Medically Assisted Death Assignment
Introduction
In the medical world, there exists various ethical issues that are torn in between the views of opposing sides and therefore require a legal backing as a guideline to such medical issues. The most notable one in this category is the medically assisted death, popularly known as physician-assisted suicide (PAS) or euthanasia (Daskal, 2018). medically assisted death is ending of life of a patient, either emanating from the patient consent, the family or through a legal backing. This happens through a medical procedure executed by a physician to assist in dying. Patients with terminal conditions or those under great pain are mostly the target of the medically assisted death to end their suffering in a dignified way. Nevertheless, medically assisted death remains one of the most controversial ethical issues in the medical world. As a quota supports the procedure, the issue has brought in different views that mostly emanate from the patient protection, culture, religious views as well as general ethical standards. This paper will focus on the medically assisted death in connection with the Quebec legislation, Bill 52, its ethical application and personal view and suggested framework concerning the medically assisted death procedure.Medically Assisted Death Assignment
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Exploration of Ethical Theories and Ethical Principles
Quebec became the first Canadian province to allow medically assisted death through the passing of a bill in 2014, popularly known as Bill 52, which is an Act that stipulates the legal issues and backing in respect to the end-of-life care. The bill outlines the right of the patient to receive terminal palliative sedation, as well as the right of a patient to obtain medical aid in dying (Burlone & Richmond, 2018). However, the duty of care as well as prevention and relief of suffering creates a dilemma on the application of medically assisted death. Nevertheless, there exists ethical theories and principles that this matter can be looked upon with the lens of their stipulations.Medically Assisted Death Assignment
One such assumption of the ethical theory is the utilitarianism which dictates that humans ought to adopt actions that foster happiness or pleasure and opposes actions that cause unhappiness or harm (Smith, 2010). As such, the provisions that exists under the Quebec Bill 52 of 2014, this ethical theory supports the provisions in that the main aim of the Act is to provide a legal framework that will assist patients within the province escape from the great suffering and pain that is caused by terminal illnesses and die in a dignified manner (Burlone & Richmond, 2018). Although the utilitarianism has attracted some ethical questions on the greater good of the society and letting the nature take its cause, it has widely been accepted in ethical dilemmas largely because of its dictates on the fostering of happiness or pleasure and the consequent opposition of actions that cause unhappiness or harm in life.
On the other hand, another moral theory that supports the medically assisted death is the deontology principle which creates an overall normative theory of morality. The deontology principle stipulates that the moral of an action is based on the set rules which defines whether the act is right or wrong and not on the consequences of the action. As such, having a legal framework such as the Bill 52, it is in itself a set of rules that govern the ending of life medically following stipulated procedures and ethical guidelines. This qualifies the moral theory of deontology with a view that despite losing life, there exists respect and end of suffering and great pain for the concerned patients.
When it comes the ethical principles, the act of beneficence plays a great part in ensuring that the ethical obligation is established especially on the medical practitioners’ side when it comes to medically assisted death. The beneficence principle states that the patient welfare should always be at the center of any procedure and thus the involved professionals must always strive to do what most benefits the patient at hand (Euchner & Preidel, 2018). On the other hand, another ethical principle that applies widely on the medically assisted death situations is the principle of veracity which provides that medical professionals must always be truthful to the patients so us the patients can understand the consequences of their consent and procedures.
The Nursing Profession Involvement on The Issue
Nurses are at the center of the medical assistance and as such, even when it comes to the medically assisted death, nurses hold an important position through established guidelines as produced by different nursing governing bodies within Canada. The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) and the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario (RPNAO) all have a role in the monitoring, reviewing and the provision of ethical standards that nurses are expected to follow when faced with a medically assisted death situation. This was not present in the past before a law was passed to allow assisted suicide (Canadian Nurses Association, 2017). As such, these professional bodies have since then updated their clinical guidelines for the nurses and the role they can play in palliative and end of life care, including the support of informed discussions about patients’ end of life care goals.Medically Assisted Death Assignment
In 2017, the CNA came up with a national framework that provided a detailed guideline on the Canadian nursing role in the medically assisted death (Canadian Nurses Association, 2017). This was an important move as nurses are the first and the closest contact with the patients and their roles in the information sharing, family briefing and patient understanding of the available treatment options and end of life issues concerning the patient situation cannot be underestimated. The CNO, CAN and RPNAO continue to align the professional nursing guidelines with the existing legislations in Canada in order to strengthen the role of nurses in the medically assisted death situations for a better life, quality end of life care and informed decisions for the overall care of the patients.
