Physician assisted suicide is willfully and deliberately providing an individual with the information and means or both required to commit suicide, including education about lethal doses of medications, prescribing such lethal doses or providing the drugs (Schafer, 2013). Physician assisted suicide is currently a thoroughly controversial topic of debate within the healthcare community; causing professional and personal dilemmas. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine and discuss the ethical, legal and professional implications in connection to healthcare delivery related to physician-assisted suicide, specifically the impact on nurses. Physician assisted suicide is a topic of growing importance within healthcare communities. The federal government decriminalized attempted suicide in 1972 and in 1996 under the Health care Consent act patients were given the legal right to give or refuse consent to treatment (Burki, 2015). …show more content…
One argument includes the potential risk for abuse. The vulnerable populations who lack support systems and are not connected with quality care and support may be compelled to assisted death. Furthermore, there are fears among some individuals that physician assisted suicide may become a cost saving strategy. Burdened family members and health care providers could coerce loved ones to choose death; exploitation of the system could be an issue. Protection of the vulnerable is an ethical obligation of all nurses
Another question arises from the debate, who would be eligible for physician-assisted suicide? Clients living with major depressive disorder who believe the ending of their lives would be the end of their suffering could desire help from a healthcare provider. The lines are blurred, and the legalization could prove to be a logistical and ethical