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Problems with euthanasia and assisted suicide
Patients have a right to assisted suicide
Should assisted suicide be lawful
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Playing God: A Role That Shouldn't Be Cast
All humans will die. Approximately 2,155,000 people from the United States will die in one year. In the United States, during the year of 1989, 34% of all deaths were caused by heart disease, 23% caused by cancer, 6% by strokes, and 2.2% by accidents involving motor vehicles. In that same year, 5.5% of the deaths were caused by medical negligence and suicide (Leading causes). This does not take into consideration the number of people who were killed by assisted suicide and euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is described as the intentional discontinuation, by the patient's physician, of vital treatment that could prolong the person's life. Assisted suicide occurs when a health care worker provides a patient with tools and/or medication that will help the patient kill him or herself, without the direct intervention of the care provider. Active euthanasia takes place when the doctor is responsible for the killing of the patient; for example, when the doctor administers a lethal injection (Schofield, 25). Active euthanasia is illegal in the United States. Only three states have legalized assisted suicide and only Oregon permits physician-assisted suicide. Thirty-five states, including Colorado, have statutes criminalizing assisted suicide and nine states criminalize assisted suicide through common law (Assisted suicide laws). In addition to active and passive euthanasia there are three other categories of euthanasia: voluntary, nonvoluntary, and involuntary. Voluntary, there is written or spoken consent from the patient; nonvoluntary, the patient can not voice his or her opinion because of unconsciousness or comatose; and involuntary, which goes against the wishes of the patient, and constitutes murder (Schofield, 26). Assisted suicide and euthanasia, in any form, are murder.
"People are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to them" (Vaticana, 550). To decide if euthanasia is wrong, one must first decide whom life belongs to. The Bible says, "In God's hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10). Life belongs to God and since God gave life to the human race, God should decide when it is time to take life. Also, the fifth commandment says, "Thou shall not kill." Assisted suicide and euthanasia disobey this commandment.
Supporters of euthanasia argue that the First Amendment "forbids the establishment of religion" and therefore one can't say life belongs to God. However, in the case of Bowers versus Hardwick in 1986, the Supreme Court ruled "that citizens in a democracy may vote away individual rights, even if that vote is based ultimately on nothing but religious faith" (Bowden).
Meaning, "good death". But the word “euthanasia” today means taking action to achieve a good death. Euthanasia is often used by doctors; the doctor would prepare the patient a lethal dose of drugs and administer the drugs to them or the doctor injects the patient with lethal injections. There are two different forms of euthanasia, active and passive. Active euthanasia is the hastening of a persons’ death by injections or a different form of assisted suicide while passive euthanasia is the withholding of treatment or medications that are currently keeping the patient alive (Barbuzzi, p.1, 2014). Informed consent from the patient is required for both passive and active euthanasia. . According to the Barbuzzi, informed consent is, “A patient’s expression of knowledge and acceptance of the risks, benefits, and alternative treatment options of a medical procedure and subsequent permission to a physician to perform the procedure” (Barbuzzi, p.1 2014).Suicide, self-deliverance, auto-euthanasia, aid-in-dying, assisted suicide, physician-assisted suicide, physician-assisted dying can all be justified by the supporters of the right to die movement for the following
know how essential this is to a new born baby and the difference it makes to breastfeed. The
Neonatal nursing is a field of nursing designed especially for both newborns and infants up to 28 days old. The term neonatal comes from neo, "new", and natal, "pertaining to birth or origin”. Neonatal nurses are a vital part of the neonatal care team. These are trained professionals who concentrate on ensuring that the newborn infants under their care are able to survive whatever potential life threatening event they encounter. They treat infants that are born with a variety of life threatening issues that include instances of prematurity, congenital birth defects, surgery related problems, cardiac malformations, severe burns, or acute infection. Neonatal care in hospitals was always done by the nursing staff but it did not officially become a specialized medical field until well into 1960s. This was due to the numerous advancements in both medical care training and related technology that allowed for the improved treatment and survival rate of premature babies. According to the March of Dimes, one of every thirteen babies born in the United States annually suffers from low birth weight. This is a leading cause in 65% of infant deaths. Therefore, nurses play a very important role in providing round the clock care for these infants, those born with birth defects or other life threatening illness. In addition, these nurses also tend to healthy babies while their mothers recover from the birthing process. Prior to the advent of this specialized nursing field at risk newborn infants were mostly cared for by obstetricians and midwives who had limited resources to help them survive (Meeks 3).
