End Of Life Research Paper
End of Life Medical Issues When Death is Approaching name PHI208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning
Instructor: April 25, 2014
Good end of life care helps patients with life limiting conditions to live as well as possible until they die, and to some they are allowed to die with dignity. Planning for the end of life can be difficult and we do not want to think about dying much less planning for the end of our life. Although many do not want to think about dying much less planning for, we must accept that is just part of life. It is important to know the opinions and beliefs of someone who is dying, and it is often impossible to know what they desire unless we discuss the issues ahead of time.
There is a tradition in medicine that physicians do everything possible to keep a patient alive. There is no question that advances in medicine and medical technology have saved many lives and have healed people to be able to live longer healthy quality lives. We have technology such as ventilators, artificial hydration and nutrition’s techniques, and the question is have these developments been misused in …show more content…
situations where patients have no hope of recovering to their full capacity? For that reason, I feel it is important to discuss end of life options.
When I speak of end of life options, I am speaking about passive euthanasia.
Passive euthanasia (Mosser, 2014) is withholding life-sustaining equipment such as respirators, procedures or treatments in case of illness or injury that will prolong death. With the advance medical equipment we have today, a person life can be prolong indefinitely. It is important to have a discussion with your physician on what ones beliefs. Evidently it will come to a terminally ill person losing all control over their body. When dying a slow death, there will come a point that one will not be able to communicate. As a family, the hardest decision one will ever need to make, is when is the right time to take away the equipment that is prolonging ones death. It is important for the dying person to make it know if they desire life sustaining
treatment.
Opponents to euthanasia quote that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” (United Nations, 1948). I agree that all individual have these rights, however if an individual has the right to life, then we should also have the right to die. To some quality of life is not lying in bed, and not able to feed themselves or be in so much pain they are not able to move around freely and enjoy life. At what point would society decide that a heartbeat justifies a quality of life? Death is not an easy conversation to have for anyone, however to ensure your wishes for medical treatment when death is approaching is important to both the patient and their families. It is important to know and understand all your options and the decisions that need to be made about end of life care to me are critical. Everyone’s quality of life is different and there is no right or wrong. Having this discussion allows your last wishes to be known while you are mentally capable of making these decisions.
References:
Mosser.K (2014).Understanding Philosophy.Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
United Nations. (1948). The universal declaration of human rights. United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
Instructor: April 25, 2014
Good end of life care helps patients with life limiting conditions to live as well as possible until they die, and to some they are allowed to die with dignity. Planning for the end of life can be difficult and we do not want to think about dying much less planning for the end of our life. Although many do not want to think about dying much less planning for, we must accept that is just part of life. It is important to know the opinions and beliefs of someone who is dying, and it is often impossible to know what they desire unless we discuss the issues ahead of time.
There is a tradition in medicine that physicians do everything possible to keep a patient alive. There is no question that advances in medicine and medical technology have saved many lives and have healed people to be able to live longer healthy quality lives. We have technology such as ventilators, artificial hydration and nutrition’s techniques, and the question is have these developments been misused in …show more content…
situations where patients have no hope of recovering to their full capacity? For that reason, I feel it is important to discuss end of life options.
When I speak of end of life options, I am speaking about passive euthanasia.
Passive euthanasia (Mosser, 2014) is withholding life-sustaining equipment such as respirators, procedures or treatments in case of illness or injury that will prolong death. With the advance medical equipment we have today, a person life can be prolong indefinitely. It is important to have a discussion with your physician on what ones beliefs. Evidently it will come to a terminally ill person losing all control over their body. When dying a slow death, there will come a point that one will not be able to communicate. As a family, the hardest decision one will ever need to make, is when is the right time to take away the equipment that is prolonging ones death. It is important for the dying person to make it know if they desire life sustaining
treatment.
Opponents to euthanasia quote that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” (United Nations, 1948). I agree that all individual have these rights, however if an individual has the right to life, then we should also have the right to die. To some quality of life is not lying in bed, and not able to feed themselves or be in so much pain they are not able to move around freely and enjoy life. At what point would society decide that a heartbeat justifies a quality of life? Death is not an easy conversation to have for anyone, however to ensure your wishes for medical treatment when death is approaching is important to both the patient and their families. It is important to know and understand all your options and the decisions that need to be made about end of life care to me are critical. Everyone’s quality of life is different and there is no right or wrong. Having this discussion allows your last wishes to be known while you are mentally capable of making these decisions.
References:
Mosser.K (2014).Understanding Philosophy.Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
United Nations. (1948). The universal declaration of human rights. United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/