Physician-assisted-suicide (PAS) or assisted suicide is suicide that is assisted by
healthcare providers. The PAS is considered a crime in many countries and legal in only a few.
To qualify for assisted suicide, one requires to have a terminal illness provided it is voluntary
and they are of sound mind. The assisted suicide topic has sparked a debate over the decades on
whether it is ethical or unethical. This paper will identify an article that is related to assisted
suicide and summarize the main ideas of the article, discuss the code of ethics related to assisted
suicide, highlight ways in which the topic impacts current nursing practices, how it impacts
future nursing practices, how it impacts interdisciplinary teams, how it impacts the patient care
and safety, and how it impacts patient outcomes.
The nursing practice topic is Assisted Suicide: Is it Ethical?
Summary of the main ideas of the article
The article posits that physician-assisted suicide is unethical as physicians have a role to
protect the life of patients rather than end it. Emmanuel Kant holds that assisted suicide is the
same as using a person as a means to an end this is against self-love and self-preservation. He
terms assisted suicide as an immoral act. Contemporary ethicists claim that autonomy is not a
justification for assisting suicide (Louanne, 2011). Physician-assisted-suicide
The idea of assisted suicide was reintroduced in 1870 by Samuel D. Williams who
advocated the use of medication to end life for dying people, elderly or the seriously impaired.
Ohio became the first state to draw a bill regarding euthanasia in 1906 but was ultimately
rejected (Louanne, 2011). The bill was later revived in Britain by the Voluntary Euthanasia
Legislation Society in the 1930s but was again rejected. Euthanasia had been in practice since the 1970s in the Netherlands and was legalized in 2001 (Louanne, 2011). Its growth was influenced
by the belief of physicians that patients should not be kept alive at any cost. In the United States,
the euthanasia campaign began in 1975 after Dereck Humphrey helped her wife who suffered
painful cancer to take her own life. Euthanasia was legalized in 2008 and approved by the voters
in Washington (Louanne, 2011). Many thinkers in western culture believe that euthanasia is
acceptable provided there is individual autonomy. Candidates of euthanasia in Oregon are those
who have a terminal illness with a prognosis of 6 months or less to live (Louanne, 2011).
Individuals with terminal illnesses need alternative solutions to physician-assisted
suicide. Hospice programs, for instance, have emerged as one of the finest ways of taking care of
persons with terminal illnesses (Louanne, 2011). Embracing alternative solutions to physician-
assisted suicide is not only a financial concern but also, an ethical issue for healthcare providers
responsible for individuals with terminal illnesses. Another possible solution is to educate
patients and their families to make informed decisions about medical treatment (Louanne, 2011). Physician-assisted-suicide
Code of Ethical related to assisted suicide
Physicians have a duty to patients to act in their best interests. Physicians should treat
their patients with respect, in a way that minimizes harm, and that promotes fairness
(Monteverde, 2017). Despite efforts to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS), the American
College of Physician argues that PAS is unethical. PAS is unethical since it affects the patient-
physician relationship, kills trust between them, and alters the fundamental role of medical
professionals in the society (Monteverde, 2017). The need to reduce suffering should not focus
on ending a life but on improving the quality of access to palliative care. Professionals have a
responsibility to care for and comfort patients. Through assisted suicide, physicians contravene both their professional rules and general rules of beneficence and nonmaleficence (Monteverde,
2017). Physicians are moral agents guided by professional responsibilities and not mare service
providers. PAS is prohibited succinctly by the AMA Code of Medical Ethics (Sullivan, & Taylor
2018).

How the topic impact current nursing practices
The topic terms assisted suicide as ethical and inconsistent with nursing practices. This
positively impacts the current nursing practice by enlightening nurses that they ought to protect
life and not facilitate deaths. The finding that assisted suicide has negative impacts on the
patient-nurse relationship is unethical and inconsistent with the nursing code of conduct can also
help prevent assisted suicide (Hamric et al., 2018). Nurses should also know that respecting the
patient's right to autonomy does not justify PAS but rather contravenes their professional
responsibilities to patients. Physician-assisted-suicide
How the topic impacts future nursing practice
Nurses will in the future be able to respect the autonomy of patients without necessarily
having to breach their professional responsibility to patients. Nurses will also in the future apply
alternatives to assisted suicide by educating their patients on treatment methods as well as
improving the quality of healthcare as a way of relieving patients' pain and suffering. Nurses
have also learned that assisted suicide although enacted as law in some states does not make it
ethical (Hamric et al., 2018). This will help them act ethically with total respect to the interest of
patients together with their families and without breaching a professional code of conduct.
How the topic impacts the members of the interdisciplinary team All professionals in healthcare will learn that it is unethical to help a patient take their
own life regardless of their underlying condition. The interdisciplinary team should learn from
the voters and vote it out once and for all. Even though it is legal in some states, all medical
practitioners should act to save lives and relieve pain and not take part in taking a patient's life
(Sulmasy, 2018). The patient should not be assisted to commit suicide. If by any chance the
patient withdraws treatment citing that the treatment is not consistent with their preferences, then
medical practitioners are not guilty of facilitating suicide.
How the topic impacts patient care and safety
Assisted suicide has been found to negatively affect the relationship between patients and
physicians. This means that ending assisted suicide will help improve the quality of care patients
receive due to the existing healthy relationship with physicians. This topic will also help improve
the safety of patients in all healthcare facilities as the primary responsibility of physicians is to
protect life and minimize harm. Educating patients that there are available alternatives to assisted
suicide will reduce the rate of death among patients with fatal illnesses and thus improve patient
care (Radbruch et al., 2016).
How the topic impacts patient outcomes
This topic will help patients understand that it is unethical to seek assisted suicide. The
patient should know that despite having the right of autonomy, assisted suicide breaches the
professional responsibility of physicians to them (Sulmasy & Muller, 2017). The patient
outcomes might, therefore, be different after learning about this topic. Physician-assisted-suicide
Conclusion

In conclusion, the paper was about assisted suicide. Several ideas were presented in the
paper. One of the ideas is that assisted suicide is unethical as it contravenes the professional code
of ethics. Additionally, euthanasia is legal in countries such as the Netherlands and some states
in America. It is time that assisted suicide is replaced with alternative solutions that end the pain
in patients. Assisted suicide is termed as unethical by the American College of Physician and
AMA Code of Medical Ethics. Current nursing practices have been informed that autonomy is
not a justification for assisted nursing. Nurses in the future should respect the autonomy of
patients without necessarily having to breach their professional responsibility to patients. The
interdisciplinary team has a common responsibility to protect the life of their patients. This topic
will help improve the quality of care provided to patients and at the same time observing their
safety. As a result of this topic, the relationship between patients and healthcare providers will
flourish facilitating better healthcare services. Physician-assisted-suicide

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