Hi people,

As a graduate of criminal justice I am opposed to capital punishment. The US is one of the only countries that still executes people and we are not in good company. Last I knew we had executed 400 people who were proven to be innocent. Several other cases have been overturned. One of the biggest arguments against the death penalty is that it is carried out with a racial bias. If the race of the victim is black the death penalty is never or seldom imposed. It is hard to really explain it unless the reader has a good grasp on social justice issues and criminology. You also need to be aware of the four main purposes of punishent understanding mitigating and aggravating circumstances. The federal Government can put some one to death in a non dp state. If that individual commits a federal crime or commits a crime on federal land. We have always been told that it is better to let a guilty man go free than to convict or for God forbid kill someone who is innocent. Remember to wrongs do not make a right. This is ruled a homicide and it is considered official murder! I am completely 100% against it and I hope we do a better job educating the public in the future. Remember politics play a huge role in many decisions and we as a system make mistakes. Dna should not only be used to convict the guilty but also to exhonerate the innocent. Just my professional opinion.

[Hooligan]

As soon as I finish my program and get my RN, I'm standing in line!!!!

[pebbles, BSN, RN]

All these bloodthirsty nurses....

[l-andrée]

Tricky subject...

I'm surprised at the reactions...

I would never be able to do it personally. Even if I think for some really really extreme cases dead could be a sentence. I understand the "logic" behind it, but I don't like the feel of it. And I don't understand how it can fit a nurse's job description...

I know we are involve in easing pain sometimes as close as euthanasia without saying it. If "euthanasia" is killing for humanitary reason, I suppose some could say the same for death sentences.

Still..........

[jschut, BSN, RN]

Nope~ Couldn't do it.

Vengenance is mine, sayeth the Lord.

Julie:)

[Ted]

Originally posted by Julielpn

Nope~ Couldn't do it.

Vengenance is mine, sayeth the Lord.

Ditto. . .

Ted

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

Howdy Yall

From deep in the heart of texas

i certainly couldnt do it. even though I live in one of the executingnest states in the union.

But I do have a question for yall.

When a nurse starts this persons IV do they have to use sterile technique, to prevent the possibility of infection

keep it in the short grass yall

teeituptom

[SKM-NURSIEPOOH, BSN, RN]

Originally posted by teeituptom

Howdy Yall

From deep in the heart of texas

i certainly couldnt do it. even though I live in one of the executingnest states in the union.

But I do have a question for yall.

When a nurse starts this persons IV do they have to use sterile technique, to prevent the possibility of infection

keep it in the short grass yall

teeituptom

[nightmoves]

Interesting discussion. Several years ago I worked for the NYS Department of Corrections, just at the time that a new governor was elected, primarily due to his pro-death penalty position (Please note: New York has not executed anyone since the death penalty was put back on the books, and in this state only 1) felony murder or 2) murder of a police or other law enforcement official are capital offenses.) At that time I recall a staff meeting with our nurse administrator who said that no role had been identified for a nurse in the execution process (even though our facility was not the designated "condemned" facility I find it interesting that he would stress this point.) The ANA Position Paper was cited during the course of this staff meeting.

Several of us had the reaction of "Yeah, but I'll push the Norcuron first!" where the rest of us wanted no involvement in the entire mess.

My personal take on this is that our legal system, while probably the best in the world in ensuring the criminal's rights, is, after all, flawed because all human activity is flawed. Nor have I ever considered the death penalty as the ultimate punishment. If you have ever smelled the stench of a Special Housing Unit (disciplinary unit) on an 85 degree day with an equal relative humidity, you would know what living hell is.

Without entering into the presumed guilt or innocence of any particular condemned inmate, I would like to point out that the average cost to the taxpayer to execute an inmate, by the time legal appeals are exhausted, is in the average of $5 million dollars. This, of course, includes the cost of housing that inmate until execution, so it does not just reflect legal costs.

I feel that a far better penalty is to lock them up and let them rot.

[ceecel.dee, MSN, RN]

No, no, never, never, unh, unh, unhhh!

[susanmary]

Never.