by F. Burgess (RN, BSN)

Created on: June 10, 2008

I do not believe a patient has the right to expect a physician to assist in their suicide. Euthanasia is a word I associate with animals as mercy killings to stop undesired suffering from injury or illness. I am referring to nonhuman animals that depend on others to perform this act of compassion.

As a nurse, I heard of mercy killings in healthcare facilities but, over the last 30 years, have found it to be extremely rare. One nurse in the 80s concerned me because of her references to how certain patients should not awaken but it was her dark "humor".

I have seen the worse of worse human suffering during my career but euthanasia is not an option for a healthcare provider. It is just as the title suggests "healthcare provider" and our oath "to do no harm" remains words we live by.

I witnessed a man dying of inoperable colon cancer in the last stages. He was sitting in a bedside chair with a very ashen, pale, gaunt appearance with his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He stopped eating days before so he was extremely weak and at times appeared deceased. His arms and legs were very thin but his abdomen was extremely distended obstructed with stool.

In the days before his death, he began expelling stool involuntarily through his mouth. The only thing we had to offer was comfort care and, in his case, I could only try to keep his mouth cleaned and swabbed frequently. He had long before refused surgery and this was the consequence. If he had the strength, I am sure he would have ended it long before the stool started flowing.

I cared for another elderly woman who was a Jehovah witness; she refused a mastectomy for breast cancer and remained at home until the breast opened like a cauliflower emanating the odor of decay that remained in the room for weeks after her death.

When some patients refuse treatment for treatable cancer, I think that can also be construed as suicide. They decided not to fight their cancer, as is their right; it is not my right to aid them in the inevitable. It is their right to receive comfort care and not have to suffer while dying.

My husband's brother died of brain cancer in 1999, at home surrounded by his family and friends. It is so important to have a support system in place. He had pain pills but could not swallow and the hospice nurse did not arrive on time. He did not suffer; actually, I called his a "beautiful death".

I spent 10 years of my nursing career caring for cancer patients, in addition, my mother died from cancer. I do not believe

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>