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

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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.

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We had a similar case in Southern California. Two nurses gave a terminal elderly patient pain medication, which was not authorized by the doctor, and which subsequently killed him.

They're now charged with involuntary manslaughter.

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Specializes in Hemodialysis, Home Health.

It's not his call. Not his choice to make. Period.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

It is not my place to play God. That is the bottom line.

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nurses should stay out of it. the pt should decided if they want to die then carry it out off hospital grounds and with family whom they have the agreement with.

I'm all for the right to die, but I don't want to be the one to do it because there will always be someone in the family who dosn't agree and you will become their target.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Originally posted by jnette

It's not his call. Not his choice to make. Period.

Nuff said jnette and I agree.

I have to detach myself when treating someone agressively when I know it's increasing their suffering. It's tough. It's one of the reasons I've stayed out of ICU (although I'm still going to work there one day).

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Specializes in Critical Care.

What a freak!

Noney

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Not to sound calous or anything, but don't we euthanize animals who are suffering because we fell it is the humane thing to do? Why then do we force people to live with pain and suffering. If a person chooses to die because they don't want to suffer anymore why not respect that wish. Yes, you are always going to have a family member who is going to disagree, but it's not their body, it's their loved one's body and they should be the one who has the say in the matter.

Just putting my two cents worth in.

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I have cared for my share of folks who have begged me to help them end their life and/or stop what we are doing (futile care). It is gutwrenching. My role here? Encourage an appropriate conversation with the patient's loved ones and doctors. And refer to ethics committee if my conscience so dictates. Period.

We are not Nurse Kavorkians.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

what jnette said. this makes me sick.

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

I have conflicted feelings about this. I know that when I first became a nurse 11 years ago I felt I KNEW the absolute right thing to do for every patient, who should be coded, who should be made comfortable and let go. I have found through the years that I have become much less confident in knowing the right path for all patients (not that I ever had any real control over these decisions). That's why I have such conflicted feelings about what this nurse did. The bottom line though is that it is not legal to do what he did even if the patients were actively asking for such a thing.

Slightly off topic . . . Do we still have to make the distinction "male nurse"? (my husband and I are both RN's but he is frequently given the additional label "male nurse"). I'm sure no harm was intended but we don't generally call certain nurses "African-American Nurse" or "Buddhist Nurse".

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