Brilliant Answers

due 11/29/2020 Sunday @7pm EST

4-6 pages

APA format

Submit through Turnitin and provide the report (must be less than 10%)

minimum of 5 scholarly article or journal with links to the FULL article or journal

Topic: Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

· Due 11/29/2020 @ 7pm EST

· 4 – 6 pages

· APA Format

· Minimum of 5 scholarly articles or journals with a link to the FULL article or journal.

· Scholarly articles and journals must be in English

· Submit through Turnitin and provide a report (must be less than 10%)

Instructions
Please read all the following and answer them appropriately.

· Answer this question: What are the personal and/or communal ethical factors that may be involved in determining the moral position of either side in that debate?

· Next, articulate, and then evaluate the ethical positions using Kantian ethics (categorical imperative) relative to the long-standing debate (euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide)

· Please read the attached file “Kant Ethics (Categorical Imperative)

· Finally, create a complete annotated bibliography for 5 academic scholarly sources. You will annotate each source. The sources should be relevant to your topic chosen in the week three assignment.

Each annotation section should include the following:

· Summarize key points and identify key terms (using quotation marks and citing a page in parentheses).

· Describe the controversies or “problems” raised by the articles.

· State whether you agree or disagree and give reasons.

· Locate one or two quotations to be used in the final research project.

· Evaluate the ways in which this article is important and has helped you focus your understanding.

Use the following as an example.

APA Reference
Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58-63.

Annotation Example
In this article, Mezirow (2003) makes a distinction between “instrumental” and “communicative” learning. “Instrumental learning” refers to those processes which measure and gauge learning, such as tests, grades, comments, quizzes, attendance records and the like. “Communicative learning,” on the other hand, refers to understanding created over time between individuals in what Mezirow calls “critical-dialectical-discourse,” (p. 59) which is a fancy way of saying, important conversation between 2 or more speakers. Another key idea Mezirow discusses is “transformative learning,” (p. 61) which changes the mind, the heart, the values and beliefs of people so that they may act better in the world. Mezirow argues that “hungry, desperate, homeless, sick, destitute, and intimidated people obviously cannot participate fully and freely in discourse” (p. 59). On the one hand, he is right: there are some people who cannot fully engage because their crisis is so long and deep, they are prevented. But, I don’t think Mezirow should make the blanket assumption that everyone in unfortunate circumstances is incapable of entering the discourse meaningfully. One thing is certain: if we gave as much attention to the non-instrumental forms of intelligence–like goodness, compassion, forgiveness, wonder, self-motivation, creativity, humor, love, and other non-measured forms of intelligence in our school curriculums, we’d see better people, actors in the world, and interested investigators than we currently have graduating high school.

Running head:

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

1

2

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annotated Bibliography

Name

University

Class/Professor

Date

Ethical Factors in the Moral Position

My Ethical Dilemma consisted of euthanasia. Is it ethical to assist a person with a severe illness with assisted suicide? One of my values consist of helping people who are suffering and that’s why I am becoming a nurse. I would support this if the patient is wanting to end their suffering and pass the criteria needed to be considered for this procedure. Ultimately, I would have to go with my morals about respecting people’s rights. It is their life and they should decide their fate in the case of terminal illness.

Kantian Ethics

Kant believes that human beings have an intrinsic worth and that they are valuable above all price. Human life is valuable and should not be wasted. “The only way that moral goodness can exist, Kant held, is for rational creatures to act from a good will—that is, to apprehend what they should do and act from a sense of duty,” (Rachels, 2019). I believe if someone is hurt or suffering, we would stop and do everything in our power to help them. We act from a good will by stopping and making sure they are okay. We act out of a since of duty to help them by any means necessary. We must promote their welfare, respect their rights, avoid harming them, and generally “endeavor, so far as we can, to further the ends of others,” (Rachels, 2019). If the thing they want most is to end their suffering would it be respecting their rights. I believe that the Kantian Ethics would agree to a point about assisted suicide. They believe in the human rights, protecting life, and promoting their welfare. I think they would believe that by ending their suffering they are respecting the wishes of the patient.

Annotated Bibliography

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide of Patients with Psychiatric Disorders in the Netherlands

This article discusses how patients with psychiatric disorders should also be allowed to obtain medically assisted suicide. Normally assisted suicide is used on terminally ill patients but in the Netherlands, they are looking to change that. “Although the debate over psychiatric Euthanasia Assisted Suicide (EAS) typically focuses on persons with treatment-resistant depression,” (Kim, 2016). The patients had chronic depression and the other half had another disorder along with the depression. Many of the patients had already attempted suicide and had been hospitalized many times prior as well. The requirements for a psychiatric patient were discussed to be able to receive and were more in depth. The controversy between doctors is if they met this criterion or not. “In 8 cases, a psychiatrist consultant believed that the due care criteria were not met, while a primary care consultant believed that the criteria were met,” (Kim, 2016). Some physicians say they were not competent to make this decision and one case there was a disagreement about the unbearable suffering criterion. I believe this should be an option for patients with chronic mental health disorders that are resistant to treatment. If the patient meets all of the criteria and goes through extensive counseling, then that is their right to choose assisted suicide. I think this article is important because we don’t think of mental illness as something that can be chronic or like a terminal illness. It puts into perspective how it can feel to have chronic depression and why you would want assisted suicide instead of trying to commit suicide yourself.

