Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
Scholarly Ethics Paper – Individual Assignment
(CNO ETP 16, 63, 66, 68, 69, 75, 77, 79)
“Just because we can, does not always mean we should.” In today’s healthcare environment advances in technology and medical knowledge allow us to do things that were previously unthinkable. While some advances are clearly in everyone’s best interest others are less clear. The intent of this paper is for students to become familiar with ethical issues, conflicts, and ethical dilemmas. This allows students to explore one of the “grey” areas of medical advancement. Health care professionals such as nurses who have prolonged contact with patients often come across challenging ethical and legal issues, especially in times of limited resources. In light of these situations, nurses continue to provide safe, ethical, and quality patient centered care. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
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Topic Chosen: Euthanasia: A solution or controversy in the medical world?
After researching your topic, you will formulate a position and then proceed to support your position from the relevant literature. Remember it is important you support your stated position with the relevant literature.
In the ethical dilemma paper, students will describe an ethical situation encountered in their daily life and analyze the situation using ethical principles and theories. The paper is to be written individually using American Psychological Association (APA) format. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
Process:
1. Select ONE of the topics below (I HAVE CHOSEN Euthanasia) for your Ethical Dilemma Paper. Be sure to choose a topic that you have a strong interest in or a strong personal belief in.
2. Read widely about your topic to familiarize yourself with the different perspectives that exist on about your topic
3. Research a case scenario, which you will be describing in your essay, including the reference and analyze the situation
4. Next, decide on a position that you will take regarding the identified issue. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
5. Formulate a clear and concise thesis. The aim of your paper is then to support your position through ethical reasoning
6. Paper Overview:
a. Decide on a position that you will take regarding the identified issue.
b. State if you personally agree or disagree with the practice identified based on a reflection of your personal experience or your own beliefs and values as
opposed to professional values.
c. Introduction: Paragraph that engages the reader’s attention, identifies your thesis statement, and gives a brief overview of your essay, case scenario, and flow of paper
d. Identify how 2 different Ethical theories would view the ethical dilemma.
e. Identify how 2 or more Ethical Principles are conflicted in this ethical dilemma.
f. Identify relevant nursing standards or codes (CNO) relevant to the topic (Within Canada)
g. Identify legal considerations (RHPA, Nursing Act, Criminal Code, Human Rights, etc., Within Canada)
h. Conclusion: Paragraph that provides a summary of the most salient points. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
Tips:
Be creative. Be sure to clarify about your agreement and disagreement with the practice identified. Your position should be through the utilization of relevant ethical theories, principles, nursing standards and codes and current relevant research to formulate your argument, this must include the applicable/appropriate legislation). Make sure that your paper contains a reflection on what personal values you have in relation to the issue. A good argument always presents both sides but justifies why one side is more compelling than the other.
Additional tips:
• • Background information and significance of the topic chosen should be included
• • Well-focused essay showing your understanding on the topic, clear, readable, good flow with correct grammar and spelling.
• • Strong argument and avoid repeated ideas and information
• • Discuss the implications of this topic to the nursing practice.
• • Conclusion; summarizes your ideas/argument/stand on the topic.
- • By the end of your paper, you will have a better understanding of ethical situations and how these issues can affect your nursing practice. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
Scholarly Ethics Paper – Individual Assignment
Introduction
The medical field has experienced unimaginable revolutions in the recent past. Medical practitioners are accustomed with these revolutions. One of such revolution is euthanasia. However, some of these revolutions conflict with their ethical standards, beliefs and professional values as well as the statutory provisions. Even if to some extent these revolutions are of benefit, especially to the patient, the question that comes along is: “do we kill for mercy to relieve them (patients) or is it unethical or immoral to do so” (Brill, 1935). As a result, the medical practitioners find themselves at the cross road (dilemma); not being able to decide what it right and what is wrong. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
One such case happened in 2015 in Chile where a 14 year old girl, Maureira, pleaded with the president to “let her die”. The plea elicited different debates; one because euthanasia is illegal in the country and second because it is against the values of the Chileans of whom majority are Catholics (CNN Spanish, 2015).
