Argumentative Essay On Hospice

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Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine defines palliative care as what happens at the end of life when a cure is no longer possible. (Virginia P. Tilden, 2004) Hospice can be traced back to medieval times referring back to a shelter or a rest for the weary. The term hospice was first given to specialized care for dying patients by Dr. Dame Cicely Sunders in 1948 who created the first modern hospice St. Christopher's Hospice in London. In 1993, President Clinton's health care reform proposal guaranteed benefits for hospice nationally. Hospice is now an accepted part of the health care continuum. End of life, final hours of life, whatever one wants to call it; everyone will go through it. Knowing we all will die at some point in our lives research has shown that we want to die free of pain, at home, and have our symptoms managed. In doing this we need to look at what "a good death" or what "a …show more content…

These people would choose to live if given the choice; however, they are not given this choice. Our physicians are white robed knights battling death with ever option of technology at their finger tips, often unaware of the wishes of the dying patient. In a joint venture our knights in shining amour need to be involved with their patients caring for their bodies, minds and spiritual paths. Do our physicians hesitate in irradiating a patients torment through the ultimate act of compassion? Does a physicians holistic beliefs lean either way? Our doctors need to grant patients the ultimate control over what has become their last earthly possession, the right to die on their own terms. (Benda, 2007) With today's technology, physicians find themselves struggling with a modern dilemma of deciding whether impending life-sustaining treatments should be withheld or provided. Medical professionals take the Hippocratic Oath, swearing to fulfill to the best of their ability to tread with care in matters of life and death. Above all, they must

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