At the heart of the debate over assisted suicide is the recognition that not all persons can be healed and not all suffering can be relieved. This article addresses the ethical, professional and legal issues to be considered by the nurses in the United States who are facing patients’ requests for assisted suicide. Both personal and professional risks, and the consequences of an action must be evaluated. Ultimately, a decision is based on some ranking of: patient values; personal values and (...) beliefs; professional codes, standards and other guidelines; and societal laws and regulations. (shrink)

Nursing prides itself on a commitment to caring for patients and their families. Daily, nurses support patients and their families as they face life-threatening disease and injury and help them through the painful decisions to initiate or remove ventilators, artificial nutrition and hydration, and other life-sustaining technology.The opinions of the Second and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals, in Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington and Quill v. Vauo, strike at the heart of the nursing value system. If the United (...) States Supreme Court upholds either opinion, physicians will be legally allowed to help patients die, and nurses will be called on to assist with this process, just as nurses have assisted with electroconvulsive treatment, abortion, and other controversial procedures. Advanced practice nurses, who are licensed to prescribe drugs, may also be allowed by law to assist patients to end their own lives. (shrink)

Nursing prides itself on a commitment to caring for patients and their families. Daily, nurses support patients and their families as they face life-threatening disease and injury and help them through the painful decisions to initiate or remove ventilators, artificial nutrition and hydration, and other life-sustaining technology.The opinions of the Second and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals, in Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington and Quill v. Vauo, strike at the heart of the nursing value system. If the United (...) States Supreme Court upholds either opinion, physicians will be legally allowed to help patients die, and nurses will be called on to assist with this process, just as nurses have assisted with electroconvulsive treatment, abortion, and other controversial procedures. Advanced practice nurses, who are licensed to prescribe drugs, may also be allowed by law to assist patients to end their own lives. (shrink)