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.
Tell your husband to tell people the same thing I do... when people say "oh... you're a male nurse?" I reply "no, I take care of the ladies, too!" : )
I didn't even know about this until my nightly visit to allnurses.com--- This guy was doing this about 50 minutes down the turnpike from where I live in PA!!!
I have a few Questions about this such as do you withhold morphine from someone who is agonizing in pain but resp rate is too low? Even if the order states you could give it if you withhold it how can you be a good nurse-letting this person suffer like that and if you give it are you a good nurse for easing the suffering and possibly killing the pt? Also what about things like peg tubes that may prolong a persons life but is there any quality? I have struggled with these questions and have never come up with a morally right or wrong answer.
I know for myself in a terminal situation I would want morphine enough to keep me comfortable no matter what my resp.,and I would want NO peg tube also just a HL please dont keep me well hydrated while I starve slowly to death
As I said this is a very hard question one that I beleive has no answer.
But this man gave these people meds that were unneeded to ease their suffering (such as pain meds) but gave them meds to intentionally kill them and that is a no brainer its murder
Well for what it's worth one of the neighboring town's newspapers only addressed it as:
Ex-N.J. Nurse Says He Killed More Than 30
By TOM BELL
SOMERVILLE, N.J. - A former nurse was charged with murder Monday after telling prosecutors that he has killed 30 to 40 severely ill patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 1987 by injecting them with drugs.....clipped...
If it were legal and there were guidelines set up, I would participate in euthanasia because I think it is cruel to force people to suffer when they are begging to be helped. Unfortunately it isn't legal, so I will not OD my patients.
If it were legal and there were guidelines set up, I would participate in euthanasia because I think it is cruel to force people to suffer when they are begging to be helped. Unfortunately it isn't legal, so I will not OD my patients.
Agreed, but there would have to be very specific guidelines. I think patients should be allowed to choose how their life ends, and they can by signing a DNR. For now, I will keep my patients comfortable and help them pass with dignity... naturally.
I have a few Questions about this such as do you withhold morphine from someone who is agonizing in pain but resp rate is too low? Even if the order states you could give it if you withhold it how can you be a good nurse-letting this person suffer like that and if you give it are you a good nurse for easing the suffering and possibly killing the pt? Also what about things like peg tubes that may prolong a persons life but is there any quality? I have struggled with these questions and have never come up with a morally right or wrong answer.
I know for myself in a terminal situation I would want morphine enough to keep me comfortable no matter what my resp.,and I would want NO peg tube also just a HL please dont keep me well hydrated while I starve slowly to death
As I said this is a very hard question one that I beleive has no answer.
But this man gave these people meds that were unneeded to ease their suffering (such as pain meds) but gave them meds to intentionally kill them and that is a no brainer its murder
This opens up a whole nother can of worms. In the process of a person dying I don't withold pain medication. If and only if the patient is in the process of dying and is a DNR.
I'm with you, shoot me up with morphine and let me go.
I can understand when nurses are afraid of giving the "death dose" as I've heard one nurse put it. I wouldn't have a nurse give a medication he/she was uncomfortable given. I've given high doses of pain medicine that have seriously slowed a persons respirations at the end of life, with the family there, and they've passed away peacefully hopefully with comfort. Without the pain medicine they have lived perhaps a few hours or a day longer suffering, what's the point in that.
The difference being comfort measures for end of life are a lot different than what this person has done.
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.
HOSPICE
They will give care and provide comfort measures and usually the medication orders are such that the process can be expedited if the Pt and family both feel this is what they want.
Tim-GNP
296 Posts
Tell your husband to tell people the same thing I do... when people say "oh... you're a male nurse?" I reply "no, I take care of the ladies, too!" : )
I didn't even know about this until my nightly visit to allnurses.com--- This guy was doing this about 50 minutes down the turnpike from where I live in PA!!!
Insofar as this guy... WOW!!!!!!!
In God's time, not our own.