Voluntary/Assisted Euthanasia
Voluntary/Assisted Euthanasia
Grand Canyon University
Ethical Decision Making in Health Care
Voluntary/Assisted Euthanasia
(Thesis, Description of the topic and related ethical implications, Obligations to your profession and work as a nurse) Debra Burden
The purpose of this paper is to define the issue and legalities of assisted death and the key ethical arguments, including the social values and norms, encompassing this topic. Also included in this paper on voluntary/assisted suicide is the connection with nursing practice and the theories and/or principles that guide the foundation and fundamentals of the profession in this particular area. Assisted death is a term that encompasses both assisted suicide and also active euthanasia. This topic has been and most definitely will remain one of the most emotionally wrenching and contentious issues that many healthcare workers may face throughout the length of their professional careers. “Assisted suicide involves providing a patient with a means of ending his/her own life” (Ersek, 2004, p. 48). “Active euthanasia is when on person performs an act to end someone’s life” (Ersek, 2004, p. 48). Active euthanasia can further be categorized into voluntary, involuntary, and nonvoluntary. Due to the fact that nurses play a key role in the caring of patients at the end of their lives, nurses must be well versed on the issues of assisted suicide/euthanasia due to its legal and ethical implications. Without the knowledge and an adequate understanding of the inferences surrounding assisted death, nurses risk engaging in practices that violate both their professional and personal ethics and well as involve themselves in practices that are illegal (Ersek, 2004, p.47).
(Impact on Social Values, Morals, Norms, and Nursing Practice) Sonia Morais To sum up the morals and social values that were implicated in this case are at the core of nursing ethics. Nurses are usually in the crucial and most immediate
Grand Canyon University
Ethical Decision Making in Health Care
Voluntary/Assisted Euthanasia
(Thesis, Description of the topic and related ethical implications, Obligations to your profession and work as a nurse) Debra Burden
The purpose of this paper is to define the issue and legalities of assisted death and the key ethical arguments, including the social values and norms, encompassing this topic. Also included in this paper on voluntary/assisted suicide is the connection with nursing practice and the theories and/or principles that guide the foundation and fundamentals of the profession in this particular area. Assisted death is a term that encompasses both assisted suicide and also active euthanasia. This topic has been and most definitely will remain one of the most emotionally wrenching and contentious issues that many healthcare workers may face throughout the length of their professional careers. “Assisted suicide involves providing a patient with a means of ending his/her own life” (Ersek, 2004, p. 48). “Active euthanasia is when on person performs an act to end someone’s life” (Ersek, 2004, p. 48). Active euthanasia can further be categorized into voluntary, involuntary, and nonvoluntary. Due to the fact that nurses play a key role in the caring of patients at the end of their lives, nurses must be well versed on the issues of assisted suicide/euthanasia due to its legal and ethical implications. Without the knowledge and an adequate understanding of the inferences surrounding assisted death, nurses risk engaging in practices that violate both their professional and personal ethics and well as involve themselves in practices that are illegal (Ersek, 2004, p.47).
(Impact on Social Values, Morals, Norms, and Nursing Practice) Sonia Morais To sum up the morals and social values that were implicated in this case are at the core of nursing ethics. Nurses are usually in the crucial and most immediate
References: Berman, A., Snyder, S. Kozier, B., & Erb, G. (2010). Fundamentals of Nursing: Concepts, Process, and Practice. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Ersek, M. (2004). The continuing challenge of assisted death. Journal Of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 6(1), 46-61. Perry, J., Churchill, L., Kirshner, H. (2005). The Terri Schiavo Case: Legal, Ethical, and Medical Perspectives. Annals of Internal Medicine, 143(10), 744-748. Retrieved from http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=718842 University of Miami: Ethics (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 13 from http://www.miami.edu/index.php/ethics/projects/schiavo/schiavo_timeline/ www.tutor 2u.net/blog/index.php/…/euthanasia-and-ethical-theory www.rsrevision.com/alevel/ethics/euthanasia.