Introduction For this film essay assignment, I chose to watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy that concerned physician assisted suicide. As a future nurse, these are situations that I may encounter one day and I believe it to be important to understand the different sides of the argument as well as develop my own opinion. In this essay, I will examine whether or not it is more humane to assist someone with death/suicide when there is no hope for recovery. Euthanasia is defined in several ways by an assortment of people, but the definition that I will use is the definition of euthanasia that is derived from the Greek language meaning, “merciful, easy, painless death” (Hooker 1). An example of this would be physician assisted suicide for terminally
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When we are dealing with patients that desire to die, it is important to recognize and respect their autonomy in the decision. Clearly, not every situation will result in someone desiring physician assistance in committing suicide, but like the situation that arises in Grey’s Anatomy there will be some circumstances where it does. People must recognize that each person will have a different view of what ‘autonomy’ or even ‘dignity of life’ means to them and that there is not one specific truth that holds fast for each. If we consider Grey’s Anatomy’s example of the terminally ill cancer patient, we see that the patient found more dignity in death because she did not desire to suffer any longer with something that was eventually going to kill her. I believe that Dr. Altman recognized that her patient found a greater quality of life in dying because her patient has suffered for such an extended period and did not wish to continue to suffer. An obvious concern raised here would be about allowing the patient in such a condition’s judgment to determine her course of treatment. Fortunately, after the recent legalization of physician assisted suicide in various U.S states, guidelines have been set in place to order to ensure a patient’s sound judgement because patients must meet certain …show more content…
Religion also plays a role in euthanasia. If we take a look at Jehovah’s Witness, we will see that they believe that it is God’s will that determines each person’s fate in life. Medically this is complicated, because if someone who was a Jehovah’s Witness needed a blood transfusion or additional blood, they would refuse because they do not believe in putting someone else’s blood into their body. They see this as contamination and a deviation in God’s will for that person. Since physicians are to respect the religious wishes of patients and their families, these persons would slowly die from lack of healthy blood. This, essentially, is a type of passive euthanasia. I think that because physicians take an oath to do no harm, but still have to respect the religious wishes of their patients, that they also should respect a patient’s wish to die. As Christians, it is important to examine the Bible in all topics of life to see what the Lord has said. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 it says, “for everything there is a season and a time . . . time to be born and a time to die. . . a time to pluck up what has been planted, and a time to kill . . .”(ESV). Some Christian see the part about “a time to kill” as support for euthanasia because it demonstrates that sometimes there are situations that euthanasia is acceptable and more humane. The customary
When we are dealing with patients that desire to die, it is important to recognize and respect their autonomy in the decision. Clearly, not every situation will result in someone desiring physician assistance in committing suicide, but like the situation that arises in Grey’s Anatomy there will be some circumstances where it does. People must recognize that each person will have a different view of what ‘autonomy’ or even ‘dignity of life’ means to them and that there is not one specific truth that holds fast for each. If we consider Grey’s Anatomy’s example of the terminally ill cancer patient, we see that the patient found more dignity in death because she did not desire to suffer any longer with something that was eventually going to kill her. I believe that Dr. Altman recognized that her patient found a greater quality of life in dying because her patient has suffered for such an extended period and did not wish to continue to suffer. An obvious concern raised here would be about allowing the patient in such a condition’s judgment to determine her course of treatment. Fortunately, after the recent legalization of physician assisted suicide in various U.S states, guidelines have been set in place to order to ensure a patient’s sound judgement because patients must meet certain …show more content…
Religion also plays a role in euthanasia. If we take a look at Jehovah’s Witness, we will see that they believe that it is God’s will that determines each person’s fate in life. Medically this is complicated, because if someone who was a Jehovah’s Witness needed a blood transfusion or additional blood, they would refuse because they do not believe in putting someone else’s blood into their body. They see this as contamination and a deviation in God’s will for that person. Since physicians are to respect the religious wishes of patients and their families, these persons would slowly die from lack of healthy blood. This, essentially, is a type of passive euthanasia. I think that because physicians take an oath to do no harm, but still have to respect the religious wishes of their patients, that they also should respect a patient’s wish to die. As Christians, it is important to examine the Bible in all topics of life to see what the Lord has said. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 it says, “for everything there is a season and a time . . . time to be born and a time to die. . . a time to pluck up what has been planted, and a time to kill . . .”(ESV). Some Christian see the part about “a time to kill” as support for euthanasia because it demonstrates that sometimes there are situations that euthanasia is acceptable and more humane. The customary