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: A paper from the European Association for Palliative Care

In palliative care euthanasia should be considered if the patient requests to speak about it. They deserve to have the right to go through the process to find out if this is the right course of treatment for them. They will undergo psychosocial and spiritual counseling to help understand their situation. This helps to know exactly how to navigate through their feelings of despair to see if they really want the assisted suicide. “In a large survey of terminally ill patients, 10.6% reported seriously considering euthanasia or PAS for themselves, but the follow-up interview showed that 50.7% of these patients had changed their mind after 6 months, while a nearly equal number had started to consider it,” (Radbruch, 2015). This controversy of whether the patient really wants to be euthanized is taken into account and that is why they go through therapy for an extended period of time. This helps them see if this is really what they want or if it was just a moment, they wanted to end their lives. I agree that the patients considering this route needs extensive therapy to make sure it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. This allows patient to explore their feeling to see if this is what they really want. This article helps us to understand that in a moment of weakness a patient can want to end their suffering. As seen in the article that about 50% changed their mind after 6 months. That is why they need to attend therapy and that there are requirements to be met before the assisted suicide procedure is completed.

Dementia and assisted suicide and euthanasia

Dementia is a slow debilitating disease process that affects the patient’s cognitive abilities. This can be terrifying for some patients because you eventually lose everything about you that made you, you. You begin forgetting everyone, your thinking process declines, and soon you won’t be able to take care of yourself. That can be a burden on both the patient and their families. “Netherlands in 2014, 81 people diagnosed with dementia opted for and were granted euthanasia, their doctors either administered them lethal drugs on their request or helped them by handing them the lethal drugs,” (Beaufort, 2016). The patients did not want to die without memory of their families and not being able to care for themselves. There is controversy whether the patients were capable to make the decision of assisted suicide since the disease process affects your cognitive abilities to make decisions. “The euthanasia cases that were notified and were judged to comply with the due care criteria in the Netherlands, therefore, in almost all cases involved persons who found themselves in the early stages of the disease,” (Beaufort, 2016). By catching the disease process early, they are still capable of making medical decisions. I believe that if they are still capable in making their own medical decisions and are deemed fit by a health care provider, they should have the right to do so. This article provides insight on the effects of dementia and the dying process that occurs with it. They have the chance to die being themselves than die with the effect’s dementia has on them.

Terminating a Child’s Life? Religious, Moral, Cognitive, and Emotional Factors Underlying Non-Acceptance of Child Euthanasia

Belgium is the first country to legalize child euthanasia. “Disapproval was associated with religiousness, collectivistic morality (loyalty and purity), and prosocial dispositions, in terms of emotional empathy and behavioral generosity, but not values (care and fairness),” (Deak, 2017). In this article it evaluates the controversy over ending a child’s life. In a religious view all euthanasia is wrong in the eyes of those who believe in God. They believe that God created you and he is responsible for the termination of your life as well. The collectivist moral orientation was also seen to oppose the assisted suicide of a child. “These foundations include loyalty to the group, respect for authority, and purity, that is, valuing the preservation of the natural and sacred order of things and the world,” (Deak, 2017). All in all, at the end of their poll half agreed with child euthanasia. The ones opposed believed that children do not have the capacity to understand death and what it means to make that decision. On the other hand, they justified agreeing with the situation by stating they have the right to choose to end their suffering from a terminal illness. In my opinion I would have to agree they should have the right to choose. I think that as long as all criteria and laws are followed extensively it is their own choice.

The attitudes of nursing students to euthanasia

As a nursing student we must look at or beliefs and views on euthanasia. “There was a significant correlation between the nursing students’ attitudes to euthanasia and some demographic characteristics, including sex, age and religious beliefs,” (Naseh, 2016). Such as Muslim or Persian nursing students had a negative attitude towards assisted suicide. This study showed that the more religious students were opposed to supporting euthanasia. Half of the students had a negative view of it while the others were neutral or positive. “Many define it as the “mercy killing” of people suffering from fatal diseases, injuries, incapacities or extreme pain and the ending of life in as painless a way as possible,” (Naseh, 2016). So looking at that it depends on the context at the situation and how people were taught. I also agree with the context of the situation. Normally it is considered for people with fatal illness who are unable to live the life they want. So, I would agree that the article makes you think about your own perspective and how we should respect others views as well.

References

Beaufort, I., Vathorst, S. (March 23, 2016). Dementia and assisted suicide and euthanasia. Retrieved: June 5, 2020. From:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-016-8095-2#citeas

Deak, C., & Saroglou, V. (2017). Terminating a Child’s Life? Religious, Moral, Cognitive, and Emotional Factors Underlying Non-Acceptance of Child Euthanasia. Psychologica Belgica, 57(1), 59–76. https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.341

Kim, S., Vries, R., Peteet, J. (2016, April). Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide of Patients with Psychiatric Disorders in the Netherlands 2011 to 2014. Retrieved: June 5, 2020. From:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2491354

Naseh, L., Heidari, M. (October 28, 2016). The attitudes of nursing students to euthanasia. Retrieved: June 5, 2020. From:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ladan_Naseh/publication/309909385_The_attitudes_of_nursing_students_to_euthanasia/links/5826173b08ae950ace6a7bd0

Rachels, S., & Rachels, J. (2019). The elements of moral philosophy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Radbruch, L., Leget, C. (November 19, 2015). Bahr. Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: A paper from the European Association for Palliative Care. Retrieved: June 5, 2020. From:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269216315616524