The human mind is fragile, unpredictable and unreliable. Simultaneously, the human mind is a master of self-defense against emotionally shaking experiences that one might live through. During the first half of the 20th century, mental illness was not a subject widely spoken about and drugs, electro-convulsive therapy, and surgery were used as treatments for persistent illnesses of the mind (PBS “Timeline: Treatments (...)”). This is the world Tennessee Williams grew up in, with a three year older sister who developed a mental illness herself (Hoare). In 1947, Tennessee Williams broke through the barrier of fame with his well known play A Streetcar Named Desire: the story about the emotional demise of the fragile, yet determined, southern belle Blanche DuBois and her visit to her sister Stella in New Orleans. Williams himself said that his plays are “pleas for the understanding of delicate people” (Rocamora): they contain a desperation for sensitivity, tenderness and humaneness that can rarely be found other plays (Maupin). Blanche DuBois is Tennessee Williams’ representation of the “delicate people”, as she battles psychological illness through fear, guilt and compensation for the surrounding people and relations in the play.
Certainly, every nurse carries their own duties and responsibilities. As well as neonatal nurse practitioner, in cooperation with other health care professional, are responsible for diagnosing and managing the care of new-borns with significant health problems. In addition, they also provide a safe, comfortable and therapeu...
Neonatal nursing is a type of nursing that works with newborn infants born with a variety of problems ranging from prematurity, birth defects, infection, cardiac malformations, and surgical problems. The neonatal period is defined as the first month of life; however, these newborns are often sick for months. Neonatal nursing generally encompas...
In extreme cases, mothers may need to try experimenting to breastfeed on one side over four hours to find out how much time per breast works best.
By remaining exclusive to human milk, the premature infant has an increase in benefits and outcomes. This change in recommendation is due to the benefits of human milk which include “decreased rates of late-onset of sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, retinopathy, sudden infant death syndrome, fewer re-hospitalizations in the first year of life, and improved neurodevelopmental outcomes.” (Underwood, M. A.). Due to an underdeveloped gastrointestinal tract, it is shown that preterm infants require smaller amounts of human milk than a full-term baby. It is crucial to teach mothers of preterm infants, that the colostrum or milk they produce is sufficient. If the mother does not produce enough milk, she should be directed to a donor human milk bank or talk to a lactation consultant. Nevertheless, it is crucial nurses emphasize the importance of reducing formula feeding and implement exclusive
Women do not breastfeed long enough. Although healthcare workers try to promote the breast method, many women do not continue with it. Breastfeeding does come with challenges; however, the phrase “breast is best” is the role of the nurse in conjunction with education. A mother a...
Euthanasia is debated globally about whether or not it should be illegal or become legalized. Some will say that it is wrong, that it is taking the life of a human being; however, others will say that it is just taking the life of a human who is already terminally ill, and suffering. Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Columbia, and Luxemburg. Assisted suicide; which is another form of euthanasia is legal in Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Canada, and in some parts of the U.S: Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Montana, and California. Despite many beliefs of euthanasia being morally wrong, it provides terminally ill patients an alternative to the painful suffering they are to experience before their death.
Assisted suicide brings up one of the biggest moral debates currently circulating in America. Physician assisted suicide allows a patient to be informed, including counseling about and prescribing lethal doses of drugs, and allowed to decide, with the help of a doctor, to commit suicide. There are so many questions about assisted suicide and no clear answers. Should assisted suicide be allowed only for the terminally ill, or for everyone? What does it actually mean to assist in a suicide? What will the consequences of legalizing assisted suicide be? What protection will there be to protect innocent people? Is it (morally) right or wrong? Those who are considered “pro-death”, believe that being able to choose how one dies is one’s own right.
Our values, opinions and beliefs depend on what culture, religion and the society we come from. People who are against view euthanasia as murder and that we must respect the value of life. Those who are in favor of euthanasia believe that doing such act eliminates the patient’s pain and suffering. Also, the right to die allows the person to die with dignity. Euthanasia may involve taking a human’s life, but not all forms of killing are wrong nor consider as murder. It depends on the underlying reasons and intentions. If you value a person’s life and the cause of death is for the patient’s benefit and not one’s personal interest, then euthanasia is permissible.
There are two ways a child can come into this world, and that is through vaginal delivery or cesarean section. No matter the method, there are trained professionals there to introduce a newborn into the world. Labor and Delivery nurses are very important to not only the afterbirth of a newborn. They are also responsible for taking care of the mother before.
Many women choose to breast feed and there are many advantages to this choice. It was discovered that the most successful time for initiation of breast feeding is within 30 minutes of a child’s birth. One of the most obvious benefits of breast feeding is the extreme bonding that the mother and child experience while going through the process. Another benefit that many women see is the cornucopias of nutrients that are naturally produced by the body that get passed to the child.
Breastfeeding has been a widely used source of nutrition since the early days of mankind, though during the late nineteenth century, formula began to become a replacement (“Breastfeeding in public” 1). There are different forms of providing nutrients for infants, which include breastfeeding, pumping, and instant formula (“Breastfeeding in public” 1). In