'Right to Die', what's your take on it?

[Shari888, BSN, RN]

So California recently passed the 'right to die' law and I recently saw an episode on 'Vice' where a woman in Europe actually allowed the journalist to record her euthanasia. A nurse was there who set up the heplock in her vein where the medication went in. Wanted to know what other nurses think of the 'right to die' law which is now legal in 5 states and if you would participate in it if there were a nursing job for that?

[Roy Hanson]

dieing with dignity? Whats that..really! I want to die in my sleep! At home, with my animals (they are very perceptive) and the wife and kids around..but lets not prolong the agony.

ALZ is a good example. Its dieing in reverse! think about it! If you know you have a terminal illness, so be it. Why wait till I am THAT bad. Give me the injection, so my wife can get on with her life, instead of watching me decay, mentally and physically. Mourning is part of life, animals mourn. Its part of life, then get on with living.

No pallitive care, I want to be home. Watching Bugs Bunny! At least i will have a snicker before I croak.

[ceesmom]

It's called an advance care directive. We use them where I work

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Here's my take. bear with me.

Pepper the Real Cat got really sick. We tried everything, but at one point the vet said " we can continue to treat, but I the long run

there will not be a positive outcome", so I made the painful decision to have him out to sleep.

why is it we can do this for our pets but not our human loved ones!

[dec2007]

It's called an advance care directive. We use them where I work

Everyone has them, but when the patient is unresponsive the doctors always cave in to the pressure from family members who want "everything done".

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Actually, many physicians will not be persuaded by family when the advance directive indicates otherwise.

They will follow the directive and have a discussion with family. At least, all the physicians I have worked with practiced according to the directive.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Actually, many physicians will not be persuaded by family when the advance directive indicates otherwise.

They will follow the directive and have a discussion with family. At least, all the physicians I have worked with practiced according to the directive.

Same here. But I'm in a small rural community with a hospital.

I understand how difficult it can get for family w/o an advanced directive - I lived through that with my dad's death.

[dec2007]

Actually, many physicians will not be persuaded by family when the advance directive indicates otherwise.

They will follow the directive and have a discussion with family. At least, all the physicians I have worked with practiced according to the directive.

I wish it were so!! Here, whoever will be alive long enough to hire a lawyer wins! "Ethics conferences" even include the hospital lawyer.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Nor I

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

Here's my take. bear with me.

Pepper the Real Cat got really sick. We tried everything, but at one point the vet said " we can continue to treat, but I the long run

there will not be a positive outcome", so I made the painful decision to have him out to sleep.

why is it we can do this for our pets but not our human loved ones!

Cannot like this enough. I just had to do the same thing for my dog Davy. The way he went was so peaceful. He was already not with it to begin with, as in barely responsive to me or my presence. Then he got the sedative before the final penthatol injection, and it was just serene. Contrast that to seeing any one of your elderly patients dying, after throwing everything you can to keep him/her alive.

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

Here's my take. bear with me.

Pepper the Real Cat got really sick. We tried everything, but at one point the vet said " we can continue to treat, but I the long run

there will not be a positive outcome", so I made the painful decision to have him out to sleep.

why is it we can do this for our pets but not our human loved ones!

Agreed.

We treat our beloved pets much more humanely than we treat our beloved humans.

[jdub6]

Honestly I haven't been able to make up my mind about euthanasia. I think physician assisted suicide is ok except that the thing that changes it from euthanasia (the fact that the pt must take the med themselves) excludes some most in need ie those with als or, worse, pushes them to do it sooner than they would to ensure they still can. I guess in that scenario I wold be ok giving the med say via gt if thewe was an order, the pt communicated they wanted it and I was sure they were serious and competent.

I do know this from working hospice...while pain and symptom relief are possible for most, it is NOT in all cases. I have seen pts on hospice on every drug imaginable, dilaudid pcas at 30 plus, live and die in pain. Pts who vomit for weeks despite every intervention. Those who argue otherwise are naive.

There are also those who may not be in terrible pain but slowly dehydrate to death over WEEKS as they become more debilitated and their loved ones watch them become skeletal, get decubs even with turn schedules and specialty mattresses. I have seen many families and pts beg for something to speed the process.

I am not comfortable with the way I have read euthanasia works in some very liberal countries like belgium. Not enough safeguards. But palliative care can't fix everything, we need more tools to promise comfortable death to everyone.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I would be okay with euthanasia for those who want it. I would even be okay with pushing the drugs myself.

Physician assisted suicide means the patient has to be able to take the medications themselves, and a debilitated, critically ill patient who can't even lift her own arms can't possibly take the medications herself. I don't believe these people should have to suffer and essentially be tortured to death because they're not strong enough to lift their own arms. That seems inhumane to me. "Oh, you wanted to die? You should have taken these pills earlier, because now that you're too weak, you can't have them."

I also don't see much of a difference between turning off life-sustaining medicines and pushing drugs to kill someone, but that's just me. If the patient is on an Epi drip, you turn it off, and the patient flatlines within a minute and a half, what's the difference between that and pushing a medication? Either way, the patient dies as a direct result of your actions.