Should Nurses help Doctors in Physician assisted suicide (euthanasia)

[Caleb12]

I believe that nurses have a legal responsibility and a moral obligation to keep patients alive not to help them commit suicide.

What do you think about euthanasia and are you for it or against it.

[mrsboots87]

Nurses don't keep people alive at all costs unless the patient wishes everything under the son to be done. Nurses treat the person holistically. Part of this is to have the patient on board with a treatment plan they agree with in most cases. If a patient expresses that they are done fighting and are ready to die, are you going to do you best to resuscitate them when they code? No, you wont, you will let them pass. If you are hospice, you will be assisting them in their dying days and keeping them comfortable until they pass.

My answer to if a nurse should have to assist in a physician assisted suicide. Well I believe that should be up to the nurse and what they are comfortable with. Its the same as abortion. If you are pro life, don't work at an abortion clinic and you can decline to assist in an abortion done in hospital or other facility. If a nurse is comfortable in aiding a physician (where its legal) in euthanizing a patient, then go for it. If not, then object and let another nurse handle it. I personally would not object if it were legal (its not in my state) and the patient was fully informed and gave consent. I don't find anything wrong with assisting a person with a terminal illness who is suffering or going to be suffering soon, with ending their life and avoiding the experience of all the symptoms and interventions they would go through to die. I would, however, never suggest it and would offer alternatives to suicide first.

[Glycerine82, LPN]

My Grandmother was so sick of living every day unable to breathe that she stopped taking ALL of her meds, thinking she would die swiftly and peacefully.

She had diabetes, emphysema, COPD and lord knows what else. She swore my grandfather to secrecy and none of us knew until several months had gone by. She truly thought she would just die in her sleep one night.

Want to guess how long it took her to die?

Six months. Six, agonizing, painful, horrible months. We finally got her on hospice and her last few weeks were comfortable, I hope.

Here is my thing...... Modern medicine kept her alive 20+ more years than she would have had without it. Why is it wrong that she finally decided that she was sick of not being able to walk to the bathroom without gasping for breath? Why is it wrong that she decided she didn't want the interventions anymore? She should have been able to tell her doctor she was sick of not being able to live her life, and at 84 years old, who could blame her? If something along the lines of physician assisted suicide was available to her, she could have spared herself the misery she went through.

We have no problem playing God when it comes to keeping people alive, but so many of us refuse to recognize when enough is enough.

Oh, and for those who bring religion into it......I am a Christian. There is no part of me that thinks God wanted my grandmother to suffer like she did and there is no part of me that thinks what she did was wrong. I just wish that it could have been easier on her. The way I look at it, she was basically saying, "Thanks for keeping me alive all of these years, I am tired now".

I think physician assisted suicide is a very personal decision, and I would have no convictions assisting a doctor or a suffering patient in the process provided they met the criteria governed by the law such as psych evals, etc.

[ThatBigGuy]

The Nursing Code of Ethics clearly states that a nurse is an advocate for the patient, regardless of the nurse's personal feelings on the matter. If the patient is autonomous and informed consent is obtained, the nurse has a legal and moral obligation to honor the rights of said patient. The Code spends multiple paragraphs detailing this.

However, it sneaks in this sentence: "However, nurses may not act with the sole intent of ending a patient's life even though such action may be motivated by compassion, respect for patient autonomy and quality of life considerations."

So you have to do everything an autonomous patient wishes, except honor the most basic right of that person: the right to live or die.

My answer: As long as the patient is autonomous and informed, I am for it, and will advocate for my patient's rights.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I believe that we have a responsibility to keep individuals alive no matter what the costs. Thats what we do, help keep others alive not help them kill themselves.

You may change your mind about that one once you get some experience in nursing. Keeping individuals alive at all costs does them no favors, and society cannot afford it.

The Crushing Cost of Health Care - WSJ.com

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

In my opinion, there's a HUGE difference between "comfort care", "euthanasia", and "Physician-assisted suicide." Two of these concepts allow for the nurse to advocate for the patient. One of them allows for the patient to be comfortable while "nature takes it's course" and one allows the terminal patient the right to choose when they're ready to go, in essence to control the process themselves. One is, essentially, murder. All of these are usually only considered when the patient has a terminal prognosis and death is inevitable from a disease process.

Great care should be taken to NOT cross the line between Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. The final decision, and act, is the patient's alone.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Oh how naive

[Episteme]

You may change your mind about that one once you get some experience in nursing. Keeping individuals alive at all costs does them no favors, and society cannot afford it.

The Crushing Cost of Health Care - WSJ.com

Slippery slope. I don't want economists OR politicians getting in to this realm. It should be the patient and his/her care-givers.

[VivaLaVespaGirl, BSN, MSN]

At ALL costs? I have always wondered why we are so willing to allow our beloved pets to die with dignity when it is clear that their quality of life has declined past the point of comfort and joy in daily living, yet we balk at extending that same courtesy to our beloved human companions.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Nurses don't keep people alive at all costs unless the patient wishes everything under the son to be done.

I find this a quite interesting typo (I'm presuming it is a typo) since it most often seems to be the family, not the the patient, that demands futile care. In my experience, many patients who are still competent and able to speak for themselves will make the choice to end certain aspects of care (chemo, surgeries, etc.) when their condition becomes terminal. It is most often patients who can no longer speak for themselves are put through the ordeal of tube feeds, trachs/vents, indwelling catheters, etc. where there is absolutely no chance for recovery. I'm not sure if doctors are not being completely honest with them or if the families are just in a deep state of denial, but some families honestly believe that their loved ones will go from trached/vented/G-tubed one day, to walking out of the hospital the next.

I have no business telling someone how we should treat (or not treat) their family member, but the idea of "keep a patient alive no matter what" leads down a very dark road. When you (the OP) become a nurse you will likely see just how rough it can be, and this blanket statement can get us into trouble.

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

OP, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. However, please look into the eyes of a patient who is suffering terribly and has no hope of survival. Every second of the life they have left is excruciating pain & agony. YOU look them in the eye and say "I'm sorry, but I have to do everything I can to keep you alive, whether you wish for this or not". Good luck with that!

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

I believe that we have a responsibility to keep individuals alive no matter what the costs. Thats what we do, help keep others alive not help them kill themselves.

Keep them alive even if there's no chance of recovery? Uncontrolable pain? Why do you feel it is your right or responsibility to tell someone how they need to live their last days?

Nurses, rarely, if ever, take an active role in ending a life. My job is to provide comfort, alleviate pain and suffering, to make decisions that only they can make.

[ixchel]

Keeping a terminal person alive just because we can is immoral and wrong. Giving people treatment they do not consent to is battery. A nurse's job is not to keep people alive no matter what. It's to promote well-being, quality of life, comfort, dignity, autonomy, compassion.... Within these things is the right to a good death.

By the end of your nursing school experience, you'll even have limits to when you want YOUR life to not be saved.