Cancer Patient offered Suicide but NOT Treatment!

[waiting1]

OnMyWayHome I know you are a very caring person, but sadly though people like you who are in charge of facilities like this are getting fewer and fewer as the days go by. I think one of the things Christians have neglected as a whole and we need to gain ground on is getting into politics, becoming Judges and attaining positions of power. The enemy has fully taken advantage of this by ensuring his henchman have attained these positions. With so many of his in places of power we are feeling it as a whole in our society and california is a perfect example of it. But with that said we know that the time is very short now and our Lord will soon say: "Come Up Hither!" Amen! God Bless You All! May the Lord comfort and heal you Run2Jesus. I am sooo sorry it has to be terrible to recall and your keyboard must have been flooded with tears when you wrote that for us to see. I have written about my son many times and I have to stop to wipe the tears so I can see to type. God Bless You!

[OnMyWayHome]

Waiting1, I so agree with you about Christians neglecting to strive to attain positions of power. I am so grateful to be in a position to have a positive influence on the lives of so many patients and their families and to be able to support them through their times of greatest needs. Also, to role model that ethic to staff members who provide care as well, sort of raise the bar of what we expect for our standard of patient care.

I can say though, yes, I have seen others in my profession with no ethics who should not be allowed to care for a fly let alone a human being. And unfortuneately you are right that the situation is getting worse rather than better........and it turns my stomach.:ohno

[txmomof3]

:pray I am so very sorry for your loss and for the calloused, unethical and illegal manner in which the physician handled this. I know this must have been so difficult for you to experience and share with us here.:hug I am deeply saddened to hear how this happened.

But as a director in a hospice organization in PA (also worked in NJ and DE) I must say that by no means do we EVER euthanize our patients. That is illegal. We help our patients remain comfortable through their naturally occuring death process, medication may be part of the needed regimine but is never used to hasten the dying process. This is a very common misconception of hospice care, and is very sad to me as many patients who so desperately need our help with pain management and symptom control through their last days don't get it due to the widespread misconception.:candle
I am a true patient advocate and want to do what is best for our patients and families.
And just so everyone knows, hospice care is a free service covered by medicare A or medicaid, you do not have to sign a DNR , but you do have to discontinue "agressive" curative treatment.....which usually has been determined to not be working or making the patient worse at the point they turn to us.
I love my work and often find a way to witness for the Lord to unsaved patients nearing the end of their lives.

As an ICU RN, I totally agree with you. I am thinking about becoming a palliative care nurse practitioner so that I can help dying patients and their families through this difficult time in their lives. The ONLY medication I will give a patient is to keep them comfortable, not to hasten the dying process. In a patient who is terminal and who has decided (or the family has decided) to "Allow Natural Death", your most important job as a nurse is to keep the patient comfortable. (we use AND instead of DNR because that describes it better...we are allowing the patient to die naturally, not keep them alive artificially).

Unfortunately, the meds we use for pain management also depress the respiratory system and can contribute to the process. My ultimate goal is for my patients to die comfortably and with dignity...as well as their family members being able to know their loved one was cared for and comfortable throughout the dying process. Occasionally, I have had a patient die after an increase in pain medication that was truly needed at that point in time fore the patient to be comfortable. HOWEVER, I would NEVER give someone "extra" medication simply so they will die faster. It is God's choice alone to decide when we take our last breath.

[OnMyWayHome]

As an ICU RN, I totally agree with you. I am thinking about becoming a palliative care nurse practitioner so that I can help dying patients and their families through this difficult time in their lives. The ONLY medication I will give a patient is to keep them comfortable, not to hasten the dying process. In a patient who is terminal and who has decided (or the family has decided) to "Allow Natural Death", your most important job as a nurse is to keep the patient comfortable. (we use AND instead of DNR because that describes it better...we are allowing the patient to die naturally, not keep them alive artificially).

Unfortunately, the meds we use for pain management also depress the respiratory system and can contribute to the process. My ultimate goal is for my patients to die comfortably and with dignity...as well as their family members being able to know their loved one was cared for and comfortable throughout the dying process. Occasionally, I have had a patient die after an increase in pain medication that was truly needed at that point in time fore the patient to be comfortable. HOWEVER, I would NEVER give someone "extra" medication simply so they will die faster. It is God's choice alone to decide when we take our last breath.

Bless you txmomof3!! :hug I am glad we are standing our ground on the health care front! I like that "AND"......I am thinking you are in Texas? I want to read more about that as I think families and patients would feel so much more comfortable with that phraseology .....DNR sounds so final and harsh......and alot of practitioners interpret it that way.......