Based of the fact that we need and want it, and that we can be able to control it, the following argumentative paper argues for euthanasia while highlighting the position of ethical theories and ethical principles, ethical standards or codes (CNO), and the legal considerations (Nursing Act, Human Rights Criminal Code and RHPA among others) with reference to the ethical dilemma. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
Topic: Euthanasia: A solution or controversy in the medical world?
Case scenario: The 14 year old Chilean Girl who asked the President to let her die (CNN Spanish, 2015)
- Conflicting Ethical Theories And The Ethical Dilemma
There are two main theories that give conflicting views about euthanasia. These include:
- Utilitarian Theory
A utilitarian approach to this ethical dilemma only argues for the mercy killing if and only if certain conditions are met (Mapes, 2016). The proposers of this theory (utilitarian) don’t abide by it based on any Holy Scripture guidance; nor any divine command (Mapes, 2016). Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
After weighing the circumstances, a utilitarian would come to a conclusion that what is right to do is “whatever results in the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people involved” (Mapes, 2016). For example, if it is the choice of the involved to choose the process while a few of his/her family members are against it, euthanasia would be okay (Mapes, 2016).
However, more family member’s objection, the utilitarian principles would be pushed to them to ask “what would result in the greatest amount of pain?” (Mapes, 2016). In a euthanasia case, such as that of Maureira, the family member’s unnecessary suffering that inevitably results in death is not to choose the greatest amount of happiness (CNN Spanish, 2015). Thus it would be logical to allow euthanasia to take place. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper.
- The Kantian Theory
This approach disagrees with mercy killing arguing that the result would lead to an acceptable murdering behavior (Mapes, 2016). They (Kantians) do not believe in divine command and universal law creation exceptions (Mapes, 2016). However, they agree to retributivism-capital punishment allowed by criminal justice (thus creating a contradiction) (Mapes, 2016). That is, they disagree “killing is acceptable under certain conditions” (Mapes, 2016).
It is contradicting when they argue for killing through criminal justice and disagree in the killing of an individual who is terminally ill. The contradiction arises because, whether it is killing through euthanasia or through retributivism, it is still killing. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
In Maureira’s case, application of utilitarian theory would lead to compliance with her request by if the Kantian theory was to be followed, her request would be denied.
- Conflicting Ethical Principles Of Euthanasia
Ethical principles are fundamental truth or position that serves for a foundation of a system of behavior or for a given reasoning chain (Fernandes, 2001). Different principles exist in euthanasia whether voluntary or involuntary. These include:
- Ethical Principle For Voluntary Euthanasia
This principle states that every individual (who can be said to have sound mind) has their own right to implement plans that lead to the end of life in such a manner that their death will be reliable, peaceful and conducted at the time they deem necessary (Fernandes, 2001). This kind of euthanasia has to be confined into the individual rights where every individual is entitled to making a choice and implementation of a peaceful death at the time they deem necessary (Fernandes, 2001). These ethical rights are not in agreement to the fact that some organizations’ moral values, (whether religious or not), must be accepted or applied by other people (Fernandes, 2001).
- Medically-Assisted Suicide
On the other hand, there are several arguments against the legal feasibility and moral acceptability of involving the doctors to end the life of an individual (Fernandes, 2001). One of such argument is the Bible’s Commandment “thou shall not kill” (Fernandes, 2001). It argues that it is against moral acceptability for an individual to end the life of another person. This applies to the medical doctors as seen in Hippocratic Oath (forbids euthanasia and abortion) (Fernandes, 2001). Similarly, the slippery-slope argument states that permitting euthanasia; it would come along with a downhill motion which would make doctors to feel compelled to assist terminally ill patients to terminate their lives (Fernandes, 2001). Paradoxically, doctors would find it normal to kill an individual who they think are not useful to the society. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
- Nursing Standards Or Codes In Canadian Euthanasia Process
- The nurses must be able to support patients in maintenance of their dignity and integrity (Healey, 2013). E.g. in the case of Maureira, the process should not result in demeaning of her dignity and integrity; if she was a Canadian citizen that is.
- Besides, the nurses are supposed to listen carefully to a competent patient’s plea to be assisted in the suicide euthanasia (Healey, 2013). Same case should apply to Maureira.
