' Case Twenty-Three: The Nurse's Role In Aid-In-Dying

I live with someone who is in the medical field (my fiancé) and hear about the constant struggles in working in this field. From hearing about accounts there can be struggles amongst the patients, doctors, nurses, and others on many different levels. Among of which are ethical dilemmas in the field. The article “Case Twenty-Three: A Fevered Hand on a Cooling Brow—The Nurse’s Role in Aid-In-Dying.” In Action: Cased-Based Approach, by Peggy Connolly, David R. Keller, Martin G. Leever, and Becky Cox White deal with one of these issues regarding the assistance to suicide with nurses in the medical field. There might be different ethical theories/approaches as to argue for either side (whether or not nurses should be allowed to assist a patient
With the case to AID, Kant’s theory would oppose this idea because it does not align neatly with every situation within society. Kant’s theory would not want to see death occur regardless of the circumstance because death we all should avoid death as much as possible. That notion would be an absolute at the core of Kant’s theory. Even if this meant to undermine what the patient believed as their best interest. For this reason, Kant’s theory would oppose rights theory in the debate over
The role of the nurse is to relieve pain and to establish trust. For Kant, this can only be done through one way. This leaves limitations for situations that are more complex like the issue of AID. On the other hand, rights theory gives nurses the ability to fulfill their role in the medical field by allowing a broader sense of relieving pain and giving comfort. To take this further, the definitions that exist in the objectives are crucial to look at when looking at strengths and weaknesses of each theory. One of which is the definition of doing harm. As stated before, to do harm can mean different things (i.e.-a needle to the arm vs. giving up a life for the sake of not living in misery anymore). How is the medical field to define harm? Also, within what provisions or contextual analysis is there to be for the assistance of complicated situations that patients might be in. Kant’s theory and his categorical imperative do not allow for accommodation for such situations. This is limiting for nurses and doctors to uphold the standards of today’s medical field. Rights theory allows for a free choice to be made (similar to abortion). As Kant’s theory does wish to uphold a standard of society, it does so by infringing another scenario