Christine Mitchell Essay: When Living Is A Fate Worse Than Death

Death is a natural process that will be experienced by everyone at some point, desirably at the end of a long, well lived life. The reality is that no one knows when that time will come or how it will happen. Unfortunately, for the terminally ill, death is in the near future and it is a sobering reality. Therefore, when that time comes, people need to know that they will have options, and the assurance that death does not have to be an agonizing end. They can choose to endure the annihilating pain that comes with the disease and allow it to take its natural course or choose to put an end to it, surrounded by those who love them.

The author of this book is called Anne Fadiman. It is based on a story of a Hmong child known as Lia Lee who suffered from epilepsy. The demise of this condition shows the harm that can be contributed by absence of cross-cultural communication especially in the area of medicine. At the age of three months, the elder sister to Lia known as Yer banged a door which caused Lia to have the first seizure.

The first question tests the reader’s ethics by making them think about how serious a child’s death is to them, and if they could think of anything worse. The second question uses pathos to invoke desperation and sorrow for those who have experienced a situation where they were helpless and could not protect someone, specifically an innocent child. Hunter’s word choice, such as “heart-wrenching” and “absolute helplessness” help to convey this feeling. He successfully captures the reader’s attention by beginning the article in this way.

I only began to understand the concept of an individual being terminally ill when my grandmother went into the hospital. I placed my hand inside of hers and stared at her emotionless face. I could only imagine the pain running through her body and the agony of not being able to vocalize a response to my ‘I love you’. Day after day she waited only anticipating her death and the pain she would feel if indeed she woke up the next day. I would have done anything to not have to see her go through the pain, and to allow her to get to her fate quicker and more comfortably.

The challenge of making decisions, the after care of a ended life, factors that support ending life and guidelines for the withdrawal of life are major themes throughout making this decision. These challenges can often be caused by many other factors. Throughout this literature barriers to providing good end of life care was documented throughout, one of which was the overall environment that nurses provide. Which was also described as the nurse's work load, physical layout of the facility, visitation restrictions, procedures, and

After hours of waiting in a cold hospital room you get the answer no parent should ever here. You are told that your child has cancer. They say that there isn 't much they can do, but they can try Chemotherapy. After months of intense chemotherapy and pain for your child….. He is incapable of taking the pain.

Rachel poses an argument against the conventional doctrine claiming that many cases where a patient is left to die are in fact worse than actually killing them. Because if the person is going to die in either case then why would it be morally permissible to let them slowly die? Either way, the patient is dead. Yet the conventional doctrine usually adds a requirement of suffering before dying. Rachel uses the example of the refusal of treatment to defective new-borns - and the subsequent death of the infant because of dehydration- in order to further prove that certain cases of letting die are actually worse than

The Andrew Bedner Case There are many cases of child abuse around the world. But in the case of Andrew Bedner there are many ethical issues and in the end the case is not resolved in a proper amount of time. Bedner abused his baby and tried to take advantage of the fact that he was the surrogate. The baby died before the court could decide on appointing a new surrogate.

It brought to my awareness both the limitation and the capacity of medicine. Although there was no medical intervention that could cure the diseases of those terminal patients, their quality of life was improved  by an outstanding team of doctors, nurses and volunteers. This awareness helped reconcile myself to the fact that certain things, such as death and terminal illness, can not be avoided or changed. By viewing death as a natural part of life, I will be able to offer my dying patients the best care possible while also understanding my limitation as a physician and a human being.

I argue that the techniques that Lopez used throughout the article created a strong argument that could very likely change the minds of many people in the world that support such an unethical act. Katherine Jean Lopez starts this article with an excerpt from a letter that a girl dying of cancer writes to another girl with cancer that wants to end her life with physicians-assisted

It was not intended to make readers sad or necessarily agree with his decision, however, to examine their own life and situation and to contemplate death, as it is inevitable for everyone. Most people are bound to have to face a similar choice as Clendinen. Maybe not in the same extreme measure, but most people will have to make a decision for a family member who is no longer capable of making medical decisions for themselves. Clendinen achieved his purpose and readers should walk away from this article recognizing exactly what Clendinen’s beliefs are on death, and it ought to make them curious about their own thoughts and beliefs. At the very least, talk with their loved one’s before they ever become ill and find out their loved one’s wishes.

An Integrative Review. JAN Journal of Advanced Nursing, 1744. Karlsson, M. B.-F. (2015). A Qualitative Metasynthesis From Nurses’ Perspective When Dealing With Ethical Dilemmas and Ethical Problems in End-of-Life Care. International Journal for Human Caring, 40-48.

This assignment also covers the importance of hope for patients and the role hope plays in terminally ill patients. I will also discuss ways in which health professionals can foster hope in terminally ill patients. I was on my placement on an oncology ward. It was my second week on

You’re sitting in your hospital room, waiting for answers. You are holding your daughter in your arms. Her sickly pale face turns and looks at you. She struggles to recognize you and tries to make out words. Her speech is slurred and you can’t understand a word she is saying.

The dying patient no longer has quality of life, they have lost their independence, are lonely, are forced to endure inevitable pain, are publicly humiliated, are suffering immensely, and are forced to watch their loved ones grieve because of them. It is an innate Constitutional Right to choose how to die, since we all will die. There comes a point when the poking and prodding becomes too much, when the patient wants to just die in silence in the loving arms of their