- Also, any discussion between Maureira and/her family members and the nurses is supposed to be documented; concerning the end-of-life process and procedure (Healey, 2013). Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
- In addition, the nurses are mandated to offer their professional assistance and experience in this area after making the appropriate consultation in the public forum (Healey, 2013). The consultation is at the federal, provincial or territorial levels in order to prepare for the undertaking of the process (Healey, 2013).
- Finally, the nurses should make constant reference to their code of ethics throughout the process and abide by its provisions in addition to the “carter case” who were suffering from progressive and intractable diseases (Healey, 2013).
- Canadian Legal Considerations For Euthanasia
The Canadian law for medical assistance dying was enacted in 2016 in the Canadian parliament (Murphy, 2017). The law outlines a strict laws governing assisted suicide in the country. Any violation of the law’s provision is regarded as a crime of committing murder (Murphy, 2017). The law does not allow advance directives, minors or mentally ill citizens (Murphy, 2017). Some of the provisions include:
- The patient must be suffering from an irremediable grievous medical condition (Murphy, 2017).
- The patient must give a reasonable judgment after being informed about the process (Murphy, 2017).
- The patient must be eligible (Murphy, 2017). Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
For the case of Maureira, she will not qualify for the medical assisted dying because she is a minor (14 years of age).
In the process, the law provides legal safeguards that need to be abided with in order to prevent the error and abuse of human rights in the provision of euthanasia (Murphy, 2017). The argument behind this legal safeguard is to prevent a probable inducement of vulnerable persons to agree with the medically-assisted suicide. These safeguards include:
- Presence of two independent witnesses- who must be above 18 years of age and is cognizant with the law provisions (Murphy, 2017).
- Availability of two independent medical opinions-that is from the nurse and/medical practitioner that the patient is suffering from an irremediable and grievous disease (Murphy, 2017).
- Allowance of ten days period of waiting-this is due to the irrevocable nature of end-of life (Murphy, 2017).
- The patient must be informed about palliative care- that on the available means, and options (Murphy, 2017).
- There has to be an express consent by the patient right before the process is undertaken- this is because it is the right of a medically assisted to die patient to revoke his or her decision at any given time (Murphy, 2017). Besides, it is their right to refuse the medically-assisted dying (Murphy, 2017). Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
Conclusion
For the patients suffering from irremediable and grievous diseases, it would be rational to terminate the life of that patient under his or her express consent. However, a lot of caution need to be taken not violates the beliefs, values and standards of both the medical practitioner and the patient. This is only possible if strict laws governing the process are clearly and elaborately constituted and most importantly adhered to. In the process, the medical practitioners will not be able to violate the right of a patient either from their own consent or through coercion simply because they have the ability. The law should stipulate consequences of violating the provisions of such an act. On my part, I agree on self consent to end one’s life if that would be the best thing to do give the prevailing circumstances; the advance in medical practices has allowed perfect prediction into the future of a client. Therefore, it would be ethical to end the life of a suffering patient whose medical situation is not likely to improve (as seen in Maureira case). Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper.
References
Brill, A. (1935). Is ‘Mercy Killing’ Justified?. Vital Speeches Of The Day, 2(6), 165.
CNN Spanish. (2015). Chilean Girl Who Asked To Be Allowed To Die Passes Away. May.15.2015 / 6:03 PM ET
Fernandes, A. K. (2001). Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and the Philosophical Anthropology of Karol Wojtyla. Christian Bioethics: Non-Ecumenical Studies In Medical Morality, 7(3), 379-402.
Healey, J. (2013). Voluntary Euthanasia Debate. Thirroul, N.S.W.: Spinney Press.
Murphy, S. (2017). Legalization of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Foundational Issues and Implications. BYU Journal Of Public Law, 31(2), 333-394. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper
Mapes, T., (2016). Ethical Theories on Human Euthanasia/Mercy Killing. Updated on July 27, 2016
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Ethical-Theories-on-Human-EuthanasiaMercy-Killing
Savage, T. A. (2003). An Argument against Mercy Killing: A Response to Catlin’s “Normalization, Chronic Sorrow and Murder”. Pediatric Nursing, 29(4), 329-330. Euthanasia Essay – scholarly ethics paper