¶ … person has the right to live their lives with dignity and freedom, a person also has the right to die with the same dignity and freedom. A person who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, for which there is no cure and which causes certain pain, should not be forced to suffer. Likewise, a person should be allowed to choose whether or not to keep their body on life support indefinitely, even if they are in a persistent vegetative state from which no meaningful recovery. The collective issues known loosely as "right to die" comprise various types of physician-assisted suicide, in which a medical doctor can help a terminally ill patient to end their suffering. Right to die legislation, like that recently passed in the state of California, helps not only the patients but also their families ensure all Americans have access to the quality of life they deserve. Promoting similar right to die legislation reflects the fundamental constitutional values of the United States, including due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Waimberg). Unfortunately, right to die issues also seem to conflict with another fundamental American value, that the state does have an overarching duty to protect and preserve...
The Supreme Court had consistently argued that the right to die conflicts with the state's obligation to preserve life ("Right to Die;" Waimberg). Other arguments against right to die legislation point to fears that the policy might be abused in some way, such as by overly zealous doctors or nurses. The opposite is more likely to happen, though, for in a profit-driven healthcare system, doctors and healthcare administrators have a vested interest in preserving, not ending lives. Parker claims that the medical field is built on a fundamental ethic of healing, and that ending life is contrary to the purpose of the profession. Yet the extension of life at all costs does not seem like an appropriate application of modern medicine, which should devote itself toward the improvement of human life. Extending life does not enhance life's quality -- improving the way people feel, eliminating the root causes of disease. Dying is not, as some would suggest, the worst-case scenario.
Palliative Care represents an approach that aims at improving the quality of life of patients and their families experiencing the problem in association with life-threatening illness. This is through prevention and relief of the suffering process by means of early identification of the illness and impeccable assessment and eventual treatment of pain and other related problems. Palliative care offers crucial development to patients by affirming life and regarding death as
Palliative Care Queensland is basically an independent not for profit body that represents the palliative care providers, consumers and their families. This organization is concerned with people who have an interest in palliative care in Queensland (The State of Queensland, 2013). This organization works in favor of the people who want to provide ideal quality care at the end of life for all the residents of Queensland. Since this company
Palliative Nursing FOR END-OF-LIFE CASES Palliative Care Nursing Theories Theories and a Theoretical Framework for Nursing A nursing theory helps structure decisions and practice for the nurse professional (Scribd, 2014). The three major types are the grand theory, the middle-range theory and the nursing practice theory. The use of any of these theories enables the nurse to provide more effective patient care more efficiently. Grand theories deal with the overall nature and goals of
No body of evidence has developed to support these concerns, influential though they have been. It is helpful to recognize that they are not new issues, but have frequently been identified and applied to many groups and individuals. Such concerns have often been associated with traditions of 'protecting' (vulnerable) service users, issues of 'gate keeping' by service providers and paternalistic health and welfare cultures (Brownell, 2006). This is in sharp
Will's desire to withdrawal all life support and refuse his treatment is supported by legal precedent, even though it is likely that his refusal of treatment will result in his death. Conversely, Will does not have the legal right to demand treatment or intervention which would hasten his death. Therefore, were Will placed on life support, and it was known that his desire was not to have such support given to him, then this could
Palliative care is a specialty that is relatively new but that has evolved steadily over the past few decades. Its goal is providing advanced cancer patients with end of life care. Its rise was because of the public's growing dissatisfaction and concern with how dying patients were being taken care of in the 1960s and the 1970s (Cole, Carlin & Carlson, 2015). At the time, oncologists were mostly concerned with
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