Euthanasia and Nursing

Fontalis, A., Prousali, E. and Kulkarni, K., 2018. Euthanasia and assisted dying: what is the current position and what are the key arguments informing the debate? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 111(11), pp.407-413.

This article discusses the current debates about euthanasia and the various arguments given to support the act in Korea. It presents some of the concepts associated with physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, for instance, the definitions of euthanasia, classifications, and the contemporary status of euthanasia perceptions in South Korea. The authors term euthanasia as the voluntary act of terminating the life of a terminally ill to save them from suffering at the request of family members. The authors also note that euthanasia has received a lot of backlash from patient groups and civic and healthcare provider groups in South Korea. The groups argue that the activation of hospital palliative care and institutional support should be increased to better prepare patients rather than terminating their lives. However, this article highlights that some nations across the world, including ten states in the United States, have permitted euthanasia as of 2021.

This article is related to the main topic since it presents some arguments favoring the adoption of euthanasia in nursing. For instance, the authors note that euthanasia assists in the alleviation of suffering, and it is done voluntarily after medical personnel get consent from the patient or family members. More pointedly, the article supports the use of euthanasia as a means of preserving patient dignity.

McKinnon, B. and Orellana-Barrios, M., 2019. Ethics in physician-assisted dying and euthanasia. The Southwest Respiratory and Critical Care Chronicles, 7(30), pp.36-42.

This article reviews the definitions of passive euthanasia, physician-assisted dying, and active euthanasia. It examines the ethical implications of physician-assisted dying. The article is significant to the main topic “Euthanasia and nursing” because it gives arguments for and against the use of euthanasia in nursing. For instance, the authors note that euthanasia should be adopted since it ensures that terminally ill patients die in a dignified and respectful way. On the other hand, opponents of euthanasia argue that its use devalues a person’s life. They argue that since physician-assisted dying involves the termination of the life of a patient, it means that their life is not protected or treasured. However, despite the debate about euthanasia, the authors note that the physicians and the general population support euthanasia. However, they stress the need to create support, training, and implementation standards to help the medical personnel engage in the process.

Pesut, B., Greig, M., Thorne, S., Storch, J., Burgess, M., Tishelman, C., Chambaere, K. and Janke, R., 2020. Nursing and euthanasia: A narrative review of the nursing ethics literature. Nursing ethics, 27(1), pp.152-167.

According to the authors of this article, euthanasia has expanded globally, and Canada was the first nation to allow Nurse Practitioners to offer euthanasia. Such developments show the necessity for medical personnel to consider the ethical and moral issues presented by euthanasia in nursing practice. The study is relevant to the main topic because it offers a narrative review of ethical issues associated with euthanasia in association with nursing practice. In this study, the authors used narrative and systematic search reviews to acquire information. They searched 9 electronic databases where articles that addressed ethical questions associated with euthanasia were chosen.

In this study, 43 articles were analyzed and classified into 4 themes. These themes included arguments from the nature of social good, theories and concepts, moral consistency, and arguments from ethical principles. Results from the analysis indicated that most of the euthanasia arguments were not specifically tied to nursing practice. However, they are still relevant to nursing practice. The researchers emphasized further exploration of the nature of nurse-patient relationships and nursing.

Sjöstrand, M., Helgesson, G., Eriksson, S. and Juth, N., 2013. Autonomy-based arguments against physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia: a critique. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 16, pp.225-230.

The purpose of this article is to present some autonomy-based arguments against the use of euthanasia or physician-assisted dying in healthcare. While respect for autonomy is argued as the major reason for permitting euthanasia and physician-assisted dying, the authors claim that such notions are based on a fallacy of the normative significance of autonomy. Since many experts consider autonomy as a value, the authors argue that euthanasia and physician-assisted dying should thus not be permitted. In that manner, the authors examine that line of reasoning by examining the idea of valuable autonomy to present arguments against euthanasia. For instance, they emphasize that autonomy is an individual prudential value, which offers an argument why assisted suicide and euthanasia do not value the interests of the patient.

The authors also use Kantian ethics to further argue against the adoption of euthanasia in nursing. On this point, they note that autonomy is unreservedly valuable, meaning that medical personnel have the responsibility of preserving the patient’s autonomy. While the authors admit that their lines of argument have some limitations, they conclude that this information would be significant in explaining why euthanasia and assisted suicide are impermissible.

Vecchio, I., Tornali, C., Rampello, L., Rigo, G.S., Migliore, M. and Rampello, L., 2012. Brief history of euthanasia and the contribution of medical and surgical ethics to the cultural debate. Acta Medica, 28, p.185.

The authors of this article note that euthanasia is a controversial and sensitive matter in bioethics. Within the paper, the authors explore some of the concepts behind the challengers and enthusiasts of euthanasia and the most important historical steps of euthanasia. Notably, this makes the article relevant to the main topic. Euthanasia is said to have emerged in the 1920s after it was extensively discussed by jurist Karl Binding and psychiatrist Alfred Hoche in the book “Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Living”. The two authors argued that euthanasia was a form of social remedy to alleviate the suffering of patients. They noted that euthanasia would help in reducing economic and social costs associated with illnesses.

Reference List

Fontalis, A., Prousali, E. and Kulkarni, K., 2018. Euthanasia and assisted dying: what is the current position and what are the key arguments informing the debate? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 111(11), pp.407-413.

McKinnon, B. and Orellana-Barrios, M., 2019. Ethics in physician-assisted dying and euthanasia. The Southwest Respiratory and Critical Care Chronicles, 7(30), pp.36-42.

Pesut, B., Greig, M., Thorne, S., Storch, J., Burgess, M., Tishelman, C., Chambaere, K. and Janke, R., 2020. Nursing and euthanasia: A narrative review of the nursing ethics literature. Nursing ethics, 27(1), pp.152-167.

Sjöstrand, M., Helgesson, G., Eriksson, S. and Juth, N., 2013. Autonomy-based arguments against physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia: a critique. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 16, pp.225-230.

Vecchio, I., Tornali, C., Rampello, L., Rigo, G.S., Migliore, M. and Rampello, L., 2012. Brief history of euthanasia and the contribution of medical and surgical ethics to the cultural debate. Acta Medica, 28, p.185.