The Conflicting Ethics With The Right - 1540 Words

The Conflicting Ethics with the right to die Adam Kaplinsky Wilmington University What do you do if you have a patient that is in deep pain and has been given a terminal prognosis? You look into the face of this patient and see someone who is weak and unable to take care of him or herself grimacing in pain. The patient knows the prognosis, which is not good, and he or she realizes at this point that their condition will only worsen. The next step is death, but that could take a while, and in the meantime, they must put up with the pain and discomfort that they are faced with in their last stage of life. The last journey could take weeks, days, or even months but both you and the patient realize that it will not be easy. The patient now†¦show more content†¦This particular question is one that comes up a lot in nursing and must be assessed on a case-to-case basis. This issue of the right to die has been the heart of much argument in the past and in certain states, PAD or Physician aid in dying is legal., The main difference in PAD as opposed to Euthanasia is that in PAD, the patient and not the doctor delivers the lethal dose of medication. Euthanasia may become legal in the future as well and the potential for a nurse to assist in this procedure may be very likely. It is therefore important for anyone involved in the medical field including nurses to be aware of all facets of the euthanasia issue and to analyze their own approaches and personal views regarding this issue. Euthanasia is a term used to express a death that is good, Kind and accomplished with a sense of dignity (Kowalski, 1996). Euthanasia has been split up into the two groups of voluntary and involuntary and each can be described as either active or passive. The refusing or complete departure from medical aid with the full consent of the patient is known as voluntary Euthanasia. Involuntary Euthanasia is the withdrawal of this assistance without the agreement of the patient (Kowalski, 1996). Active euthanasia involves the action of death or the actual administration