if your in a hospital and you see a patient die. do you think sometimes its better that they rest in peace?

Question

R.I.P and sleep forever . than to see them suffer more and taking a lot of pain...in there incurable sickness like cancer or whatever .........

Answer 1

Over the past years I have seen numerous patients die. I had a particularly bad week in which I lost more than one patient a day. It is always a problem for the health care workers and you have to realise what your duty to the patient is. Most importantly, the patient needs to have their health, dignity and comfort managed to the best of the health care team's ability. It is a matter of balancing those imperatives.

I have had terminal patients, beg me to put in tubes and hook them to machines so they could live a little longer. I have others who wanted no extra measures taken. Both of these patients made the correct choice for them. My job for the fighter was to manage their pain and to keep them as healthy on the machines as long as possible. And for the patient who wanted to accept their terminal illness, my job was to ensure that nobody, caused them any more trauma than necessary and that they passed as painlessly as possible.

Nobody wants a patient to suffer, but it up to the patient to decide when to quit fighting. I don't believe in assisted suicide, but I am a firm believer in hospice and appropriate pain management for terminal patients so they can die comfortably and with dignity.

As long as the patent's wishes are met, then I am comfortable with their passing.

Answer 2

Watch out if the right to lifers decide to respond. It's a shame and makes me ill to visit someone who is terminal, but has family tht has to hold on to them for their own reasons. There may still be miracles, but recovery from end stage of an illness isn't one to hold out a great deal of hope for.
Many people make the mistake of not having a Living Will that states in clear unmistakeable language the desires of a person who is incapacitated. Personally I think a person should have the right to euthanasia when they have past the point where recovery is a possibility (10%, 15%, 20% likelyhood, pick a number.) I've lost 3 friends to Liver failure, which cascades into a full systems shutdown.
There if no honor gained by "toughing it out" to the end. End stage is an unrecognisible bloated, halucinating, moaning lump with no control of bladder or bowels, in the shell of a friend. There may be a short term remittance but it returns as suddenly as it remitted. It can take weeks, even months for this condition to finally end.
As for a coma? Sure, I could wake up in 10 years or so, but I wouldn't be me! If I have no significant brainwave activity it's time to conserve energy, pull the plug, use what parts of me that could be transplanted, and call it a day.

Answer 3

Well, I have be a RN for many years and, I have been a part of a dying patient/person final days more times than I can recall. It is difficult to see a person suffering and their health is failing. I have had to wrap bodies before the Funeral Home arrives. Some people think Nurse's become immune when dealing with death but, this is not true. As a Nurse, you do get attached to patients' and, it is quite sad to see them pass away. But, yes, death does can become a blessing. At least, you then know that they are no longer suffering and hopefully, they are at peace. I always pray after I have had a patient pass away. Unfortunately, I have seen patients'/people linger on with their suffering. It is quite difficult to watch people who suffer a painful death and,yet, for some reason, sometimes, they continue on living. As a Nurse, I try to make them as comfortable as possible. Such a sad situation.

Answer 4

Yes there are many patients who are kept ' alive' by family and that is cruel and unnatural. Once it is known the disease is terminal, best to let the patient go without inserting a feeding tube or putting on a respirator.

Answer 5

I think that when there is no chance of ever having a normal life again , and all you have left is pain . yes, dying can be a relief . and at that point it is expected, not a surprise. a loss that is understood.