Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Nursing - Essay Example This will be done through the application of a medical theory to the problem of euthanasia decisions. Annandale identifies that the social environment has a strong linkage with nursing (1998). This is because social perceptions and community morals form the foundations of ethics which play a major part in defining what is right and what is wrong (Tew, 2002). Euthanasia is not a traditional health problem. However, it is a major social issue which has connections with the definition of what is right and what is wrong in the society. As a social phenomenon, euthanasia intervenes in the work of nurses in two ways. First of all, the legal position of euthanasia will influence specific rules in medical ethics which will in turn define how a nurse must behave in a given situation. Secondly, the personal mindset of a person in relation to decisions on how to deal with a patient on the verge of euthanasia is influenced by dominant social views on the subject. â€Å"Euthanasia is a method of inducing the death of a patient for two reasons: first of all, the patient must be in a very tough state of a medical condition which might cause undue and disproportionate suffering; secondly, the case must be declared hopeless by medical authorities† (Yount, 2002). Euthanasia is therefore a way of killing a patient in a state which has been declared fatal and is causing a patient to go through untold hardships and suffering. In such a case, the health professional might be obliged to induce the death of the patient to avoid the suffering and the hardship that the person might be going through. Euthanasia comes with two conflicting viewpoints when examined from a medical point of view (Torr, 2000). First of all euthanasia might be seen to be an extreme attempt on the life of a patient that a medical practitioner has been paid to take care of. In that case, the medical professional might be seen to be wicked and playing a negative role on the patient