The Issue Connection to Social Justice
Social justice is the fairness and equitable allocation of wealth opportunities and social privileges that exists between individuals and the society. The medically assisted death has for a long time conflicted with the social justice provisions of fairness and many socialists have held a view that it is an unacceptable way of ending life as it has not been generally accepted across the society divide (Buchbinder, 2018). As such, due to the greater effect the procedure holds within the society, the remedy has been to develop laws that guide the procedure in order to protect the patient, as well as the medical professionals when executing the procedure. The legal backing is an open view that the medically assisted death is fully connected with the social justice that is generally guided by formulated laws (Buchbinder, 2018).
Nevertheless, there has been existing laws that have strived to protect the interests of the patients especially those who are terminally ill or receiving end of life care. The Act of respecting health services and social services was established to offer guidelines on the roles of the medical and nurses’ practitioners when it comes to palliative care. Although the Act did not provide guidelines on assisted suicide, it was later amended to cover the medical assisted death, especially after the passing of bill 52, which provided a legal backing for the medically assisted death. The code of ethics was incorporated under section 233 of the Act and as such, to cover the introduced changes, bringing in a whole new dawn to the legalization of medically assisted death. In my view, my ethical concern is the view of misuse of the law in making uninformed decisions, especially when it comes to the elderly and those with intellectual disability facing the end of life decisions and require either the professional or the relative decision without their consent.
My Values/Beliefs/Culture, Media And/or Religion Role in My Ethical Concern/Issue
Life is valuable more than anything else and, in my view, the medically assisted suicide should be a last option after exhaustively trying all other means of the available treatment. I stand with the believe that a natural death can also be dignified and offer some peace of mind for the patient, the nurse, as well as the family (Atkins & Burnett, 2017). If managed well with professional ways of controlling the illness effects, patients can die naturally at their given time or generally improve their lives and extend their time of staying alive. Although the world is slowly accepting the reality of medically assisted death, it is my ethical view that this is a wrong direction as not everyone will be in a position to make the death consent and as well, the provisions might find a room for misuse which is a danger to the overall patient care (Yi-Sheng et al., 2010).
Ethical Action
Many patients who are terminally ill are the ones who are mostly involved in the medically assisted death. The common characteristic with these patients is the great pain and suffering that they go through. With such, most of them may express death wish and consent without their good will as they may be forced by the circumstance at hand. As a professional, my role is to make sure that the patient understands the existing treatment options and palliative care that are available and can in a way make them understand the consequences of their decision. My ethical decision framework will encompass patient briefing, counselling and incorporation of the family within the discussions of end of life care or the palliative care for the overall maximum benefit to the patient. Medically assisted suicide is the last option in my ethical decision framework.Medically Assisted Death Assignment
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Conclusion
In a recap, the medical assisted suicide remains one of the controversial issues in the medical world. The acceptance of it in the province of Quebec has drawn a new era within Canada on the reality of medically assisted suicide. The incorporation of ethical standards that align with the Bill 52 provisions by professional bodies such as CNO, CAN and RPNAO is a clear sign that the medical assisted suicide is gaining popularity among the Canadian fraternity and as such, the medical professionals must understand its execution in their line of duty. Nevertheless, the application of the medically assisted death should be a last resort when all other treatment options have been exhausted.
References
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(2016). International changes in end-of-life practices over time: A systematic review. BMC Health Services Research, 16 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1749-z Medically Assisted Death Assignment